Los Angeles Again Tops Airline Travelers’ Holiday Destinations

03 Nov 2016, 08:53 AM EDT

ARC Data Reveals Airfares Drop Overall to Most Popular Locations

ARLINGTON, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC), the premier driver of air travel
intelligence and commerce in the travel industry, reported that Los
Angeles is the most popular destination for airline travelers during
both the 2016 Thanksgiving and Christmas travel seasons as of today.
ARC’s findings, based on ticket sales data from approximately 13,000
U.S. retail and corporate travel agency locations and online travel
agencies, showed that the top 10 destinations favored warmer climates
within the U.S., Caribbean and Mexico overall. All flights included in
the study were based on round-trip tickets for flights that originated
in the U.S.

While Los Angeles topped the list for both Thanksgiving and Christmas,
Orlando also proved to be a hot spot for travelers, ranking second for
Thanksgiving and third for Christmas. Many travelers seem to be looking
for warmer weather with trips to Cancun planned—placing fourth on the
list for Thanksgiving and second for Christmas. San Francisco, Chicago,
Seattle and Boston all ranked in the top ten for both holidays.

Overall roundtrip ticket prices for holiday travel are down from 2015.
Consumers paid an average of $454 to travel to Los Angeles for
Thanksgiving, down $25 from last year, and $468 for Christmas, down $28.
Roundtrip tickets to Cancun dropped nearly $100 for Christmas and $25
for Thanksgiving versus the same period in 2015.

For commentary about ARC’s study, view this video.

The 10 top Thanksgiving travel destinations for 2016 are:

1.   Los Angeles
2.   Orlando
3.   Chicago
4.
Cancun
5.   San Francisco
6.   Las Vegas
7.
Dallas
8.   New York
9.   Seattle
10. Boston

The 10 top Christmas travel destinations for 2016 are:

1.   Los Angeles
2.   Cancun
3.   Orlando
4.
Seattle
5.   Miami
6.   San Francisco
7.
Phoenix
8.   Denver
9.   Chicago
10. Fort
Lauderdale

About ARC:

The Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) is the premier driver of air
travel intelligence and commerce in the travel industry with leading
business solutions, travel agency accreditation services, process and
financial management tools and high-quality data. In 2015, ARC settled
$88.3 billion worth of carrier ticket transactions for more than 9,400
travel agencies with 13,000 points of sale. Established in 1984, ARC is
headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices in Louisville,
Kentucky, Tampa, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico. For more
information, please visit www.arccorp.com
and www.twitter.com/arcreporter.

Notes for Editors:

*Ticket Sales

Thanksgiving travel occurred between the Saturday before Thanksgiving
and the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Christmas travel occurred between December 21 and January 1.
Average ticket price is for roundtrip ticket only and includes all
taxes and fees.
Airport destinations include the United States, Mexico and the
Caribbean with flights originating within the U.S.
Results do not include sales of tickets purchased directly from
airlines.

Contacts

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC)
Hillary Smith, 703-341-1207
hsmith@arccorp.com