Travelers wait to check in at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, US
“It’s not to say that millennial and Gen Z travelers just have unlimited budgets and they’re spending all their money on travel,” said Hopper economist Hayley Berg. “They are being incredibly price sensitive in order to get more out of their budget.” Hopper users who already tend to be price sensitive and book the cheapest flight available more than half the time are checking prices even more than they did in 2019, before the pandemic, the company said.
Users checked prices of domestic trips in 2022 an average of 16 times before booking, a 33 percent increase from 2019.“Even though they’re planning more last minute, they’re checking the price way more often before and after they book,” Berg added. Travel planning time has decreased 30 percent when compared to 2019 levels, according to the company.
Although millennial and Gen Z travelers booked in 2019 travel earlier than the rest of the population, they are growing more averse to booking, the company added.