Americans are projected to spend a whopping $91 billion dollars booking online travel in 2007 . Where will they go? A recent poll by leading flight deals publisher Cheapflights.com reveals that warm-weather destinations top Americans' travel wish lists for 2007, followed by historic locations and urban hangouts.
The poll asked travelers where, if cost and time off from work were not a factor, they would most like to travel to in 2007. The majority of respondents, 42 percent, cited "a hot spot that's sunny and warm" as their top travel choice - think beaches in Cancun, Hawaii or the Caribbean. Another 23 percent of respondents aspired to travel to "a gateway to history to see things ancient and old" - think Greece, Egypt or China. "Chic urban hangouts" - think London, Paris or New York City, rounded out the top three - with 17 percent of respondents choosing city destinations as their preferred travel spot.
Additionally, nature destinations finished in a very close fourth place, demonstrating the diversity of Americans' travel tastes. Fourteen percent of respondents chose "a getaway to be one with nature" - think Grand Canyon, rain forests or Yellowstone National Park.
"With the excitement of holiday travel fading, U.S. travelers are eagerly looking ahead to winter getaway, spring break and summer vacation travel," said Nicola Corrigan, Cheapflights' travel deals expert. "Smart travelers are doing more than anticipating, they're searching online now for the best flight deals, not only to get their 'travel fix,' but also to maximize the 'flexibility factor.'"
Professional fare-finders like Corrigan know that flexibility can be the savvy traveler's ticket to finding the best airfare deals. Following are Corrigan's top three "Flexible Travel Tips":
Flex your schedule: Being flexible on flight days and times can be a real money saver. Tip: Think midweek and late-night flights.
Think outside the hub: Flying in and out of regional airports (versus hub airports) and researching low-cost carriers can save a bundle.
One stop shopping: Opting for flights with a stopover (versus non-stop flights) can be a real money-saver.
For travelers looking to get a jumpstart on 2007 travel plans, and for those looking for inspiration to start dreaming and planning, Corrigan offers a few sample airfares from Cheapflights.com to help vacationers get in the travel spirit. All are round-trip airfares departing from her home base in Boston, Massachusetts within the next month, and do not include tax. Additional departure and arrival points can be quickly searched at www.cheapflights.com.
Sample Airfares to "Hot Spot" Locations Found on Cheapflights.com
Honolulu and Maui Hawaii: $451/$461
Montego Bay, Jamaica: $305
Los Cabos, Mexico: $288
Las Vegas, Nevada: $160 (Tip: Providence, Rhode Island departure only $108) 1 Source: eMarketer, "10 Key Predictions for 2007", 1/2/07Las Vegas, Nevada: $160 (Tip: Providence, Rhode Island departure only $108)
Sample Airfares to "History" Locations Found on Cheapflights.com
Athens, Greece: $380, including fuel surcharge (Tip: Only $506 including all taxes)
Rome, Italy: $372, including fuel surcharge
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (for Gettysburg): $149 (Tip: Baltimore, Maryland departure only $58)
Cuzco, Peru (for Inca Trail, Machu Piccu): $833, including fuel surcharge
Sample Airfares to "Urban" Locations Found on Cheapflights.com
Los Angeles, California: $209 (Tip: Providence, Rhode Island departure only $109)
London, England: $343, including fuel surcharge
Paris, France: $352, including fuel surcharge
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: $815, including fuel surcharge
Sample Airfares to "Nature" Locations Found on Cheapflights.com
Jackson, Wyoming (for Yellowstone National Park): $274
Flagstaff, Arizona (for Grand Canyon): $273
San Jose or Santa Barbara, California (for Big Sur): $170/$259
Cheapflights.com publishes the most diverse range of flight deals from the widest selection of travel companies. Every day, the Web site lists nearly one million low-cost airfare deals from hundreds of travel companies, such as Priceline, Travelocity, Expedia, Spirit Airlines, American Airlines, WestJet and bookairlinetickets.com - including low-cost airfare options not available anywhere else. Consumers don’t pay any fees to use Cheapflights.com; the company makes its money from the advertisers who publish flight deals on its site.
Visit www.cheapflights.com to find more low-cost airfares leaving from over 400 departure points and flying to over 700 US and international destinations - featuring airfares from hundreds of different travel providers, including consolidators, travel agencies, destination specialists and airlines, including low-cost carriers.
The Cheapflights.com "2007 Travel Destinations" online poll was conducted over a four-week period between December 2006 and January 2007 via the Cheapflights.com blogsite "Flight News" and weekly "Travel Deals Alert" newsletter. Results are based on 1,148 responses.
About Cheapflights.com and Cheapflights, Ltd.
Cheapflights.com is a leading, independent travel price search and comparison site. It launched in the U.S. in June 2003, where it achieved profitability early-on, and currently serves 2.5 million unique users per month. Hitwise, a leading online measurement company, ranks Cheapflights.com thirteenth among top US travel sites. For more information, visit www.cheapflights.com.
Founded in London in 1996, Cheapflights Ltd. - the UK's leading price search and comparison site (www.cheapflights.co.uk) - pioneered the travel search category and quickly grew to become the leading travel search Web site in the UK. The first independent online price search and comparison portal for travel deals, Cheapflights Ltd. also pioneered the Travel Search Engine (TSE) concept and was the first travel site to introduce a pay-per-click (PPC) model for advertisers.
