How to save on travel this Spring Break

A new forecast by the popular Bing Travel search engine shows that while airfare has increased by 9% since last year, hotel rates are dropping. Here are a few helpful tips on how to save some green this travel season.

Planning a travel excursion soon? Well, you may want to lock in those prices. A new travel forecast by the growing Bing Travel engine (Microsoft) suggests that airfare has already increased by 95 since 2009’s Spring Break prices.

The good news is: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Balancing out the price jump is the report that, while airfares are going up, hotel rates are going down – by 15% since last year at the same time. This little tidbit helps to balance out the total trip cost for travelers.

The 2010 Spring Break Forecast, issued by the “Fareologists” at Bing Travel, showed that this year airfare for both international and domestic spring break travel, generally defined as travel between Feb. 28 and March 31, averages $349, up 9 percent from 2009. In addition, the average ticket for the most popular spring break travel itinerary with a Saturday departure and Sunday return is $418, up $57 or 16 percent from last year.

Lower hotel rates bring down costs

Although domestic airfare is higher this year, domestic hotel rates continue to drop for popular spring travel destinations, and reveal an average decline of 15 percent over 2009. To make the most of their travel budgets, consumers should choose destinations, travel dates and hotels that have decreased rates and could bring down the cost of the total trip.

On average, premium hotel rates in popular domestic spring travel destinations are down 15 percent over 2009, averaging $173 per night. In popular destinations such as Las Vegas, rates are down as much as 27 percent, an average of $103 per night, and rates in San Diego are down as much as 24 percent.

“We’ve seen some impressive hotel deals over the past year,” Grus said. “A decrease in demand and occupancy has led hotels to slash rates to fill empty rooms, and we expect that this will remain the trend for 2010 spring travel and potentially beyond.”

Also, choosing the right destination this spring could allow travelers to get more for their money. On the West Coast, travelers can choose Las Vegas or Maui, where impressive discounts can be found. Closer to the East Coast they may head to Orlando or Puerto Vallarta, where hotel rates have significantly decreased.

“Despite the recession, airlines are continuing to cut capacity, and spring airfares are creeping back up to 2008 levels,” said Bing Travel Fareologist Joel Grus. “Thankfully, we are seeing a deep decrease in hotel prices across the board, which could reduce overall trip costs and offset higher airfares.”

How to save on airfare this Spring Break

Avoid late March travel

Traveling during the first week of March as opposed to the week of March 22 will save travelers an average of $65 on airfare. The week of March 22 is particularly expensive this year, with an average airfare of $379 per ticket.

Fly Tuesdays and Wednesdays

This year, a seven-night Tuesday to Tuesday or Wednesday to Wednesday trip saves on average 22 percent and about $86 less than traveling on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Use airfare predictions

Airfares fluctuate on a daily basis. The Bing Travel Price Predictor is a helpful tool that predicts whether to buy airfare now or wait. Savvy travelers should sign up for alerts and monitor predictions for their trips before booking to help save on airfare costs.

For instance, Bing Travel’s Price Predictor shows whether the lowest fares appear to be rising or dropping and provides a recommendation to buy now or wait.

The Bing Travel Hotel Rate Indicator helps consumers know at a glance if the offered rate for a hotel is a deal based on historical rates. Rate Indicator is available for more than 5,000 hotels in 30 major cities across the country, for reservations up to 90 days in the future.

To get started planning your trip, check out the Bing Price Predictor technology at: www.bing.com/travel.

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