New Year’s is the perfect time to make resolutions and travel plans for 2017
When creating a travel budget, it’s crucial to select destinations where you’ll get the most bang for your buck. After flipping through the data, Hopper was able to pinpoint 10 cities (both in the US and abroad) where airfare is expected to be cheaper than it was in 2016. Since it’s hard to predict exactly when and where travelers will start their trip, the flight prediction company did a weighted average of all domestic US origins to predict the price that a typical customer would pay.
Still, it’s safe to assume that airfare will be more expensive in the summer and cheaper in the spring and winter. So without further ado, here are the top cities where airfare is expected to drop the most next year.
Topping the list is Washington, D.C., where airfare to the nation’s capital is expected to cost $339 in 2017, a potential savings of 50% compared to last year. The new National Museum of African American History is selling advanced passes for April starting Jan. 4, and the Cherry Blossom trees will likely start to bloom around the end of March, so there is a lot to do, and the price is right.
If statues of past presidents aren’t your thing, consider flying to Baltimore, where the price of airfare is predicted to hover around $254, about 40% less than last year. Rounding out the top three is Denver, a city with a booming tourism industry that hit a record-breaking 77.7 million visitors in 2015. If you want to visit the Red Rocks, hike up a 14er, or sip on a Coors Light, the average cost of a plane ticket could be $156, a savings of 42% compared to 2016.
Internationally, the Caribbean is poised to be a hotspot in 2017. Liberia, Costa Rica, is the rural cousin to the capital San Jose, whose chill vibe and proximity to surfing communities (like Playa Tamarindo) attracts visitors from all around the world. Liberia also boasts cheap airfare, with round-trip tickets from the US expected to cost $356, a potential savings of 49%. In Barbados, tickets are expected to drop 45% to $277, and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, rounds out the top three with airfare expected to drop 42%. Unfortunately, the expected price of a plane ticket to Port of Spain is still predicted to come to $608, which is cheaper than 2016, but certainly not a bargain.
The best strategy to guarantee you get the best deal on airfare is to set price drop alerts. Hopper, Airfare Watchdog and Kayak all have services that will watch selected destinations and send you an email or smartphone notification when prices start to fall. Set an alert, sit back and let the deals come to you.
Brittany is a writer at Yahoo Finance
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