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.
