Microsoft Corp.’s Bing Travel site is predicting a 9 percent hike in airfares over last year’s fares for the spring break season between Feb. 28 and March 31.

For travelers leaving on a Saturday and coming back on Sunday, Bing is predicting an even bigger airfare hike of 16 percent

That could affect leisure destinations like Hawaii that depend heavily on the visitor industry.

But the travel site for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) predicts that domestic hotel rates will decrease 15 percent for the spring break travel period.

“Despite the recession, airlines are continuing to cut capacity, and spring airfares are creeping back up to 2008 levels. Thankfully, we are seeing a deep decrease in hotel prices across the board, which could reduce overall trip costs and offset higher airfares,” said Joel Grus of Bing Travel, in a statement.

Grus recommended that to find lower airfares, don’t travel in late March and try to travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, where fares could be as much as 22 percent less compared with traveling on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.



Source :- http://www.bizjournals.com