Heather Wright has long preferred off-season travel, when the weather is cooler, there are fewer people and prices are significantly lower.
At least, that used to be the pattern going into fall.
Wright, a tax accountant who lives in Seattle, is considering a trip to Europe with a friend in November, perhaps to Malta or Madeira. She plans to fly from the United States to a major European airport that is affordable and conveniently accessible, and then take a short flight from there. However, she did not find the savings she expected.
“It’s been kind of strange this fall. Prices seem to be a lot higher for the second half of the season than they have been in the past,” said Wright, who has been primarily focused on tracking airfares.
She’s not wrong.
Fares have increased significantly this year due to soaring jet fuel prices due to the war with Iran. And the broad travel savings long associated with the transition from summer to fall have shrunk in recent years as demand for fall travel increases. Some experts say it is still possible to find a falling value. But travelers will need to be more flexible and strategic.
It’s clear that the “secret season” is no longer a secret, especially among high-end travelers.
“The way we see it, fall is really the new summer,” said Misty Belles, vice president of global communications for Virtuoso, a network specializing in luxury and experiential travel.
Virtuoso saw a 59% year-over-year increase in bookings for fall 2026, and a 69% increase in the amount of money generated from fall bookings. Virtuoso bookings to Europe this fall are up 49% despite a more than 7% increase in prices, “suggesting that travelers are choosing seasons for what they can offer, not what they can save,” Bells said in a recent presentation. (Virtuoso’s numbers are based almost entirely on luxury hotel insights).
High prices aren’t limited to luxury overseas travel. In the U.S., domestic airfare savings for the fall have all but dried up.
“It looks like there will be no slow season for domestic travelers this year,” said Haley Berg, chief travel economist at travel technology platform Hopper Technology Solutions (HTS).
HTS shows average domestic airfares for the fall are up 39% compared to last year, with ticket prices matching the peak summer period for the first time in years.
Four years ago, fall U.S. domestic airfares were about 20% cheaper than during the summer peak. According to HTS, it has increased by 1% this year. The airline cited this year’s fuel shock, increased demand due to flexible remote work arrangements and reduced competition from low-cost carriers as contributing factors to the disappearance of discounts.
Expedia found that prices in the top 10 U.S. cities, including New York, Miami and New Orleans, were higher this fall than this summer, with lodging costs rising an average of 20% and flight prices rising 2%. But the travel company also pointed to U.S. beach and mountain destinations with big fall savings, including Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and Aspen, Colorado.
U.S. travelers aren’t the only ones facing higher prices this fall. Expedia also found that autumn hotel stays in destinations across the UK are on average slightly higher than in summer, with some spots seeing an increase of 20% to 30%. However, the company noted that significant savings are possible in some destinations in Portugal’s Algarve region and the Greek islands.
“Fall travel savings aren’t gone, but they’re not automatic,” said Melanie Fish, director of communications for Expedia Group.
As dynamic pricing becomes more widespread in the lodging industry, the days when hoteliers would automatically lower prices when the calendar turned to September are largely gone. For fall savings, “flexibility in where you go is just as important as scheduling your trip right after Labor Day,” says Fish.
Fish said travelers are using budget filters to search on Expedia Group sites like Expedia.com and Hotels.com, and in addition to choosing post-holiday weekend dates, they’re also “taking advantage of offers, perks and other ways to increase the value of their trip.”
Berg says savings can be made by considering different airports within the same state or region. It is helpful to be flexible in determining the destination within the framework of a certain type of vacation (for example, a beach holiday). You may also save money by choosing dates that don’t travel during the popular Thursday through Sunday.
“Sunday is usually the cheapest day to stay,” Fish says. “So if you can plan your off-season trip on a Sunday, you double your chances of saving there.”
Airfares for most international regions will fall heading into the fall relative to summer 2026 fares, but the range will be lower than in recent years. In 2023, European freight rates fell by 33% from summer to fall. This year, HTS says the decline from summer to fall will be 22%.
“That means you still have a savings rate compared to the summer. You’ll still end up paying more this year, just because prices are so much higher across the board,” Berg said. According to HTS, airfares to Europe this fall have increased by 33% compared to last fall.
It’s no surprise that the increasingly unrelenting heat of summer is a major factor in the shift to fall travel. Crowds are also a big factor. And travelers have more flexibility.
JoAnn Redwood, Southern California travel advisor for Virtuoso member Luna World Travel, said more families are taking advantage of short school holidays throughout the year even when they are tied to the school calendar.
This summer, Redwood remembered why she doesn’t recommend August to her clients.
She spent a sweltering few weeks in Europe in July and August, in part to take part in so-called “social trips” to learn more about the services offered by luxury cruise lines. It was only available during peak summer hours.
“It was miserable,” she said. During a tour in Budapest, a woman fainted. Redwood said the temperature was close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was 80 percent.
Redwood’s wealthy customers prioritize the comforts that fall offers, both through cooler temperatures and fewer crowds.
“August has really replaced September, September has replaced October…I’m very, very busy right now with late September, October and even November cruising,” Redwood said.
And prices reflect the high demand for fall travel.
She recently looked into river cruises in late October and early November and said prices for those dates are 15% to 20% higher, or about $1,000 more, than they were in early September this year.
And hotel rooms are becoming increasingly scarce in small luxury hotels with a small number of rooms. “I tried to book Rosewood in Tuscany for October and they only had rooms left for $17,000 a night,” she said.
Its top price is impressive, but price increases are evident in all areas.
“On the high end, yeah, we feel availability is a challenge in October. On the low end, I think there’s still a lot of availability, but you’re just paying more for it,” Redwood said.
Increased interest among some travelers doesn’t necessarily mean overall travel volume is surging this year.
A significant sample of airline booking data from online travel agencies and airlines’ Global Distribution Systems (GDS) suggests that bookings from the U.S. to Europe in July this year were down about 6% from July 2025, according to data tracked by analytics firm Cirium. Additionally, data on flights booked in the summer for travel this fall suggests that travel from the U.S. to Europe will similarly drop nearly 6% in the fall compared to the same period last year.
However, Bells noted that in general, bookings in the luxury market are higher as traveler demand reflects trends in the stock market, which is booming this year. She also pointed to the continuing trend of prioritizing experiences over goods. And the experiences many Virtuoso travelers are looking for include having a destination that’s more personal to them.
That may be why interest in traveling in November is increasing.
“It’s really amazing to me to see reservations and sales up 70% and 71% for November, which was previously a month that most travelers skipped because of Thanksgiving in the U.S.,” Bells said.
Are you stuck with your savings?
Wright, a Seattle accountant, clearly has plenty of company as he looks ahead to a late fall vacation in Europe.
Wright would like to fly in premium economy or business class, but only if he can find a good ticket. She plans to use credit card miles for at least part of the fare.
Wright noticed that the cash price for a one-way trip, which normally seemed close to the price of a round-trip fare, was now nearly half the price of a round-trip fare. She is considering a combination of one-way tickets, perhaps in different cabin classes, paid for with a combination of cash and loyalty miles to make the trip happen.
But Wright also noticed that there were plenty of empty seats on the flights he was considering, and was confused by the high prices.
“I think there is a conflict between travelers and airlines and everyone is waiting to see who will blink first,” she said in an email to CNN Travel.
“I think airlines are trying to sell expensive seats as quickly as possible, knowing that fall travel is now much more popular than before and some people are still doing well, and waiting to see what happens with fuel costs,” Wright said.
For now, she said she is in a “hold pattern” and is monitoring the ticket to see what kind of downside she can find.
“I just don’t want to spend a lot of money on a trip in November. That seems crazy to me.”
