MIAMI – The travel industry is hoping to rebrand the Tuesday after Thanksgiving as Travel Tuesday. Industry insiders say it’s the last best chance to find discounted travel during the holidays and winter season.
With one in three Americans saying they plan to take a vacation during the holidays, now is the time to book that trip. Black Friday kicks off deals from air carriers and cruise lines.
For example, Royal Caribbean is offering an extra $750 dollars off current online discounts of up to 30 percent on cruises booked by Tuesday.
Frontier Airlines wants you to ‘Go Wild’ with a year-long “all you can fly” pass for under $500. Competitor Spirit Airlines is offering flights for $20, including to Las Vegas and Chicago.
Want cheaper access to airport lounges? Priority Pass is offering up to a 30 percent discount.
“We’ve launched the biggest sale on hotels that we’ve ever had. We’ve got 10,000 hotels worldwide at 30 percent off,” said Brett Keller, CEO of Priceline.com
He said the holiday shopping season is increasingly the travel shopping season.
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“What’s nice about this timeframe is it really opens up inventory. Now is a really compelling time to take advantage of a number of deep discounts and credits that the cruise lines will offer. There’s a lot more hotel inventory looking into, into the winter and spring of next year,” said Keller.
Travel industry insiders said from Black Friday to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, you may find a wider variety of discounts provided you’re flexible about when and where you travel.
“If you see a deal that looks good to you, definitely book it on Black Friday,” said Hayley Berg, the lead economist at travel app Hopper.
She said the sales are an effort to encourage people to keep that travel bug going.
“It often comes at a time when most folks aren’t thinking about booking their next trip. They’ve just booked Thanksgiving thinking about the holidays and gifts. So for airlines, hotels, in the travel industry, that’s typically a low week in terms of bookings,” said Berg.
She added that Tuesday is likely your last best chance to score a really good deal for Christmas or New Year’s. But you might have to be flexible.
“You might not get the time of day or the airline that you’re looking for, but last year we saw travelers save upwards of 80 percent off of their Christmas travel booking on Travel Tuesday,” said Berg.
So now is the time to score yourself the gift of holiday travel for less.