Travellers Pick Deals over Loyalty: 59% travellers care more about Online Travel Deals than they do about loyalty to any Airline or Hotel site

Key Findings:

• 91% respondents prefer booking tickets online.
• 59% travelers focus on deals over brand loyalty towards any Hotel or Airline.
• 61% respondents compare prices on more than 3-4 sites before making a booking.
• Travel websites are being preferred by cost-conscious consumers to avail deals and discounts.

Throughout a traveller’s decision making journey, what are the moments that help make the final purchase choice? CashKaro.com, Largest Cashback & Coupons site in India analyzed responses from 2000 customers through its travel survey and what it found may surprise you.

Owing to the online travel sector that constitutes more than 50% of the e-commerce industry, 91% respondents preferred booking tickets online instead of choosing travel agencies. This may be because online ticket booking portals give users access to deals, discounts and the freedom to review and select trip details such as specific airplane seats and hotel rooms. Plus, they can save more by availing discounts and Cashback deals while booking tickets online.

CashKaro.com wanted to find out why a consumer chooses one travel website over others. To that end, respondents were first asked how many websites they compare before booking their tickets. It was learnt that 61% respondents browse over 3-4 websites before taking a decision.

When it comes to the top online flight booking websites, the most popular was MakeMyTrip (56%) followed by Goibibo, Paytm and Yatra.

As far as hotel bookings are concerned, the top pick was MakeMyTrip(37%) closely followed by Oyo Rooms and Goibibo.

Adding to that, 49% respondents said that lower prices of tickets and hotels is the main factor that they consider when deciding which travel website to book at; while 43% mentioned that in addition to the price, they considered all the other ongoing deals and offers on a particular website when making their decision on which site to book at.

These results clearly point towards the fact that apart from reliability, price and discount factors play a major part in travel website selection.

59% respondents also admitted that they would repeat a hotel or flight booking only considering the travel deals offered by them while only 41% would do so due to brand loyalty.

When asked to choose between the kinds of offers that travellers like, travel site credits, bank offers and Cashback were included as options. 46% respondents revealed they are always on the lookout for extra Cashback from websites like CashKaro.com which are available on top of all ongoing discounts. While Travel site credits are considered attractive, their limited redemption options reduce their overall popularity.

On the survey Swati Bhargava, Co-Founder, CashKaro.com said “While the online travel sector constitutes more than 50% of the e-commerce industry, it’s critical that we keep a finger on the pulse of our customers – and deeply understand what travellers need, expect and value. While price has been one of the most important considerations since long, we are glad to see that customers are savvy on using cashback and online deals sites for their planning. With our lucrative and wide variety of travel offers, and the findings of this survey, we are aiming to effectively tap savvy travellers and offer great value for money.”

Today’s smart consumer leaves no stone unturned in a bid to save as much as possiblewhenever they book flights or hotels online. Moreover, 69% respondents said they book tickets during off-season in order to get lower prices.

Finally, keeping in mind the cashless movement in India, participants were asked about their preferred payment methods and 95% respondents claimed they prefer paying with credit/debit cards as these methods allow them to get more deals and discounts in addition to convenience.

The above mentioned findings all point towards the fact that discounts and savings are top priority for travel site users. With more and more websites offering discounts and offers, the online travel sector is set to witness some tough competition. On the upside this will make ticket bookings more economical for consumers.

The survey sample of 2,000 respondents comprised majorly of people betweenthe age group of 25-30 years, residing in metro cities including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru etc.