KAYAK Summer Travel Hacker Guide Gives Travelers the Scoop on the When and Where to Travel This Summer

Data-backed guide also helps Canadians offset the weak dollar to explore the season's hottest spots

TORONTO, April 21, 2016 /CNW/ - KAYAK, the world's leading travel search engine, has launched the summer edition of its 2016 Travel Hacker Guide.  Curated by KAYAK's team of data scientists and travel experts who looked within the site's one billion annual searches to identify insights on when to book and how much it will cost to get to summer's most popular destinations, the guide was designed to make travel planning easier.

The guide features the Top 10 Trending Summer Destinations and Top 10 Trending European Destinations to give travelers the scoop on destinations that have received the greatest increase in interest year over year. The guide also features the Top 10 Winter in Summer Destinations for those looking for more moderate temperatures and Top 10 Summer Friday Destinations which highlights popular summer weekend spots.

For each destination in the guide, travelers will find median airfare costs, median hotel rates and when to book guidance along with average temperature, average rainfall and a Hacker Tip.

Travelers should look to data to beat the exchange 

KAYAK's 2016 Summer Travel Hacker Guide may also help ease concern among users regarding the weakened Canadian dollar, which has dropped by almost 20% on average over the past year¹. Travelers can use the guide to book strategically when median airfare and/or hotel rates are lowest to offset the exchange.

"We know travelers are looking for ways to make their dollars stretch and the data presented in the Travel Hacker Guide can help take away some of the guesswork in the planning process," said David Solomito, North America Brand Director, KAYAK. "Our goal is to help travelers anticipate hotel and flight costs and to give them some ideas on where to go so they can make the travel decisions that are right for them."

The guide also reveals the following insights about summer travel:

• The low loonie may be driving increased interest in Canadian cities – Calgary, Montreal and Toronto all landed on the list of trending summer destination. Calgary – in its second guide appearance is even hotter in 2016, jumping three spots to #4 this year.
• As the games approach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil lays claim to hottest international destination, with a 127% increase in flight searches versus the previous summer.
• European adventure is on – but with a difference. For seaside fun, look no further: nine out of ten featured European destinations are port cities.
• With Summer Fridays ahead, a quick sojourn south of the border lets travelers pack maximum fun into one weekend. For long weekend getaways, US East Coast destinations are especially popular: four cities up and down the coast from Atlantic City, NJ to Key West, FL are featured.

In addition to the Travel Hacker Guide, KAYAK offers a range of tools for budget-conscious travelers:

• Set up Price Alerts and KAYAK will email or text you with an update if flight or hotel prices change so you never miss a deal.
• Check out KAYAK Explore, it allows you to see all the places you can fly within a certain budget range.
• Select the +/- 3-day Flex Search option on KAYAK when searching for flights. It shows you if leaving 3 days before or after your arrival and departure dates will help you save.

The inaugural version of the Travel Hacker Guide was launched in February of 2015. Travelers can explore the summer edition of the guide by visiting www.KAYAK.com/summertravelhacker and search flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages by visiting www.ca.KAYAK.com.

For full methodology on the Travel Hacker Guide, visit www.KAYAK.com/summertravelhacker.

ABOUT KAYAK
KAYAK is the world's leading travel search engine. KAYAK searches other travel sites and shows travelers the information they need to find the right flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages.  The company's website and apps also offer tools to help travelers plan and manage their trip, including price alerts, price forecasts and free itinerary management.  Each year, KAYAK processes more than one billion searches for travel information and has local sites in more than 30 countries and 20 languages. KAYAK is an independently managed subsidiary of The Priceline Group.

¹ 20% based on Bank of Canada comparing Canadian Dollar vs. American Dollar high (1.1763 CAD / 0.8501 USD) and low (1.4661 CAD / 0.6821 USD) between April 2015 and April 2016. Rate history accessed at http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/10-year-lookup/

SOURCE KAYAK

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Press Contact: Melissa Weiner, [email protected], 416-642-7956