Best and worst spring break airfare deals revealed

NEW YORK, NY – As college students and families across America prepare to go on spring break, new research has identified the best and worst destinations for budget-conscious travelers still looking t

NEW YORK, NY – As college students and families across America prepare to go on spring break, new research has identified the best and worst destinations for budget-conscious travelers still looking to purchase flights for the mid-term getaway.

This year, average roundtrip airfares for many popular spring break destinations dropped in price compared with 2013. However, travelers flying out of Boston and Columbus can expect to see an overall 1%-2% price increase to destinations from their city. The largest fare hike was 39% from Boston to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the average roundtrip flight costs $406 this spring.

On the flip side, while some routes decreased in price by as much as 66% (Philadelphia to Dallas), the No. 1 spring break destination, for seven of the eight college towns analyzed, was not the cheapest flight route available. The top destinations also failed to experience the biggest year-on-year price drop.

“Students and families need to make smart, informed decisions if they want to save money on airfare this spring,” said Warren Chang, vice president and general manager, Fly.com. “Sticking with last year’s destination may not add up. On the East Coast, we are seeing tremendous value from destinations like Las Vegas, Cancun and West Palm Beach and, for West Coast travelers, flights to Hawaii are trending significantly lower than last year.”

The research used data collected from more than 4.75 million user searches and extracted domestic and international flights with travel dates between March 1 โ€“ April 6, 2014, for major college towns in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

Boston:

2014 Top 10 Routes
Avg. Fare
YOY Fare Change

1. Orlando
$279
9%

2. Fort Myers
$261
-11%

3. Fort Lauderdale
$277
-5%

4. West Palm Beach
$220
-21%

5. Tampa
$262
-5%

6. Las Vegas
$363
6%

7. Miami
$352
6%

8. Chicago
$199
1%

9. San Juan, Puerto Rico
$406
39%

10. Oranjestad, Aruba
$492
-2%

Columbus:

2014 Top 10 Routes
Avg. Fare
YOY Fare Change

1. Las Vegas
$386
0%

2. Orlando
$342
-3%

3. Fort Lauderdale
$367
5%

4. Fort Myers
$361
1%

5. Tampa
$343
2%

6. Miami
$356
-8%

7. Phoenix
$409
8%

8. San Diego
$537
13%

9. Cancun, Mexico
$511
-17%

10. Honolulu
$880
9%

Detroit:

2014 Top 10 Routes
Avg. Fare
YOY Fare Change

1. Tampa
$462
-13%

2. Miami
$369
-8%

3. Los Angeles
$350
-9%

4. San Diego
$388
-15%

5. New Orleans
$358
27%

6. New York City
$171
-26%

7. Cancun, Mexico
$478
-2%

8. Salt Lake City
$396
-11%

9. West Palm Beach
$338
-19%

10. San Antonio
$420
-1%

Los Angeles:

2014 Top 10 Routes
Avg. Fare
YOY Fare Change

1. Honolulu
$438
-21%

2. Las Vegas
$141
-7%

3. New York City
$329
-6%

4. Seattle
$183
-21%

5. Miami
$395
18%

6. Kahului, Maui
$601
-12%

7. Lihue, Kauai
$617
-1%

8. London, U.K.
$861
-5%

9. Los Cabos, Mexico
$389
9%

10. Fort Lauderdale
$358
2%

New York City:

2014 Top 10 Routes
Avg. Fare
YOY Fare Change

1. New Orleans
$298
-2%

2. Las Vegas
$358
-10%

3. Miami
$301
0%

4. Fort Lauderdale
$264
-8%

5. San Juan, Puerto Rico
$361
-4%

6. Paris, France
$761
-9%

7. Cancun, Mexico
$441
-21%

8. Los Angeles
$333
-14%

9. Punta Cana, D.R.
$485
-18%

10. Guayaquil, Ecuador
$566
-11%

Philadelphia:

2014 Top 10 Routes
Avg. Fare
YOY Fare Change

1. Las Vegas
$207
-40%

2. Orlando
$266
-19%

3. Dallas
$135
-66%

4. Fort Lauderdale
$288
3%

5. Miami
$303
-5%

6. Tampa
$284
7%

7. New Orleans
$354
32%

8. Fort Myers
$288
-15%

9. Los Angeles
$319
-1%

10. San Diego
$338
-5%

San Francisco:

2014 Top 10 Routes
Avg. Fare
YOY Fare Change

1. New York City
$318
-11%

2. Honolulu
$507
-14%

3. Las Vegas
$210
4%

4. Fort Lauderdale
$391
-4%

5. Shanghai, China
$713
-22%

6. Miami
$451
0%

7. Cancun, Mexico
$497
-17%

8. Los Angeles
$159
-2%

9. Denver
$200
-22%

10. New Orleans
$464
-3%

Washington D.C.:

2014 Top 10 Routes
Avg. Fare
YOY Fare Change

1. Tampa
$194
-23%

2. Las Vegas
$331
-23%

3. Fort Lauderdale
$317
26%

4. Miami
$321
9%

5. San Juan, Puerto Rico
$377
7%

6. Lima, Peru
$573
-13%

7. New Orleans
$271
-11%

8. Cancun, Mexico
$438
-23%

9. Orlando
$269
-36%

10. San Diego
$285
-32%

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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