Shoulder season started off strong in September, so we dug into reservation data from TripIt, one of the world’s highest-rated travel planning apps, to see where, when, and how long Americans are traveling this October. Our data shows that all travel booking types (flights, accommodations, and rental cars) are up from October 2022—indicating a sustained appetite for fall trips.
Flight volumes in October will dip slightly from September, however, they’re still up year over year: overall flights climb 55% from last year; international flights increase 64%.
Top destinations in the U.S. for flights include Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, and Dallas (hint: top hotel destinations mirror U.S. flight destinations—more below). The busiest departure day for flights was Monday, October 2, followed by Friday, October 6.
International cities like London—the top destination on all of the month’s busiest travel days— Tokyo, Paris, Rome, and Cancun will see the lion’s share of Americans headed abroad. The busiest departure days will be Friday, October 6, and Saturday, October 7.
As for trip length, Americans headed abroad plan to spend nearly twice as many days away on those trips (11.3 days) versus domestic trips (6.1 days).
Related reading: Blended Travel to Increase Through End of 2023, Survey Finds
Accommodation reservations are up 42% year over year; vacation rentals are up 35%. October 6 will be the busiest check-in day for all accommodation types. Top destinations for accommodation reservations clicked copy-paste on domestic flights: the top three most popular are Las Vegas, New York, and Chicago, followed by Atlanta, San Diego, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, vacation rental bookings mix it up: we see Chicago lead the pack on the busiest check-in day (Oct 6), but Austin claims the top spot for the remainder of the month’s busiest days (Oct 5, 12, 13, and 20). Other hotspot destinations include Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Nashville, and Los Angeles.
Rental car reservations are—you guessed it—up this October; bookings increased 46% from last year. October 2 and 9 are the most popular days for pick up. Top pick-up destinations include Dallas, Denver, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco.
Methodology: TripIt looked at U.S. origin round-trip flight, lodging, and rental car reservations made on or before September 12, 2023, for travel during October 2023, and equivalent booking periods in 2022. Reservation data in TripIt is provided by users and is booking provider agnostic.
