Those looking ahead to a summer getaway, and who haven’t booked anything yet, may want to eye a trip later in the season.
Travel website Expedia says its data show August is the cheapest summer month to fly, with average ticket prices nearly 10% lower than July, and 5% cheaper than June. The numbers were part of Expedia’s “summer travel cheat sheet.”
It says the Independence Day weekend is particularly pricey, with average fares for the Friday before the Fourth of July coming in about 25% higher than the overall average for summer months.
In fact, Expedia says it’s best to avoid summer Fridays altogether and travel earlier in the week to save money, with Tuesday being the cheapest departure day.
However, because of COVID-19-related uncertainty, “my advice is not to be tempted to pay less and choose those really restrictive fares,” said Expedia’s Christie Hudson, “but instead look for things where you can have free cancellation. Look for flights where they’ll waive the change fees if you need to change your dates, because that peace of mind is really worth it right now.”
When it comes to destinations, Expedia says people are looking at beaches, U.S. cities and spots overseas.
It says beach destinations that have seen a recent spike in flight search activity include Bali, the Maldives, Santorini, Los Angeles and Bar Harbor. D.C. is on the list of popular U.S. cities, along with Chicago, Houston, Austin and New York.
People have also been increasingly searching for flights to Singapore, Stockholm, Ontario, Berlin and Dubai, Expedia said.
