Peak travel season on Skyscanner isn’t defined by a single day or campaign, it’s a sequence of high-intent moments where traveller interest spikes, competition intensifies, and the right message at the right time can make all the difference. From mid-October through to the end of March, Skyscanner experiences a sustained surge in searches, sessions, and bookings. These aren’t just seasonal upticks they are performance triggers, and for advertisers, they represent one of the most commercially valuable stretches of the year. These periods are predictable, measurable, and proven to deliver incremental returns. In 2024, Skyscanner saw up to +135% YoY growth in spend during Cyber Week, with strong increases across sessions, clicks, and redirects.
This guide is designed to help you capture those moments with confidence. From building early awareness and maintaining full-funnel presence. Whether you’re launching new routes, promoting flexible fares, or simply aiming to grow direct bookings, the message is clear: seasonal demand doesn’t just appear, it builds. With the right timing, storytelling, and tactical execution, you can turn these moments into measurable growth. Let’s make this peak season your strongest yet.
1. Start early and capitalise on pre-Black Friday intent
One of the most valuable but often underestimated moments is the lead-up to Black Friday. Skyscanner data shows that traveller activity particularly ad clicks and impressions, begins ramping up by mid-October, with a sharp rise in engagement continuing through Black Friday weekend and peaking on Travel Tuesday. During Black Friday Weekend 51% of users on Skyscanner are browsing without a fixed destination or date making them more open to influence from brand messaging and storytelling. Advertisers who delay launching campaigns until Black Friday risk missing out on early-stage engagement, while those who start mid-October benefit from richer platform insights, longer learning cycles, and stronger performance when it counts most.
Even brands without time-limited discounts can make a meaningful impact. This period is a branding opportunity as much as a performance one. Travellers come to Skyscanner not just for deals, but to escape the noise and plan with confidence. Skyscanner serves as a “trusted travel companion” where inspiration turns into decision-making. Advertisers should use this moment to build emotional connection, even without promotional pricing. Campaigns such as Turkish Airlines’ storytelling-led Istanbul promotion show how brand-first content like articles, collaborative campaigns with destinations, and social extensions can inspire loyalty and drive commercial outcomes.
2. Maximise impact across the full Cyber Week
While starting early sets the foundation, the real surge in traveller activity happens across Cyber Week from Black Friday through Cyber Monday and peaking on Travel Tuesday. This is when intent skyrockets and competition intensifies, as users move from planning to booking. Performance uplift across the weekend included +33.1% impressions and +25.3% clicks. Travel Tuesday, in particular, often outperforms Black Friday in terms of booking value, making it a critical final push for any campaign. Advertisers who maintain momentum throughout this period rather than front-loading all spend on a single day are better positioned to influence decision-making, convert active shoppers, and compete for share of voice when it matters most.
3. Engage travellers with multi-format storytelling
A key takeaway from previous successful campaigns is the power of immersive, multi-format brand storytelling. Travellers are no longer linear in their behaviours. They interact with brands through a variety of touchpoints like paid search, display, social, newsletter content, and more. Advertisers should use this to their advantage by creating consistent messaging across all formats, while tailoring the creative to meet users where they are in their journey. Even short-term campaigns can deliver long-term brand lift when executed with cohesive storytelling and compelling creative. Brands that take time to develop an authentic voice and visual identity grounded in culture, destination insight, or seasonal context can build recognition that lasts beyond a single campaign window.
Avoid dead-end landings and instead direct users to rich, inspiring content such as blog posts or branded articles that fuels their wanderlust and builds emotional connection. These storytelling-led moments establish your brand as part of the experience, not just the transaction. During consideration, drive users to destination-specific or route-level pages rather than generic home or search screens. This tailored approach improves relevance, reduces friction, and helps maintain momentum toward booking. A user who sees pricing and perks for a specific route is more likely to stay engaged than one forced to restart their search.
4. Boost visibility when traveller intent is highest
Showing up at the right moment is pivotal during peak season. Advertisers should focus on route-level optimisation, mobile-first formats, and high-intent placements. Start by scaling well-performing routes to boost impressions and secure prime positions across both search and booking. For underperforming routes, a targeted push using Sponsored Inline Ads can help regain visibility. These ads appear directly in search results, giving your brand a strong presence while travellers compare options.
Complementing this, Booking Panel Ads are built to lock in the final click. These placements show up after a flight is selected—just before booking—making them ideal for reinforcing trust, service, and value. With over 75% of traffic on mobile, they’re especially powerful on small screens, where focus is high and distractions are low. Together, Sponsored Inline and Booking Panel Ads provide full lower-funnel coverage, driving engagement in search and capturing the final click at booking.
5. Extend your impact beyond the January spike
January marks a key moment in the travel calendar when intent surges. Data consistently shows global flight searches increase by +31% month-on-month, and flight redirects rise by +32%, making it one of the most significant booking spikes of the year. However, this peak doesn’t begin and end in January. Travel demand remains high throughout Q1:
- Monthly global users stay elevated: +18% in January, +5% in February, +12% in March (vs December).
- Flight search volumes continue to climb: +31% in January, +12% in February, and +21% in March.
- Flight redirect volumes show even more growth, further evidencing this high intent period: +32% in January, +15% in February, and +27% in March.
Too often though advertisers over-index on January and ignore the months that follow. Advertisers should treat January, February, and March as equally valuable, using consistent visibility and refreshed messaging to keep momentum alive. To keep your message in strong:
- Think in seasons, not spikes: Approach Q1 as a connected campaign period, not just a January push. Ensure your budget, creative, and messaging are calibrated to capture intent across all three months, adapting as traveller needs evolve from early-stage inspiration to shorter-term decision-making.
- Refresh, don’t retreat: Maintain visibility, but avoid creative fatigue. Use phased messaging, rotate formats, and update callouts to reflect where travellers are in their journey, from big-dream planners in January to shortlisting and booking behaviours in March.
- Match momentum to mindset: January often attracts long-lead planners looking ahead to summer holidays or big-ticket trips. By March, the landscape shifts: travellers are searching for Easter escapes, spring breaks, and spontaneous weekend getaways. Tailoring your message to these changing mindsets ensures relevance and results
Conclusion: From one-off moments to sustained growth
Black Friday and Q1 aren’t just isolated spikes. They’re part of a continuous, high-intent travel window that rewards advertisers who plan ahead, maintain presence, and tell great stories. Whether your objective is to boost performance, build brand affinity, or launch new routes, Skyscanner offers a high-intent platform with the scale and tools to drive real business outcomes. By embracing a multi-moment, full-funnel approach and layering in tactical levers like mobile targeting, route coverage, and collaborative airline x destination campaigns advertisers can turn seasonal intent into long-term gains.
Need help mapping your campaign to this journey? Your Skyscanner team is here to help.
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