If travelers' dates are flexible, Hipmunk data shows that there were two times when travelers can optimize their purchasing power: two months before the beginning of summer or five to seven weeks prior to their departure month, with a vacation in August needing the least amount of lead time and a vacation in July the most.
Summer airfares are down this year, meaning travelers are booking longer vacations. That’s a finding from a new analysis of summer flights released by Hipmunk.
Topline takeaways:
Lower airfares mean longer vacations
- Domestic airfare is down from a median price of $330 last yer to $286, and tickets to Europe from $1331 to $1129.
- Vacations lasting 7 to 10 days are up from 33% of all bookings last summer to 38% for this.
The “buy by” week for major Summer-holiday flights – the last week before prices rise dramatically – are as follows:
- Memorial Day – 5 weeks prior (tickets costs 31% less than week-of top price)
- July 4th – 6 weeks prior (21% less than week-of high)
- Labor Day – 7 weeks prior (60% less than week-of high).
If travelers’ dates are flexible, Hipmunk data shows that there were two times when travelers can optimize their purchasing power: two months before the beginning of summer or five to seven weeks prior to their departure month, with a vacation in August needing the least amount of lead time and a vacation in July the most.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
