Sarah Hanrahan, a travel content creator, joined Drivetime to discuss how far in advance you need to book your trips to get the best deals. Listen back above.
When is the right time to book your holiday, and how much money could you save by booking early? According to new research, the country is keenly divided on the matter.
People from Leitrim are the most cost-savvy when it comes to booking ahead, typically nailing down their trips a full nine months in advance, according to new research by PayPal that looked at holiday trends.
People from Clare, meanwhile, were the least organised and booked their holidays just three months ahead.
"There are pros and cons I think to being organised versus being less organised", said Hanrahan, who shares travel and activity recommendations from around Ireland on her social media platforms.
The main motivation in booking ahead was saving money, with eight in 10 people in the survey saying they wanted to guarantee a price rather than betting on getting a better price closer to holiday time.
"They weren't specific beyond Leitrim being most organised and Clare being the least, but they did talk about average spend, which was €2,320 overall for Irish people", Hanrahan said, with over 1,000 surveyed. This amount covered both their holiday and their spending money.
"Clare spent more so maybe that proves that being less organised didn't pay off, and Donegal spent a little bit more at €2,577", with Cork also spending around €2,500.
Holidaymakers are also asking for discounts, the survey showed, as well as looking at rental homes over the typical hotels "because, obviously, you can cook, you can prepare snacks. Those sort of things do make a difference", Hanrahan said.
"And a lot of people, even though the cost of living and money is tight, 81% of people are still planning on doing a foreign holiday this year and 79% said they're making daily cutbacks to prioritise their travel, which is very interesting."
As for where those eager travellers are heading, Spain is still emerging as the most popular destination at 30%, followed by the UK, and Italy and France in joint third place at 16%.
Takeaways, eating out and takeaway coffees are the little luxuries that people are cutting out to save up for holidays, which Hanrahan noted have increased in price since the onset of the cost of living crisis.
