Jetstar's most popular domestic destination is Queenstown. Photo / Supplied
Jetstar's most popular domestic destination is Queenstown. Photo / Supplied
New Zealanders are booking flights closer to the date of travel now compared to before the pandemic, a trend a psychologist says reflects healthy spontaneity that contributes to wellbeing.
A survey by Jetstar finds 41 per cent of New Zealanders are booking flights closer to their travel date than pre-Covid,while the number of Kiwis who will book flights within a month of travel has more than doubled.
The survey of 1000 people found more than a third (38 per cent) of New Zealanders say they have left for a trip with less than two weeks' notice in the past year and 57 per cent say they would drop everything and head off on a trip immediately if they were given free flights.
The research also found the majority (80 per cent) of New Zealanders are more likely to travel domestically, with 36 per cent of those people saying it is because they think New Zealand is the best country to explore, while 47 per cent feel domestic travel is currently less complicated than international travel.
The survey comes as Jetstar is ramping up its schedule to reach close to pre-Covid levels of flying across domestic and transtasman services by July. Data from the airline reinforces the survey findings, with one in four domestic flights booked between January and March this year made within five days of travel.
Domestic travellers are also more likely to stay at their destination longer, with one-day to three-day trips decreasing and four-to-seven-day trips increasing.
Clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire says anticipatory savouring ahead of travel is good for us. Photo / Supplied
Responding to a 'Vuca' world
Clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire says spontaneous behaviour - rather than making impulsive decisions that can have negative consequences - can be beneficial for our mental health, although it pushes people out of their comfort zone.
She said people were booking trips closer to the time of travel for a number of reasons.
This was what she describes as a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous ''Vuca'' world.
''We're living in an environment that's rapidly shifting under our feet and when you come at it from a human evolutionary psychology perspective, we like certainty. We like to know what's coming up ahead of us.''
People feel calm and safe when they know what's ahead they get to experience the good things in life.
''When it comes to travel and booking a holiday and 'I know what's actually going to happen. I'm able to plan for it and look forward to it'.''
Maguire says anticipatory savouring, — those feelings of anticipation and excitement — have got a really good impact for your wellbeing.
She could understand why domestic travel was popular.
''With booking our travel closer to the time, it's more likely that those plans won't get dashed. In the last two and a half years, we the world has been a Vuca place where many people I'm sure have had plans that have been canceled,'' she said.
Being able to have certainty and being able to enjoy feelings of excitement and anticipation were good for.
Part of the reason people were more willing to book a domestic trip was because they felt comfortable with the rules.
''I would encourage people where they can, when the risk is low, to go and have good spontaneous events. That helps your brain be flexible, it helps you adapt quickly and it gives you exposure to events and to people and places you might not normally get,'' she said.
A Jetstar Airbus A320 at Auckland Airport. The airline says low fares are boosting demand. Photo / Grant Bradley
Jetstar says the most popular destination is Queenstown, however, the majority (53 per cent) of New Zealanders say they make decisions about the destination of their trip based on the price of flights.
Jetstar currently operates 19 weekly flights into Queenstown from Wellington and Auckland, with one-way fares starting from $57 lead-in fares, says Jetstar group chief executive Gareth Evans
''It's great to see travel demand bounce back as New Zealand and the rest of the world settle into a new kind of normal. From June we're relaunching all of our trans-Tasman and Cook Island routes, as well as increasing flights across our domestic network which will see us operating around 90 per cent of our pre-pandemic schedule by July,'' he told the Herald''
• The Jetstar survey of 1000 New Zealanders was conducted by research agency Pureprofile. The respondents completed a digital survey and are a representative sample from a variety of regions, ages, incomes and ethnicities.
