Online travel portals line up freebies to woo customers

Online travel services firms such as MakeMyTrip, Yatra and Cleartrip are wooing customers this festive season with enticing freebies like gift cards worth up to Rs 50,000, one night free on first-time hotel booking and Rs 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 per cent rise in bookings for peak season.

Yatra said it is offering up to Rs 1,500 off on domestic flight bookings, gift cards ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 50,000 and up to Rs 15,000 off on international flight on booking through Yatra.Com.

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 additionally offering a 30 per cent cashback on domestic hotels, flights and activities bookings to its users. International flight bookings originating in India will also be eligible for a cashback of up to Rs 25,000.

Cleartrip VP - Marketing Ashish Dhruva said: "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 is also offering up to 50 per cent off on booking on certain days during the festive season.