CHICAGO, Feb. 25, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a new survey released by CheapTickets.com, over two-thirds of college students are not relying on parents to pay for their Spring Break this year, but instead working more and shopping less to afford the mid-semester getaway with friends. 1 With the majority of college students paying for their own fun in the sun, Spring Break budgets are modest with nearly 65 percent of students planning to spend less than $1,000 on their getaway.
"College Spring Breaks are just around the corner with most taking place the first two weeks in March. For students making last minute decisions about where they will go, there are still reasonable deals to the most popular destinations for college students," said Gayle Pigatto of CheapTickets.com. "Seven out of the top 10 destinations for college Spring Breakers still have hotel rates under $250 per night. As college students usually travel in groups and share hotel rooms, a Spring Break getaway is within reach – even for small budgets."
CheapTickets Spring Break Cheapometer
To help students find the most popular places to go and get the most bang for their buck, through a combination of booking and survey data, the CheapTickets Cheapometer identifies the top college Spring Break destinations and calculates average hotel and flight prices.
- It is evident that students are escaping the polar vortex and flocking to the sun with all of the top 10 college Spring Break vacations taking place in warm weather destinations.
- While Cancun leads the pack as the most popular spot for college Spring Breakers, Myrtle Beach offers students the best value with the least expensive average flight and hotel prices among all of the top 10 destinations.
- This year's later Easter means a later Mardi Gras. New Orleans is sure to be a hot spot among college students with Mardi Gras events taking place the first week of March – coordinating perfectly with many college Spring Break schedules.
| CheapTickets Top Ten College Spring Break Destinations 2 | 2014 Average Daily Hotel Prices | 2014 Average Airfare | |
| 1 | Cancun, Mexico | $234 | $547 |
| 2 | Punta Cana, Dominican Republic | $299 | $612 |
| 3 | Los Cabos, Mexico | $227 | $544 |
| 4 | Miami Beach, Florida | $219 | $371 |
| 5 | New Orleans, Louisiana | $209 | $388 |
| 6 | Montego Bay, Jamaica | $377 | $517 |
| 7 | Key West, Florida | $340 | $494 |
| 8 | Daytona Beach, Florida | $172 | $350 |
| 9 | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina | $77 | $312 |
| 10 | South Padre Island, Texas | $157 | $391 |
CHEAPTICKETS "CHEAPBREAK" CONTEST
Take a CheapBreak! From now through March 5, enter to win the ultimate Spring Break with friends. Three winners will have the chance to win free airfare for themselves and four lucky friends. To enter the contest and for complete terms visit www.facebook.com/cheaptickets .
1 Survey was fielded by CheapTickets.com to 501 college students via Google Consumer Surveys from Feb. 12 – 14, 2014.
2 Top 10 college Spring Break destinations were nominated by CheapTickets staff and ranked using aggregate hotel data. Rankings are based on CheapTickets hotel bookings as of 2-14-14 for March arrivals. Average daily hotel rate and average flights prices were calculated by taking the average price of all hotel and air bookings purchased on CheapTickets.com as of 2-14-14 for travel in March.
About CheapTickets.com
CheapTickets is a leading seller of discounted leisure travel products online through its website, www.cheaptickets.com . CheapTickets provides consumers access to its collection of airfares on hundreds of airlines. In addition to cheap flights , CheapTickets' family of discounted travel products also includes cheap hotels , cheap cruises , cheap rental cars , cheap vacation packages, condo rentals and Last Minute Trips . Founded in 1986, CheapTickets is a brand that is owned and operated by Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW ).
Media Contact: Marita Hudson Thomas +1-312-260-8304,
