The high cost of living and the expected hurricane this summer are not deterring tourists from the upcoming 4th of July.
Miami is one of the most popular places in the United States to celebrate the country’s birthday, and according to travel forecasts, Fort Lauderdale is also holding its own.
On Priceline, Booking’s travel website, Miami is near the top of the list of most popular destinations for the 4th of July weekend, broken down by flights, rental cars and hotels. The Magic City ranked third for flights alone, behind Las Vegas and New York, and second for rental cars, behind Los Angeles. It ranked seventh for hotel bookings.
The average cost of a trip to Miami for the Fourth was as follows: The average round-trip airfare was $276, the average nightly hotel rate was $200, and the average daily rate for a rental car was $51, according to Priceline.
Priceline found that domestic airfare for The Fourth is up to 17% cheaper nationwide than the same period last year. Kayak, another travel site also owned by Booking, had a similar finding. It also saw a 7% decline in the average hotel nightly rate from 2023.
Kayak research also indicated rising demand for South Florida. Miami was the ninth most searched domestic destination.
Meanwhile, traveling to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was the fifth cheapest airfare in the United States, with an average airfare of $343, according to Kayak. When hotel and airfare were combined, it did even better, climbing to second place. The total cost including one night was $570.
Busy airports predicted
The airports in the region expect an increase. Miami International Airport predicts it will serve 1.1 million passengers from July 1 to 8, said Greg Chin, communications director for Miami-Dade Aviation Department. This amounts to 156,000 passengers per day and would be an increase of seven percent compared to the same period a year ago.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is expecting 575,700 passengers during the six-day holiday from July 3-8, said Arlene Satchell, public information officer for the Broward County Aviation Department. That is about 1% more than last year. The three busiest days in this period are expected on Wednesday July 3, Saturday July 6 and Sunday July 7.
American Airlines expects to serve more than 510,000 passengers on 3,600 flights at Miami International Airport during the 11-day holiday period running from June 27 to July 7. The airline’s busiest travel days are Saturday, June 29, and Saturday, July 6, with 333 daily departures from MIA.
AAA rankings
AAA projects that new travel records will be set across the country and in Florida this Independence Day. It is estimated that more than 70.9 million people in the United States will travel 50 miles or more from home, up 3.5 million from last year. About 4.5 million of those will come from the Sunshine State, a 7% increase from 2023.
In AAA’s ranking of most desirable destinations based on booking data, Miami ranked fifth and Fort Lauderdale ranked seventh.
“The summer travel season is off to a great start, and we expect to set new travel records on the road and in the air during Independence Day week,” Debbie Hass, vice president of travel for AAA-The Auto Club Group, said in a statement. She said we can expect “even more people at airports and at popular attractions like beaches, lakes and amusement parks.”
AAA’s figures are based on a 9-day travel period from Saturday, June 29 to Sunday, July 7.
The report goes on to say, “despite concerns about inflation, overall travel is increasing thanks to growth in consumer confidence, wages and the continued strength of consumer spending.”
After the fourth holiday is over, don’t expect any major delays for the rest of July.
In Priceline’s list of most popular domestic destinations for the entire month, Miami ranked first by flight and fourth by hotel.
The average cost for a round trip flight to Miami is $251 and the average hotel price is $215 per night.
