Every year on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, the travel industry experiences a small-scale, somewhat underappreciated event. Airlines begin to lower their prices. Hotels stack their biggest savings. Onboard credits are accumulated by cruise lines. And the majority of Americans completely miss it because they are still processing the weekend and aren’t quite prepared to consider January. That is evolving. The shopping holiday known as “Travel Tuesday,” which Hopper virtually created in 2017 by examining nine years of post-Thanksgiving pricing data, has been expanding more quickly than any other calendar-linked deal day in the travel industry. According to data from 2025, it is no longer the best-kept secret in the sector.
In December 2025, Lindsay Schwimer, a consumer expert at Hopper, shared a figure that best illustrates this growth: almost three times as many trips were scheduled on Travel Tuesday as on Black Friday. Not three times as many deals. Three times as many real travelers are planning trips. That’s a significant change in behavior, and it’s important to know why it occurred. In summary, travelers have begun to view Black Friday with appropriate skepticism because it has become so crowded, so dispersed across retail categories, and so frequently criticized for inflated “original” prices. Travel Tuesday, which comes two days after Cyber Monday, attracts people who have completed their gift-giving, turned their attention back to experiences, and are truly prepared to consider their travel plans for the upcoming year.
The 2024 McKinsey analysis provided helpful structural background. Since it’s a little late for most people to plan winter vacations and a little early for summer vacations, November and December are inherently slow months for travel reservations. That makes a gap. Travel Tuesday fills a revenue gap for travel brands, which must fill airplanes, hotel rooms, and cruise ships regardless of booking season. For customers who know to look, that results in a concentration of genuine discounts crammed into a small window. According to data from Skyscanner, travelers who make reservations on Travel Tuesday save between 15 and 25 percent when compared to other days. Although it varies by airline, route, and degree of deal structure, that range is real.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Event Name | Travel Tuesday |
| Date (2025) | December 2, 2025 |
| Date (2024) | December 3, 2024 |
| Originating Platform | Hopper (analyzed data in 2017; coined the term) |
| First Publicized By | New York Times (2018 article crediting Hopper) |
| Comparison: Trips Planned | ~3x more trips planned on Travel Tuesday vs. Black Friday (Hopper data) |
| Google Search Growth | Travel Tuesday searches grew 5x+ over two years (McKinsey) |
| 2023 Booking Spike Data | Hotel, cruise, airline bookings spiked on Travel Tuesday vs. 2-week window before/after (Sojern/McKinsey) |
| Top Destination Category | Resort destinations (Nassau, Punta Cana) — searches up 37% vs. avg. Tuesdays |
| Geographic Reach | Primarily U.S. and Canada; growing in Australia, UK, Netherlands, Spain |
| Average Savings (Skyscanner) | 15%–25% off on airlines that roll out deals Monday night |
| Key Deals (2025) | Sandals: up to 65% off + $2,000 credit; JetBlue Vacations: up to $450 off; Fairmont: 30% off; Hyatt: up to 30% off |
| Key Warning (NerdWallet) | Underlying prices may be inflated; research before booking |
| Expert: Sally French | Travel expert, NerdWallet — warns about false urgency and inflated baseline prices |
| Expert: Lindsay Schwimer | Consumer expert, Hopper — notes blackout dates and hidden restrictions |
| McKinsey Insight | Nov/Dec are slow booking months — Travel Tuesday helps travel brands boost revenue |
| Holiday Context | Same day as Giving Tuesday; follows Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday |
There is a warning to be aware of. In December 2025, Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet, made a point that merits more attention than it usually receives: if the underlying price has already been inflated, the headline percentage is meaningless. If the baseline was artificially raised in the previous weeks, a “40 percent off” banner on a Sandals all-inclusive would read very differently. The same holds true for flights that seem to be significantly reduced but have nonrefundable fares, blackout dates, or resort fees that offset the savings. On this point, consumer experts were consistent: find out the true cost of a particular trip prior to Travel Tuesday, then make a comparison. A countdown timer and a bold percentage are just marketing without that baseline.
For well-prepared travelers, the 2025 deals were genuinely good. With $2,000 in booking credits, sandals were up to 65% off. With a $99 deposit, JetBlue Vacations offered Atlantis Paradise Island packages discounted by $450. Through Travel Tuesday, Fairmont specifically extended its 30% off sale. Members of Hyatt’s World received discounts of up to 30%. The boutique all-business-class airline La Compagnie, which operates flights from Newark to Paris, Nice, and Milan, posted prices that made transatlantic business class affordable for those who had never thought about it. These weren’t made-up savings on hypothetical regular prices. These were the kinds of numbers that cause you to double-check the booking confirmation out of mild disbelief.
Seeing Travel Tuesday grow year after year gives me the impression that the travel industry has discovered something more resilient than a marketing gimmick. It has evolved into a planning anchor, the moment when individuals who have been hazily considering a trip finally open the search tools and make a commitment. That may or may not continue, depending on how honest the transactions are and how controllable the hype is. For the time being, however, the data makes it very evident that the Tuesday following Thanksgiving is the best day to book a discounted flight, hotel, or cruise.
