Summer 2024: the Season for Travel Savings with Cheap(er) Domestic and International Flights vs. 2023

PR Newswire

KAYAK Reveals 2024 Summer Travel Forecast & Top Trending Destinations

STAMFORD, Conn. , May 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2024 travel forecast is looking sunny with a chance of savings. Despite increasing inflation, according to the latest internal data from KAYAK , the world's leading travel search engine, airfare is down 13% for domestic and 3% for international flights vs. 2023. To help travelers score a deal and figure out where to go, KAYAK's Travel Check- In: Summer 2024 report offers data-driven insights on top trending destinations, wallet-friendly hotspots, and summer holiday travel hacks.

"This summer's trending destinations - places gaining more interest vs. last year - are ones we haven't seen 'pop' in years past. From Africa earning the top trending region title to a notable increase in searches for hidden gem European cities like Tirana ( Albania ), Vienna ( Austria ) and Bucharest ( Romania ), the appetite for culturally diverse destinations is on the rise," said Jake Bouvrie , KAYAK's Chief Economist. "If you're considering an international trip this summer - plan it for after July 4th to take advantage of lower airfares."

The TLDR on summer travel:

Holiday weekends are cheaper than last year. The average airfare for a domestic flight over Memorial Day Weekend is $398 (-16% YoY), and the average airfare for a domestic flight over the July 4th holiday is $477 (-17% YoY).
Africa is on the radar with searches up 6% YoY - more than any other region in the world. Asia's been bumped to the #2 trending region, though searches are still up 5% YoY.
Head south for cheaper flights. Sun-soaked regions like Mexico (-16% YoY), Caribbean (-15% YoY) and Central America (-14%).
Paris is going for gold. US flight searches for Paris are up 26% and hotel searches for the destination are up 180% from last year, which is no surprise given that our favorite athletes will grace the city this summer. KAYAK's new Price Pulse tool shows how flight and hotel prices are changing as we approach the summer of sport.
To save on international travel - look at August. International airfare costs dropped by 3% since last year and August 12-25 is currently tracking as the cheapest time to fly internationally, based on our data.

KAYAK's AI tools are fueling a paradigm shift in travel exploration and deal hunting:

Do a KAYAK PriceCheck : Share or upload a screenshot of a flight itinerary from any mobile site, and KAYAK will quickly check hundreds of sites to verify if you found the best price.
Ask KAYAK : Powered by KAYAK data and AI, use simple, personalized text entries to figure out where to go next, and to search and refine your travel results.
Set a Price Alert . Get notified when prices change for a flight or hotel you want. If a flight you're eyeing drops by $50 , KAYAK will alert you so you can lock in that new price instantly.

To score the best flights, hotels and rental cars, visit www.kayak.com .

About KAYAK

KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is the world's leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation packages. We also support business travelers with KAYAK for Business, our free corporate travel solution, and are transforming the in-travel experience with our app and new hotel and accommodation software. For more information, visit www.KAYAK.com

Data Methodology

The Travel Check-In: Summer 2024 report is based on an analysis of searches originating in the US for roundtrip, economy flights on KAYAK.com between 11/1/2023 - 3/15/2024 for travel between 5/24/2024 - 9/3/2024 . Year-over-year data is based on the comparison of searches made between 11/1/2022 - 3/15/2023 for travel between 5/26/2023 - 9/5/2023 . Certain destinations were excluded in the case of insufficient data or according to the official travel advisory at the time when the data analysis was conducted. Prices and percentages are on average and are subject to change.
To determine the search interest to Paris this summer - KAYAK considered round-trip, economy flight interest from the US to Paris for searches between 10/1/2023 – 3/13/2024 for travel between 7/20 – 8/15/2024. For year over year comparison, searches between 10/1/2022 – 3/13/2023 for the same travel dates in 2023 were considered.