Online travel portals line up freebies

Online travel services firms such as MakeMyTrip, Yatra and Clear trip are wooing customers this festive season with enticing freebies like gift cards worth up to ~50,000, one night free on first-time hotel booking and ~15,000 off on international flights, among others.

The companies are betting big on festive season to cash in on the trend of people preferring to travel during the festivities.

“Travelling during the festive season has become the norm amongst Indian travellers over the last three years and the trends for 2017 with the festivities around Durga Puja, Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali have contributed to around 11 per cent more Indians travelling during Diwali this year, compared to last year,” a MakeMyTrip spokesperson told PTI. He further said another reason for uptick in advance booking was MakeMyTrip’s zero cancellation feature resulting in 15 percent rise in bookings for peak season.

Yatra said it was offering up to ~1,500 off on domestic flights, gift cards ranging from ~1,000 to ~50,000 and up to ~15,000 off on international flights. Cleartrip is providing free cancellation on domestic hotels, flights and activities booked through its website and mobile app until 1000 hrs on October 18. It is also offering a 30 per cent cashback on domestic hotels, flights and activities bookings.

International flight bookings originating in India will also be eligible for a cashback of up to ~25,000. Cleartrip Vice-President for Marketing Ashish Dhruv as aid :“The aim of this Diwali sale is to make the booking process more flexible and less worrisome as plans can change anytime.” Budget hospitality chain OYO said it was also offering up to 50 per cent off on booking on certain days.