Even though the Christmas break will be unusually long this year and fall vacations are usually booked early, travel bookings have not yet picked up, according to travel companies.

”"I'm a little surprised. We still see that bookings haven't started as they usually do," says Katarina Daniels at Ticket.

Since both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on Mondays, taking five days off is enough to get a continuous vacation of 16 days this year. This has caused travel companies to prepare for a travel rush for Christmas – but so far bookings for both Christmas and the autumn holidays are slow.

”"I definitely believe that many Swedes will take advantage of the advantageous Christmas, however, I believe that many are not yet aware of it," says Lina Eklund, press communicator at Resia.

So far, Swedes' travel has decreased in 2018 and there hasn't been the same rush as last year. But when it comes to bookings for Christmas and autumn, travel companies believe it will pick up again.

”"The actual date for the fall break has been a bit delayed," believes Lina Eklund.

”"There are more trips left than usual and only 7 out of 10 charter trips are booked. But you still can't count on a plethora of options if you want to go cheap," she adds.

An alternative is still Turkey. There are tickets there with both regular flights and charters at low prices. Crete and Cyprus also still have some cheap charter tickets for the autumn holidays and when it comes to weekend trips, it is still possible to find trips to London with fairly low prices.

There are advantages to booking travel in September. Many airlines and travel agencies have offers and discounts at this time of year – but they don't always apply to the autumn and Christmas holidays.

However, Lina Eklund believes it may be time to hurry.

”"After September, it starts to get tricky to shop for the fall holidays and Christmas," she claims.

Source: TT