Source: Bing Travel
Are you ready to get out of the winter deep freeze and plan a trip to someplace warm this spring break? If you haven’t booked your spring break trip yet, you can expect to pay higher prices for airfare this year (surprise!). But it’s not too late to snag great deals on spring break travel. Fareologists at Bing Travel recently released their Spring Break Forecast, and found that domestic airfares are up more than 10 percent this year, with average domestic airfares jumping to $489 per ticket. So if you haven’t booked that spring break trip, now may be a great time to pull out the frequent flier miles, companion fare vouchers and be flexible in your departure dates and destinations. Bing Travel’s airfare predictor is one of my go-tos for finding the best price on last-minute spring break airfares.
The bright side of booking last minute: the Fareologists at Bing Travel found some of the best deals of the season are to popular warm Florida destinations such as Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando, and top European destinations such as Paris, Amsterdam and Italy this spring break.
Head to Florida for Spring Break
According to Bing, many of the best spring break airfare deals are on flights to Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. Here are a few of the lowest average fares to Florida (as of Feb 22):
- Atlanta to West Palm Beach, $181
- Boston to Jacksonville, $233
- Philadelphia to Orlando, $217
Europe for Spring Break
Source: Bing Travel
Spring Break can also be a great time to visit Europe. Spring is typically less crowded than the popular summer months, and Bing Travel is also seeing price drops to several European destinations including Paris, Amsterdam and select cities in Italy. Here is a look at some flights from the U.S. to Europe with the greatest drop in price since last year:
- Dallas to Paris (-11%)
- New York to Amsterdam (-13%)
- Philadelphia to Paris (-12%)
- San Francisco to Paris (-9%)
- Seattle to Rome, Italy (-9%)
Tips for Finding Spring Break Deals:
- Flexibility is critical: Consider leaving mid-week and returning mid-week to get the best deal on your spring break trip, and avoid the popular Saturday to Saturday getaways this spring if you can. It’s worth taking the kids out of school for a couple days if you can get a better deal on flights.
- Sign up for Airfare Alerts: Every travel search site has airfare alerts and they are worth signing up for to catch airfare price drops. Some of my faves: Bing, FareCompare, Kayak.
- Calculate the Extras: airlines are adding on all sorts of surcharges, baggage fees and extra fees. Make sure you know exactly what you will be paying, so there are no surprises when you check-in for your flight.
- Reward Yourself: If you have to pay more for spring break tickets this year, consider using reward tickets or companion fares to offset the cost of high priced tickets.
Plan and Dream
Are you grounded this spring break? Not to worry – you can still plan and dream about your next trip. Sometimes just researching my next vacation, or imagining myself sitting on the beach or hitting the slopes can help me beat the winter doldrums. Bing’s destination gallery can be a great source of inspiration for your next trip!
Where are you headed this spring break?