Summer Travel Guide: Tips, Tricks, And Trends For Booking Your Next Vacation

New research uncovers ways to save when booking your summer vacation.

The average American expects to spend anywhere from two to three weeks of their pay on summer vacation this year.

Now, what if we told you that Adobe can actually help you save money on your summer vacation this year? Our “2019 State of Travel” report used Adobe Analytics to analyze over 1 trillion visits to websites, including many of the world’s leading travel sites. To complement the trends uncovered, the Adobe Digital Insights team also surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults to learn more about their travel planning habits.

Below are some of the trends and insights we uncovered which can help you better plan your next vacation.

1. Book domestic flights three weeks in advance to get the best deal this summer.

According to our analysis using Adobe Analytics, the best time to book a domestic flight is approximately 21 days before the departure date. On the flip side, the worst time to book a domestic flight is approximately five days before the departure date.

“The opportunity to buy at the best price comes right before the holiday spike, which is primarily driven by last-minute bookings,” said Vivek Pandya, manager of Adobe Digital Insights (ADI), which publishes research on digital marketing and other topics of interest to senior marketing and e-commerce executives across industries.

2. Book Labor Day flights by July 24.

The analysis performed via Adobe Analytics also found that the best time to book a flight for the Labor Day holiday weekend, specifically is slightly later than average, is at 38 days prior to the departure date.

“Conventional wisdom suggests booking a holiday weekend like Labor Day as early as possible, but we are actually finding that there is a stronger price advantage in booking in the 38-to-49 days prior range,” Vivek said.

3. There’s a ton of different ways to book your travel nowadays—and mobile might save you more.

The data analysis via Adobe Analytics shows that smartphones are actually a growing driver for travel research, especially when it comes to flight and hotel booking.

However, the majority of bookings are still happening via desktops and laptops, and consumers may be missing out on a chance to save.

“The travel industry is spending a tremendous amount of money on their mobile apps and websites, and we are seeing that some brands are actually providing steeper discounts to consumers on mobile to encourage usage,” Vivek said. One such example is CheapTickets.com, and OTA for airfare and hotel stay, which offers up to 40% off on hotels — deals that are exclusive to the CheapTickets mobile app.

Generally speaking, airlines are experiencing healthy online growth, with more than a 20% increase in visits since January 2017. Cruise web sites are also seeing an increase in visits (12%), although they are seeing slower gains in traffic. Hotel online visits are also growing quickly, at over 17% since January 2017**.**

4. Some consumers are discovering hotels and other travel options through social media—and you can too.

Not only are your friends using social media, but it’s very likely (see chart below) that they are also enrolled in travel rewards — and reaping the cost savings.

Over one-third of 18-to-24 year-olds are finding hotels through social media, and a fifth of this cohort is finding hotels through social media influencers. However, OTAs such as Orbitz, Expedia, and others still remain the most common way travelers are discovering hotels (65% for 25-34-year-olds, 72% for 35-44-year-olds, and 66% for 45-55-year-olds).

“We also expect that artificial intelligence [AI]-powered recommendations will drive some travel decision-making this summer,” Vivek said. “When surveyed, 69% of consumers who plan to travel more this summer than last said they would be willing to consider AI travel suggestions. AI allows marketers to suggest travel experiences to consumers based on their previous travel-based web behavior, and are therefore quite accurate and relevant.”

View the full report below, or click here to view it on Slideshare.

Getting from data to insight doesn’t have to be hard. Adobe Analytics gives you fast processing, versatile reporting, predictive intelligence and more. Click here for a demo.