Fall 2020 Travel Trends

By TripIt

September 29, 2020

As our atypical year extends into its third season, autumn, we wondered how travel would reflect this new normal: Would large cities — usually a big draw during Q3 — regain any traction or would the recent trends we saw over Labor Day weekend hold?

TripIt analyzed the 50 most popular destinations for US-origin fall travel (Sep 15 – Nov 15, 2020; so, after Labor Day and prior to Thanksgiving).

Much like with Labor Day travel, the data show large increases in the share of flight reservations for more remote or beachy locales, especially in Hawaii, and in resort destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean. 

Fall 2020 flight trends

fall 2020 travel

Beach destinations continue to be popular for travelers, with Cancun, MX; Kahului, Maui, HI; San Jose Cabo, MX; Fort Myers, FL; Lihue, Kauai, HI; Puerto Vallarta, MX; Kailua-Kona, Big Island, HI; and Montego Bay, JM all seeing their share of fall flight reservations double (or more) over the same travel period last year.

Desert locations like Palm Springs, CA (+66 percent); Phoenix, AZ (+36 percent); and Albuquerque, NM (+27 percent) have increased their respective share of fall bookings when compared to last year, whereas big cities like Chicago, NYC, SF, Boston and Newark have seen marked drops in their share of fall bookings.

Rank City State/ Country YoY Share Change Rank 2019 Rank Change Diff
1 Las Vegas NV 3% 1 0
2 Orlando FL 17% 2 0
3 Denver CO 22% 4 1
4 Phoenix AZ 36% 10 6
5 Cancun MX 159% 29 24
6 Chicago IL -32% 3 -3
7 Kahului HI 127% 23 16
8 Los Angeles CA 2% 8 0
9 Honolulu HI 93% 28 19
10 San Diego CA -11% 12 2
11 Nashville TN 6% 17 6
12 Dallas TX -20% 11 -1
13 Paris FR 15% 19 6
14 Boston MA -27% 9 -5
15 London GB -37% 7 -8
16 New Orleans NO -2% 18 2
17 New York NY -42% 5 -12
18 San Jose Cabo MX 119% 39 21
19 San Francisco CA -42% 6 -13
20 Austin TX -11% 16 -4
21 Atlanta GA -18% 15 -6
22 Portland OR 8% 21 -1
23 Fort Lauderdale FL 27% 25 2
24 Seattle WA -27% 14 -10
25 Tampa FL 46% 35 10
26 Miami FL 37% 36 10
27 Rome IT 17% 30 3
28 Houston TX 12% 31 3
29 Fort Myers FL 101% 55 26
30 Lihue HI 165% 70 40
31 Washington DC -50% 13 -18
32 Tokyo JP -12% 26 -6
33 Baltimore MD -6% 32 -1
34 Salt Lake City UT 5% 37 3
35 Newark NJ -40% 20 -15
36 Puerto Vallarta MX 115% 67 31
37 Oakland CA 33% 46 9
38 San Jose CA -29% 22 -16
39 Kailua-Kona HI 109% 69 30
40 Santa Ana CA -12% 34 -6
41 Minneapolis MN -31% 24 -17
42 Albuquerque NM 27% 50 8
43 Charleston SC 26% 51 8
44 Montego Bay JM 153% 87 43
45 Barcelona ES -29% 33 -12
46 Philadelphia PA -36% 27 -19
47 Sacramento CA 13% 53 6
48 Raleigh/Durham NC -15% 41 -7
49 Palm Springs CA 66% 73 24
50 Dublin IE 0% 49 -1
 

Fall car rental trends

fall 2020 travel

The number of days for the average car rental has also increased by two days from three days for the fall of 2019, to five days this year.

Rank City State Rank Change
1 Orlando FL 0
2 Kahului HI 10
3 Denver CO -1
4 Las Vegas NV 4
5 Phoenix AZ -2
6 Lihue HI 33
7 Kailua-Kona HI 64
8 San Francisco CA -4
9 Portland OR 5
10 Honolulu HI 16
11 Boston MA -2
12 Los Angeles CA -5
13 Fort Myers FL 27
14 San Diego CA -1
15 Chicago IL -10
16 Seattle WA 44
17 Miami FL 27
18 Tampa FL 6
19 Salt Lake City UT 3
20 Fort Lauderdale FL 13

Methodology: TripIt analyzed US-origin RT flights and car rentals made from Jan 1 – Aug 15, 2020, with a travel date from Sep 15 – Nov 15, 2020, and compared that to an equivalent booking window for equivalent travel dates in 2019.