NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As college students and families across America prepare to go on spring break, new research from Fly.com™ 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."
Fly.com used data collected from more than 4.75 million user searches and extracted domestic and international flights with travel dates between March 1 – April 6, 2014, for major college towns in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
To find the best airfares for spring break travel, visit Fly.com Today's Best Fares.
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Boston:
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|
2014 Top 10 Routes
|
Avg. Fare
|
YOY Fare Change
|
|
1. Orlando
|
$279
|
9%
|
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2. Fort Myers
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$261
|
-11%
|
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3. Fort Lauderdale
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$277
|
-5%
|
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4. West Palm Beach
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$220
|
-21%
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5. Tampa
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$262
|
-5%
|
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6. Las Vegas
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$363
|
6%
|
|
7. Miami
|
$352
|
6%
|
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8. Chicago
|
$199
|
1%
|
|
9. San Juan, Puerto Rico
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$406
|
39%
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10. Oranjestad, Aruba
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$492
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-2%
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Columbus:
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2014 Top 10 Routes
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Avg. Fare
|
YOY Fare Change
|
|
1. Las Vegas
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$386
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0%
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2. Orlando
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$342
|
-3%
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3. Fort Lauderdale
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$367
|
5%
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4. Fort Myers
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$361
|
1%
|
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5. Tampa
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$343
|
2%
|
|
6. Miami
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$356
|
-8%
|
|
7. Phoenix
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$409
|
8%
|
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8. San Diego
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$537
|
13%
|
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9. Cancun, Mexico
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$511
|
-17%
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10. Honolulu
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$880
|
9%
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Detroit:
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2014 Top 10 Routes
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Avg. Fare
|
YOY Fare Change
|
|
1. Tampa
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$462
|
-13%
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2. Miami
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$369
|
-8%
|
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3. Los Angeles
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$350
|
-9%
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4. San Diego
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$388
|
-15%
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5. New Orleans
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$358
|
27%
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6. New York City
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$171
|
-26%
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7. Cancun, Mexico
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$478
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-2%
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8. Salt Lake City
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$396
|
-11%
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9. West Palm Beach
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$338
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-19%
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10. San Antonio
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$420
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-1%
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Los Angeles:
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2014 Top 10 Routes
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Avg. Fare
|
YOY Fare Change
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1. Honolulu
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$438
|
-21%
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2. Las Vegas
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$141
|
-7%
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3. New York City
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$329
|
-6%
|
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4. Seattle
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$183
|
-21%
|
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5. Miami
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$395
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18%
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6. Kahului, Maui
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$601
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-12%
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7. Lihue, Kauai
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$617
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-1%
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8. London, U.K.
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$861
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-5%
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9. Los Cabos, Mexico
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$389
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9%
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10. Fort Lauderdale
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$358
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2%
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New York City:
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2014 Top 10 Routes
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Avg. Fare
|
YOY Fare Change
|
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1. New Orleans
|
$298
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-2%
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2. Las Vegas
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$358
|
-10%
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3. Miami
|
$301
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0%
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4. Fort Lauderdale
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$264
|
-8%
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5. San Juan, Puerto Rico
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$361
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-4%
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6. Paris, France
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$761
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-9%
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7. Cancun, Mexico
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$441
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-21%
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8. Los Angeles
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$333
|
-14%
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9. Punta Cana, D.R.
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$485
|
-18%
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10. Guayaquil, Ecuador
|
$566
|
-11%
|
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Philadelphia:
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2014 Top 10 Routes
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Avg. Fare
|
YOY Fare Change
|
|
1. Las Vegas
|
$207
|
-40%
|
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2. Orlando
|
$266
|
-19%
|
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3. Dallas
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$135
|
-66%
|
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4. Fort Lauderdale
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$288
|
3%
|
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5. Miami
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$303
|
-5%
|
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6. Tampa
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$284
|
7%
|
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7. New Orleans
|
$354
|
32%
|
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8. Fort Myers
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$288
|
-15%
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9. Los Angeles
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$319
|
-1%
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10. San Diego
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$338
|
-5%
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San Francisco:
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2014 Top 10 Routes
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Avg. Fare
|
YOY Fare Change
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1. New York City
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$318
|
-11%
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2. Honolulu
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$507
|
-14%
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3. Las Vegas
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$210
|
4%
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4. Fort Lauderdale
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$391
|
-4%
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5. Shanghai, China
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$713
|
-22%
|
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6. Miami
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$451
|
0%
|
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7. Cancun, Mexico
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$497
|
-17%
|
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8. Los Angeles
|
$159
|
-2%
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9. Denver
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$200
|
-22%
|
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10. New Orleans
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$464
|
-3%
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Washington D.C.:
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2014 Top 10 Routes
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Avg. Fare
|
YOY Fare Change
|
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1. Tampa
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$194
|
-23%
|
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2. Las Vegas
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$331
|
-23%
|
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3. Fort Lauderdale
|
$317
|
26%
|
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4. Miami
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$321
|
9%
|
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5. San Juan, Puerto Rico
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$377
|
7%
|
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6. Lima, Peru
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$573
|
-13%
|
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7. New Orleans
|
$271
|
-11%
|
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8. Cancun, Mexico
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$438
|
-23%
|
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9. Orlando
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$269
|
-36%
|
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10. San Diego
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$285
|
-32%
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About Fly.com
Fly.com™ (www.fly.com) is the world's easiest-to-use airfare search engine available in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Germany. Fly.com scours major U.S. airlines, international carriers and online travel sites, and then helps people easily sort and refine results by criteria such as number of stops and departure times. Unlike online travel agencies, Fly.com is not a booking engine. Instead, users are referred to their preferred website for direct booking. Fly.com is owned by Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ: TZOO).
About Travelzoo
Travelzoo Inc. is a global Internet media company. With more than 26 million subscribers in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific and 25 offices worldwide, Travelzoo® publishes deals from more than 2,000 travel, entertainment and local companies. Travelzoo Deal Experts review offers to find the best deals and confirm their true value. In Asia Pacific, Travelzoo is independently owned and operated by Travelzoo (Asia) Ltd. and Travelzoo Japan K.K. under a license agreement with Travelzoo Inc.
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Media Contact:
Michelle Erickson
Fly.com, North America
+1 (650) 930-0527
merickson@fly.com
SOURCE Fly.com