Making the Most of Spring Break: How Shifting Your Dates Can Save You Big on Family Vacations
What a Difference a Few Days Can Make!
This one goes out to all of you who know you'll be hit with the winter blues and be yearning for a tropical escape after several months of snow. In this blog post, we're targeting families, and here's why: families often have the most inflexible schedules, and finding the perfect dates for a spring break vacation can be a bit challenging. We believe that the ideal window for many families in 2024 will be from March 23rd to March 30th. That's a Saturday to Saturday, encompassing the entire spring break without missing too much school and allowing for a day of recovery at home.
Sounds fantastic, right? Well, here's the question we'd like to explore with you: How comfortable are you with your kids missing a few days of school? Because, as it turns out, shifting your travel dates by just a bit can have a substantial impact on the cost of your trip.
In the examples below, we'll highlight the price differences between traveling from March 23rd to March 30th and from March 20th to March 27th. This will illustrate just how much airlines tend to capitalize on specific dates, especially weekends attached to the last week of March.
Denver Travelers' Bonus:
Oh, and if you happen to reside in Denver, you might want to consider the Caribbean. Typically, it's quite challenging to avoid red-eye flights or overnight layovers when heading to the Caribbean. In all the examples below, we've exclusively used prices with day flights available from Denver—no red-eyes, no overnights.
(Note: You might still encounter overnights on the return journey from Hawaii, except with Southwest.)
Denver's Spring Break Savings:
Let's dive into the savings that just a three-day shift can bring for Denver travelers. All the fares mentioned are for economy class.
Mexico:
Cancun (nonstops) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $606.00 each
Los Cabos (nonstops) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $903.00 each
Puerto Vallarta (Nonstops) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $892 each
Bahamas:
Nassau (connecting flight) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $98.50 each(Note: If we compare this to the once-a-week United Nonstop flight to the Bahamas, which operates only on Saturdays,….$1741.90 each.)
Jamaica:
Montego Bay (connecting flight) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $555.00 (Note: Southwest has a flight from March 23rd to March 30th that would save $707.50, but it involves a direct flight with one stop, which actually stops twice. Still, it's a great price.)
Puerto Rico:
San Juan (NONSTOPS!) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $1306.00 (Note: This could be the year for a Caribbean cruise that is actually cool for Coloradans. Most people from Denver are stuck with the western Caribbean. Puerto Rico opens up some cool itineraries.)
Barbados:
Bridgetown (connecting flights) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $936.30 each
The Dominican Republic:
Punta Cana (connecting flights) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $1212.00 each
Hawaii:
Maui (nonstop) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $896.00 each
Maui (connecting flights) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $710 each
Kauai (nonstop) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $2036 each
Kauai (connecting flights) - Savings per person for March 20th-27th over March 23rd-30th: $474.40 each
Multiply the above numbers by the number of family members you have, and you'll discover your potential spring break savings.
