Peer Bueller, COO and CFO of Kayak, joins Cheddar News to discuss the surge in summer travel demand and how travelers can save. 

Between Bells

Summer Travel Demand Surges 

great to have you here. Thanks so much for joining us. So with increased demand in pricing for summer travel, why are airlines cutting routes here? What we're, what we're hearing? Great to be here baker, thank you very much for having me. Um What we're hearing is really a little bit of a mix of staffing shortages um and these massive increases in demand and airlines just want to focus on the traveler's experience. So I think it's not a bad thing for them to cut back on routes if that prevents future delays and cancelations, which are all too inconvenient. Absolutely. So, pierre, are we expecting travelers to pay more in terms of pricing and demand here as well? But are we expecting travelers going to pay more for any sort of summer travel? Especially with Memorial Day right around the corner? Yes, on average, we do see increased prices across verticals and hotels and flights and rental cars, but there's great deals to be found always. And is there is the expectation here that this, as long as the airlines are trying to get their lagging their legs under, you know, control, get more pilots, get more staff is the expectation here that we're gonna be paying for this for quite a while. I think a part of the demand right now is driven up by pent up demand. We've just been deprived off of travel for about two years. Um And I personally definitely can feel that urge to travel again and it seems to be widespread. So right now that's a temporary push under the demand. Things should normalize over the long term, but right now that's what we're dealing with. Uh smart travelers can still find great rates for wherever they want to go. Absolutely. So Pierre, let's talk about the places people are wanting to travel if they're able to go, where are some of the hot destinations that people are going this summer? Uh Currently we see a spike in demand in uh the caribbean and in Mexico for international destinations somewhat close and great weather. Uh domestically a spike in florida. Uh and most notably bozeman Montana and I've been there and it's a, it's a lovely place but we see a spike in demand there. Yeah, bozeman is a gorgeous place and obviously people really wanted to go to the beach with you with florida. Mexico being on that list right there for travelers who are wanting to maybe save some money here appear. What is their, your tips out there for people to maybe save a couple dollars here and there because there's always the talk of, oh, you know, it's the Tuesday at 1 30. That's sort of the time they got to go. What's the sort of the official word here? Yeah, this is, this is our favorite topic. We see a ton of this data. We've got a lot of people that love digging through it and finding little bits of trends. Uh let's see the things I can tell you is planning ahead is important. Uh prices do ramp up closer to departure days. So for domestic we advise uh roughly six weeks in advance of the travel date for international As much as 16 weeks or four months ahead of travel rates on on Wednesdays are 13% below the weekly average Sundays or 15% above for the departure date. So that is a meaningful difference. And then for international travel, I would say we see a very sharp decline or discount on rates early in the morning for departures. So departures anywhere between five am and 10 am really seem to drive a good amount of savings for the traveler. That's some really good advice right there. Pierre, let's talk about somebody who's maybe traveling on a budget. Are there some destinations where people can still have a really good time but still save some dollars at the end of the day. Yeah, rates haven't gone up that much in in some places in Florida. So we see people uh track to that. Mexico is the same story. Canada is not following the trend up in pricing as much as it used to. Um if you're talking about American travelers, it's good to realize that the dollar has appreciated a lot over the over the last year. I don't want to go all nerdy, but it simply means you're getting as much as 13% more euros for your dollar than you did a year ago. So even with prices increasing in europe, if you, if you earn the money you're gonna spend on vacation in the U. S. That is actually a discount you're going to get for free when you travel to europe. That's a good piece of advice right there up here. Any other trends that you're sort of seeing this summer that we should be aware of here. One that jumped out at me, which I thought was fascinating to realize is pre pandemic. Um, our average rental car contract would be for roughly five days Right now that's grown to 10 days. So we've seen people double the length for which they on average rent a car, which goes to show people are still a little hesitant for metropolitan destinations and looking around to see if they can go close to home, maybe get there by car, move around the airport for a little bit longer. And, and that's the kind of data that's really just fun to see how consumer behavior is finding a way to travel because traveling is just so much fun and people are so eager to do so. Um, and they'll find a way to do it. Absolutely. So well said and I know I speak for a lot of us were very excited to finally be able to have those vacations. Pierre Buehler, the Ceo and CFO and kayak. Such a pleasure pier. Thanks so much for joining us