New data from travel site Kayak might actually surprise you: Americans are expected to book last-minute, longer-than-usual trips during this holiday season and they'll likely be treated to cheaper flights than average.
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Finally, some good news—right? Not exactly. Overall, searches for holiday-related domestic travel are down 81% and hotel searches are down 74% compared to the same time last year. As a result, the site predicts that folks won't actually book their trips until December hits, expecting a surge in reservations much closer to the actual holidays.
That's a trend that also defined the 2020 summer holidays. During that time, "Kayak saw travel interest pick up about 40 days ahead of the respective holidays and peak one day prior," reads the official press release announcing the data analysis. "So if summer travel behavior is any indication, it seems like travelers are waiting longer to book."
The type of vacation we're used to taking seems to also be morphing: according to the analyzed trends, given the fact that most of the country is working remotely and many colleges are actually ending their semesters in mid-November, people will head on a trip sooner than usual and stay longer than average. And, although searches for alternative accommodations (think RVs, cottages, cabins and more) have certainly increased compared to last year, the most trending flight destinations involve either warm weather or ski-related opportunities. According to Kayak, the majority of would-be vacationers are looking at Cancun, Denver, Honolulu and Salt Lake City as potential destinations.
But we dig even deeper: flight prices are down almost 16% year over year for the holidays all throughout the country, but Florida cities are actually seeing the biggest drop. According to Kayak, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando "are seeing price drops between 29% and 34% compared to the prior year for the same time period."
Given the oddity of the year as a whole, may we suggest booking a rather out-of-the-ordinary trip this holiday season? Check out our list of the very best (and clearest, of course) places to stargaze in the U.S.—they might actually make for wonderful holiday excursions.
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