AirAsia Big Sale is ON- 10 things you should know

AirAsia Big sale is currently going on. This post gives you all the key information you should know to make the most of this sale. 

Sale Period: 11 to 17 September 2018

Travel Period: 01 March 2018 to 21 March 2018

Tips:

Step 1: Shortlist 5-6 destination you are keen to visit. 

From the airasia network, from your city, check where all they fly and identify 5-6 destinations you are keen to visit. Stay focused around these for this sale. (else you won’t be able to research well). 

For each destination you’ve shortlisted, research below things

1. Minimum duration needed to explore (no point going all the way to Australia or Japan for 2-3 days. You need a week/10 days minimum. 
2. Check how expensive the destination is and ensure you’re comfortable with that. 
3. Check if flight timing is convenient (too much transit time could be waste of time)
4. How far is the airport, are there public transportation etc. Sometimes you will lose time in transit, or end up spending huge sum for taxi as airport is far from city and bus/trains are not available late night/early morning when you land.
5. Visa requirements and cost for the destination country.

If some destinations are not suitable due to connection time/overall trip cost etc drop it, select some other place.

Step 2: Know the benchmark Prices. 

For the destination you’ve in mind, know what is the normal fare, what are the previously seen cheapest fares during earlier sales, so that you can know how cheap is the sale fare. If sale fare is 50-60% cheaper then it is great deal. No point booking if the savings is hardly 20-30%, as you’re booking years in advance with no refund option. Without proper reference you won’t know if you’re getting great deal or not. You can check this post for my listing of benchmark prices.

Step 3: Prepare your big account- add passenger details, passport details etc. Saves time during booking

Step 4: Play around till you land lowest fare. Try in incognito/private browsing mode. Check different date combinations, see which is cheapest. Usually Wednesday/Tuesday is cheapest day of the week. Try for only 1 passenger (if you search with 2 or more next price slab may kick in). Try from nearby cities (Chennai n Kochi are cheaper than BLR). If you don't get a deal cheap enough, try next destination. You can always retry in next sale.

Step 5: Don’t book add on services like bag, meals, insurance, car etc upfront. 

Uncheck if these are auto selected. These add -on services can be bought closer to travel date if really needed. These are non refundable so you won’t get anything back if you can’t travel or ticket had to be cancelled

Step 6: Assess the risk of not being able to travel. 

If you can't travel as per plan, are you willing to lose all the money? You may not get leave or visa or some emergencies may prop up. May be weather or some other circumstance may prevent you from traveling, as you've booked years in advance and there're so many things that can go wrong from now n travel date. You should be emotionally ready to lose all the money if you can't travel (you will only get tax component back- like around 10% only). May be you may have to travel alone if friends/family can't join. If you can't take this risk, you may regret booking in a sale later.

Step 7: Don’t book for your friends-

Let them book themselves. Else they won’t be committed to the plan. Tickets once booked can’t be cancelled or rescheduled (without losing money). So it is better if each person book their own ticket. Saves lots of trouble later.

Step 8: Pay via net banking. 

Net banking is cheaper than credit card payment. Keep enough cash in bank account.

Step 9: Do not rush to book hotels, site seeing etc

These things can be planned closer to travel date. You won't save much by booking hotel n siteseeing years in advance. Closer to travel date rooms may be cheaper if hotels realize lots of rooms are being unsold.

Step 10: Happy Journey!

Now that you've bagged a cheap ticket, feel free to share this post, tell your friends and start planning your dream trip. Happy journey.