(This is a slightly different version of a story we wrote for NBC News online)
If you held off on taking a summer vacation don’t worry.
You may still be able to squeeze in one on the cheap.
Record numbers of travelers have been flooding airports since the pandemic, but U.S. airlines now face a surplus of empty seats after racing to add capacity. Many are slashing prices to fill them, making bargain flights more readily available than they have been in years.
“Deals are easier to find this summer since prices are already so low,” said Hayley Berg, lead economist at the travel booking site Hopper.
Flights overall were at least 5% cheaper as of June than the year before, government inflation data shows. Hopper estimated domestic airfares for August are down about 6% since a year ago, and it flagged supercheap domestic round-trip deals this month — like $69 for Chicago to Baltimore and $82 for New York to Nashville.
And it’s not just airfares — costs are cooling off for car rentals and hotel rooms too. They were down roughly 6% and 3% year over year, respectively, in the federal data and are now about flat in most cities on Priceline.
The discounts expand the map for late-season travelers and coincide with a broader value push this summer. Restaurant chains from McDonald’s to P.F. Chang’s are dangling promotions to hang on to frugal customers. The gambit is largely working, with major retailers’ recent sales helping prop up consumer spending and the economy as a whole.
Vacation-planning procrastinators are having better luck this year.
On July 26, Debra Banton, 61, and her 26-year-old daughter Rachel booked a trip overseas departing in two weeks.
“We usually plan way in advance, never last minute,” said Banton, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. But Rachel works full time while attending school, leaving little downtime, and since she’s never been to Europe and is getting married next May, they figured now’s their best shot.
“With just four weeks’ planning time, I was able to secure the last few rooms at some fabulous resorts in Greece and get them a great deal on business-class air to Athens,” said Kimberly Hilliard, their Annapolis, Maryland-based travel adviser with Front Porch Travel.
While prices typically come down heading into the fall, the current end-of-summer season is a “unique window” for travelers who haven’t booked far in advance, said Jesse Neugarten, the CEO and founder of Dollar Flight Club.
The flight alert site said the average international airfare from the U.S. over the next three months is $401, and the average domestic flight costs $212 — collectively down an average of 29% from the same period a year ago.
“For clients with a little flexibility in their travel dates, I’ve been able to get very low airfare for last-minute trips,” said Ashley D’Aristotile, the owner of Orlando, Florida-based Flyaway Travel.
Lousson Smith, a flight expert at the travel site Going, agrees: “At this point in the summer, if you’re flexible, you can find something really nice under $150 nonstop from major markets, but anything under $200 this late in the game is a decent deal.”
While the costs of U.S. flights to Europe soared during the post-pandemic travel boom, Hopper estimates international airfares have fallen 9% since last summer. Round trips from Boston to Dublin, for example, have been going for as low as $415 this month, Hopper said, and there are $461 options between Chicago and Paris.
Domestically, the Southeast is seeing some of the best bargains, according to Priceline, with both Miami and Nashville making its “most affordable” list for August,
“For families who still have several weeks before school officially begins, you can take advantage of lower prices in some Southern states like Florida and Tennessee,” said Christina Bennett, a consumer travel expert at Priceline.
When it comes to accommodations, “markets and individual hotels will be looking to fill their rooms by offering last-minute deals and discounts,” said Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality analytics for CoStar Group, a real estate data firm.
“In general and on average, room rates are not up a whole lot,” and occupancy is down in some cities, he said. The average daily room rate in June was up just 1.5% year over year — lower than the overall inflation rate of 3% — and ticked down even further, to a 1.3% annual increase in the last week of July, CoStar data shows.
Bargain hunters must be nimble
But bargain hunters will need to be nimble, Freitag said: “A deal may be offered on Wednesday for that Saturday, so the question is: What is your appetite for booking ahead or booking last minute?”
Chirag Panchal, founder of the Dallas-based travel company Ensuite Collection, said that type of appetite has been strong lately.
“The availability seems unusual for this time of year, and I’ve been receiving a lot more last-minute travel requests than usual,” he said. “We’re seeing great availability in places like Colorado and New York City, and many hotels are throwing in extras such as complimentary breakfast, room upgrades, special amenities for kids and extra nights for free.”
If you’re ready to go and have a few destinations in mind, experts suggest signing up for one of the free fare-alert services offered by various travel platforms so you can act fast. Or use a tool like Google Flights to search for the cheapest destinations from your nearest airport. And while travel agents charge their own fees, many get access to reduced fares and packages that may not be available on booking sites.
But don’t worry if you can’t sneak in a summer vacation before August wraps. After all, the season doesn’t officially end until three weeks after Labor Day, and many travel promotions look set to continue.
“I’m finding quite a few locations offering discounted packages moving into September,” said Jennifer Byrne, CEO of the Tropical Travelers, an agency in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
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