Hotwire.com released May 24 the May 2012 Hotwire Travel Savings Indicator, which features the top five cities in North America where hotel, air and car rental rates have dropped the most compared to the same time last year.
Car Price Drops
Travelers can rent a car for an average of $30 or less in each of the top five cities. Boston remains at the top of the discount car list for the second consecutive month with a 61% decrease, while Cleveland and Washington, D.C. swap their rankings this month with 52% and 46% decreases respectively. Lastly, Las Vegas and Milwaukee rejoin the list with 48% and 47% decreases.
When compared to this time last year, the top five car rental price reductions for May 2012 include:
Boston, MA (-61%)— $21
Cleveland, OH (-52%) — $24
Las Vegas, NV (-48%) — $23
Milwaukee, WI (-46%) — $23
Washington, DC (-46%) — $30
Hotel Price Drops
For the third month in a row, Atlantic City tops the hotel list with a 13% drop. Augusta, Ga. hosted the Masters Golf Tournament in April, causing hotel prices to rise in this city. But this month, new hotels have increased the number of rooms in this small market, driving down prices for a 6% decrease compared to last year.
Hotels in Cocoa Beach, Fla. are offering competitive prices which are helping to drive a 4% price drop overall. Toronto, Ontario and Birmingham, Ala. round out the list, both with a 2% drop.
Air Price Drops
Little Rock tops the list with a 16% drop. San Francisco jumps from third to second this month with a 9% decrease as low-cost airline carriers continue to create a competitive pricing environment at SFO.
Newcomers Birmingham, Ala., Akron, Ohio, and Greensboro, N.C. round out the top five airfare decreases with a 7%, 7% and 6% drop, respectively.
The Hotwire Travel Savings Indicator runs results during the second week of each month. Prices are compared within the same categories for consistency, and the percentage change in price for each region is generated as an overall average of the changes in those categories.
The airfare and car rental prices are average prices based on bookings across all car and seat classes. Actual prices may be higher or lower than the examples that are provided.
