By: David Pelter, VP of Pricing
From the lucky co-eds at the University of Michigan starting their spring break on February 26 to the patient children of the Boston Public Schools beginning their vacation on April 17, the spring break season is nearly upon us. Whether your ideal spring break vacation involves hitting the waves or hitting the slopes, at Farecast we certainly can help you find great airfare deals that gets you closer to fun and relaxation.
Tip: Get out of town!
When To Travel?
While departing and returning over the weekend might maximize your time away, it will more than likely cost you more money. Expect those flights to be quite full and expensive given everyone in town has the same days off.
Tip: To save money, try traveling Monday through Friday. The flights will be less crowded than the weekend and airfares should be much lower.
Where to Travel?
Airfare prices are typically tied to two major things:
1. The number of non-stop airlines flying in a market
2. The presence (or not) of a low cost carrier like Southwest, JetBlue, or AirTran.
Tip: Try and pick your spring break destination where you know there is a lot of non-stop airline competition and ideally in a market where a low cost airline operates. A great way of doing this is using Farecast’s refine results tool and filtering only for non-stop airlines.
Here’s one example, let’s say that you live in Phoenix and want to spend your March spring break week skiing. Three popular ski destinations you are considering are: Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno/Lake Tahoe. The screenshot below from Farecast’s flexible search tool makes comparing your options a breeze and points out that flying to Denver is always cheapest for March travel. This is primarily because there are four non-stop airlines (including Southwest) all competing for your business between Phoenix and Denver.
Here’s another example for those people living in Boston and seeking sun for their April spring break week. If you compare the prices of three popular South Florida airports: Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, and West Palm Beach, the same pricing dynamics hold true. Fort Lauderdale is the cheapest airport to fly into because three airlines fly that route non-stop. Conversely, Boston to Miami has only one non-stop airline and, as a result, prices are much higher there.
Note: Data for both graphs generated on 2/21/07
So, to enjoy your spring break:
• Get out of town! (You work too hard the rest of the year and deserve a break.)
• Be flexible with your travel schedule to save money.
• Pick a great destination that has many airlines competing for your business.
• Use Farecast’s tools to help guide you to a great deal.