Spring Break Travel Costs Reach Record Levels in 2025

(Bloomberg) — It’s never been more expensive to go on vacation during spring break.

This year the average trip from March 12-21—determined to be the peak period for school breaks—costs $8,306. That’s more than double what it cost in 2019 and 26% more than it did last year, according to Florida-based Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison engine.

To crunch those numbers, Squaremouth examined the value of 6,000 trips from Feb. 20 to April 15, 2025. (Cost of travel must be submitted when purchasing insurance.) The company also surveyed 8,000 US travelers about their plans, finding that at least 40% of respondents were using this time to make good on long-held travel desires.

That explains why Italy and Japan rank among Squaremouth’s most popular choices for spring break this year. The latter is an outlier compared with normal spring break destinations, says Jenna Hummer, public-relations director at Squaremouth.. The country recently announced it welcomed a record-setting 36.9 million international visitors in 2024, of whom 2.7 million were American—up 58% since 2019.

And while the yen’s favorable exchange rates are helping drive tourism to Japan, it’s also possible the popularity of this destination is driving up spring break costs overall: The average insured trip there costs just under $10,000.

“People are wanting to take some of those big trips that they’ve been thinking about since just before 2020,” says Hummer. Warm-weather destinations—Mexico, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic—are perennial choices that are gaining popularity, she adds, with fewer Americans heading to Antarctica and Iceland than in years prior.

Rising Hotel and Flight Costs

Hotel rates have been on the rise since 2019, and there’s still no sign of that stopping. Data from real estate analytics global provider CoStar pulled for Bloomberg shows significant jumps in average daily rates from 2019 to 2024 in all of the key markets highlighted by Squaremouth for spring break. By 2024 the average cost of a luxury hotel room in the Bahamas had already increased 58% to $623.75 per night during spring break; book now for March and the average cost of a five-star hotel there will be $1,049, according to Google. (CoStar does not publish forward-looking pricing data.) In the Dominican Republic, prices jumped 67% to $362 during the same period; Google shows average rates of $587 on the rooms that remain for this year’s break.

The good news is that other travel costs have begun to taper. Prices for short-term rentals show negligible year-over-year change at the moment, says Ryan Saylor, director of product marketing at vacation rental revenue management platform Beyond.

Airlines are still limited in their ability to add capacity to the places where people want to go—that’s because new aircraft from Airbus SE and Boeing Co. remain in short supply. But airfares have barely budged. Domestic flights for spring break trips are now averaging $280, an increase of 4% compared to 2024, according to Hopper. The average round-trip ticket to the Caribbean and Mexico is now in the mid-$400s, up 3% from last year.

It’s not too late to tap into a variety of tried-and-true hacks that can soften the blow of spring break costs.

To get the best flight prices, Hopper recommends traveling during the first two weeks of March. At publication time, a direct JetBlue flight connecting New York to Punta Cana from March 1-9 cost $537 round trip, whereas from March 15-22 the same flight was listed at $638.

Departing on a Saturday and returning midweek can shave up to another $100 from your ticket.

If short-term rentals offer a better value than hotels, you can maximize the savings by picking a destination where there’s still lots of availability. Saylor says Las Vegas and Miami fall into that category, with average daily rates offering small year-over-year discounts in both markets.Avoiding popular destinations is ultimately the best strategy—whether you’re looking to save on hotels, homes or the costs of getting there. Among the warm-weather spots that Hopper says are underrated this year are Barbados (where you can fly from New York for just $245), San Diego (where cross-country flights can be found for under $200) and Belize City. It also calls out Asheville, a magnetic destination that’s striving to welcome back visitors as it continues its rebound from Hurricane Helene.

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