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Google, which feels that loyalty among travellers can no longer be guaranteed, is adding a new feature to its flights app to let holidaymakers know the optimum time to book flights and hotels, in terms of getting the best price.

The new feature lets users know if a deal is ‘hot’ – or ‘cold’ in a display showing a thermometer-like gauge.

Predictive apps that monitor price fluctuations and forecast future airfares already exist – Apple’s ‘Hopper’ flight and hotel booking app, for instance – but the power of Google will expand the range.

Such apps are already telling Americans that September (starting tomorrow) is the best time to book flights for Thanksgiving, America’s busiest travel time, which falls on Thursday 22 November 2018.

Google’s managing director travel, Rob Torres, says today’s consumers are more “curious, demanding, and impatient” than ever before.

Torres says that according to a recent study Google conducted with Phocuswright, nearly six in 10 (57%) of US travellers feel brands should tailor their information based on personal preferences or past behaviour.

Torres says the travel industry is not keeping up with travellers’ expectations.

“For instance, eMarketer predicted that in 2017, mobile bookings would surpass 40% of digital travel sales. In 2017, a third of those surveyed still said they were uncomfortable researching and booking travel on their phone—nearly unchanged from 2015,” Torres wrote on the ThinkWithGoogle site.

Torres said that in this “new world of spontaneity”, loyalty among travellers could no longer be guaranteed.

“Only 9% of U.S. travellers ‘always’ know which brand they want to book with prior to researching and even elite loyalty program members are up for grabs if the price is right. Over two-thirds of US elite hotel loyalty program members would pick a different hotel for a better price, and two-thirds of elite US air loyalty program members would pick a different airline for a better price/schedule/route.”

Google’s managing director travel, Rob Torres

Globally, over the next 12 months, travellers plan on taking more short getaways (three nights or less) than longer holidays (more than three nights), he said.

The Google/Phocuswright Travel Study 2017 Torres referred to was conducted over a base of leisure travellers internationally, in the US, Australia, Britain, Brazil, France, Germany, India and Korea.

Written by Peter Needham