The ingenious 'double-dip' trick Aussies are using to guarantee their Europe flights

There's a new special trick to getting to Europe this year, and it involves booking your trip twice.

Forget just booking a flight and hoping for the best - Australian travellers are now "double-dipping" to guaranteed their overseas holidays.

As conflict in the Middle East forces nearly half of all international travellers to redraw their maps, holding two separate bookings at once has emerged as a new trend.

A new survey from Money.com.au shows half of Australians with planned overseas trips have changed, delayed or cancelled their travel plans since the Middle East conflict began.

Of 1000 Australians surveyed, 25 per cent have delayed their trip, 12 per cent have cancelled their trip altogether, and 11 per cent have changed their destination, flight route or layover location.

Among those affected, 46 per cent had planned to travel through the Middle East, either as a destination or transit point.

The company's finance expert, Sean Callery, said while travel insurance generally excludes claims arising from war, travellers should still contact their airline, accommodation or tour provider to see if they may be eligible for a full or partial refund, credit or free rebooking.

"The earlier you get in touch, the more options you're likely to have to recoup some costs," Mr Callery said.

Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) global leisure CEO, James Kavanagh, said savvy travellers are using one special trick to get them through the uncertain times.

"One trend that's caught our attention is what I'd call the double-dip approach," Mr Kavanagh told Explore.

"Some travellers are hedging their bets by holding two bookings simultaneously - keeping their original Middle Eastern routing for later in the year when things may have settled, while securing a fully flexible fare as a fallback.

"If the original flight is cancelled, the flexible booking kicks in. If everything goes ahead as planned, they cancel the flexible option without significant penalty. It's a smart way to stay in control when conditions are uncertain."

Flight Centre is having a surge in bookings via Asia and increasingly through the US as people find alternative ways to get to Europe.

"Singapore and Hong Kong are traditionally popular stopovers for Europe anyway, so these are the routes that have filled up the fastest. We're also seeing places like Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and even Dallas start to spike," Mr Kavanagh said.

"One thing I'd flag for anyone planning to travel in the next few weeks is that seat availability on these rerouted itineraries is tightening quickly. My strongest advice is to book as soon as possible and talk to your travel agent - they're working through some genuinely creative options right now that you won't find on a search engine e.g. split tickets and round the world fares."

Will prices continue to trend upwards? Mr Kris didn't think so.

He said judging by flight prices in the aftermath of previous conflicts and following the pandemic, he expected carriers to "continue to offer good value and flexibility in order to remain competitive, which ultimately means more consumer choice."

"While we may see some carriers increase fares to offset increased costs, most airlines will do everything they can to price attractively to stay ahead of the competition," Mr Kris said.