Uncertain times
Has there ever been a more uncertain time in the modern-day travel industry? Between volcanic ash clouds and airline strikes, travellers can no longer be certain of reaching their destinations – and customer behaviour seems to be changing as a result.
The average time between booking and actual date of travel is 44 days for a commercial airline ticket, 30 days for a hotel stay, 19 days for car hire and until recently it was around 28 days for private jet charter customer using PrivateFly.com. In the last month we have seen this reduce to just 4 days. Travellers just don’t want to commit too far ahead.
While we don’t expect this extreme last-minute approach to continue, it does demonstrate a trend towards shorter lead times. Fortunately for us, private charter offers the utmost in flexibility of routing and timing – so we can react to changes in conditions and customer requirements in a way that other methods of transport cannot. And a booking can be arranged very quickly: PrivateFly is an online network of global private jet operators which provides immediate cost estimates and rapid quotes from relevant suppliers.