News & Events
LowFares.com Reports Surprising Search Trends for Thanksgiving and Christmas Travel
Los Angeles. October 8, 2008. Despite financial market turmoil and concerns about the economy, consumers are still actively searching for holiday travel, according to LowFares.comTM, a leading travel comparison search site for airline tickets, hotels, car rentals and vacation packages.



The new data, which is based on more than 15,000 randomly sampled queries, reveals some surprises:

  • The rate of searches is outpacing 2007 by 12.5%;
  • As of October 1, searches for Thanksgiving flights topped Christmas by more than 5 to 1;
  • Consumers plan to stay closer to home to celebrate Thanksgiving. Forty-two percent of Thanksgiving searches departing from California will stay in the West. That number drops to 23% for Christmas searches;
  • Counter intuitively, Christmas travelers are choosing destinations that are further away and extending their holidays, incorporating both Christmas and New Year's in their plans with departures on December 20 and returns on January 3 being the most popular dates;
  • Among searches originating in the US, 36% were for domestic flights, and 64% were for international flights. Mexico was a popular destination, as well as other countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Favorites included Colombia, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic.


"While airlines have cut capacity, there are still affordable flights available for the holidays, especially if consumers extend their travel or select alternate travel dates. For example, if a Thanksgiving traveler can leave a day or two before the most popular travel day, Wednesday, November 26, savings are in the 15-20% range," said Greg Samson, General Manager of LowFares.com. "On the LowFares.com comparison site, it is easy to search multiple travel partners simultaneously. The ability to make quick, side-by-side comparisons for rates from leading travel websites during peak travel times really helps to make decisions on travel options very easy."


"While airline travel is down across the board, don't wait to make holiday travel plans. It's best to research options and lock in a flight now. Traditionally holiday fares run about 20-50% above non-holiday fares, and this year will be no different."

About LowFares.comTM
LowFares.com, an Oversee.net company, is the leader in finding cheap flights, cheap hotels, car rentals and vacation packages. With more than 2 million unique visitors a month, LowFares.com offers an online experience that allows travelers to search multiple travel destinations simultaneously.

About Oversee.net
Founded in 2000 by Lawrence Ng and Fred Hsu, Oversee.net is a technology-driven online marketing solutions company, with two primary divisions - Oversee Domain Services and Oversee Marketing Services. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Portland, Oregon, and Pompano Beach, Florida, the company has over 200 employees. Some of Oversee's key brands include SnapNames®, Moniker®, DomainSponsorTM, LowFares.com, Low.comTM and IdentityTheft.comTM. Please visit http://www.oversee.net.

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