Cheapflights.com Predicts Top Travel Trends and Hot Spots for 2016

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Dec 2, 2015) - With 2016 almost upon us, the travel experts at Cheapflights.com, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, are taking at a look at where and how Americans will travel in 2016. The team shares its predictions in Cheapflights' annual Top Travel Trends and Hot Destinations for 2016 report. From inflight tablet holders, "Space Bins," interesting aircraft design innovations and the onset of new luggage and even child tracking technology to the return of extreme long-haul flights and the awakening of the super-sonic flying dream, Cheapflights.com sees 2016 shaping up as a year of airline competition, travel innovation and opportunity for exploration for Americans. And, to round out its predictions, the team has highlighted five travel hot spots where Americans will go in search of new adventure.

Below are Cheapflights.com's seven travel trend predictions for 2016:

• Low-cost carriers are adding competitive heat to the domestic and international markets. Witness American Airlines jumping on the bandwagon with the addition of no-frill fares, the success of Norwegian Air, which just started serving Las Vegas and the international airfare wars driven by the growth of WOW Air, which recently added transatlantic flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to its lineup and has announced plans for service from Toronto and Montreal. This is a welcome balance to the consolidation that has shaped the North American market recently.
• The dropping price of oil, of course, has helped keep airfare competition alive and likely allowed for the pace of expansion of these international low-cost carriers. It's also fueling the return of the extreme long-haul flights. Emirates will launch a 17-hour, 35-minute flight from Dubai to Panama City starting Feb. 1, and Singapore Airlines has plans for a 19-hour flight from Singapore to New York, starting in 2018.
• Aircraft design innovations also play a role in flight routes, as well as playing a major part in the storylines of passenger comfort and, relatedly, luggage capacity. While there has been a flurry of patents set to re-engineer the entire approach to passenger seating and cabin configurations, the more immediate changes will be a bit more practical. Look for innovations like a charging pad and tablet holder alongside your tray table, and the addition of occasional extra wide seats to accommodate larger passengers or car seats for kids.
• Traveling with kids will also see some change. More specifically, traveling without kids is where the changes are afoot. Airlines are starting to add tracking technology for unaccompanied minors so parents see that the journey to visit the grandparents is on track at every step. And grown-ups traveling without kids will keep lobbying for "child-free zones" on planes. So far no North American airlines have rolled out such a thing, but expect the movement to get more attention this year.
• In an era where many people make it a mission to travel with only carry-on baggage, you can bet new approaches to luggage will be a big area of focus for travellers and airlines alike. Alaska Airlines is leading the pack, signing up to put Boeing/Boeing's 737 "Space Bins" into service with plans to have the more spacious overhead bins in use on half of its fleet by 2017.
• Passengers can adopt new luggage technologies faster than airlines, of course. In 2016, travelling trendsetters will be sporting a mix of cool new bags. Some will feature their own compression technology to fit more into less space. Others will charge electronics on the go, and many will be self-tracking with either built-in smart technology or just smart owners who have packed a tracking beacon alongside their socks and pyjamas.
• Speaking of new technologies, there seems to be a renewed dream of supersonic flying. It will be a long time before we reach the reality of a 90-minute flight from New York to London, but with industry leaders, like Airbus and Lockheed Martin, and up and comers, like Skreemr, working on designs, maybe the future isn't that far away.

And where does Cheapflights predict Americans will be vacationing in 2016? Rounding out our annual travel trends report are the five hot destinations predicted to be on the rise next year: Hawaii, Brazil, Cuba, New Zealand and Canada. To find out why, read Cheapflights.com's complete report on Top Travel Trends and Hot Destinations for 2016 at www.cheapflights.com/news/top-travel-trends-and-hot-destinations-for-2016.

About Cheapflights.com, part of the Momondo Group
Founded in 1996, Cheapflights is a leading global flight comparison and deals publishing platform. It is now a market leader in the UK, U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand generating over $3 billion in global downstream revenue for its partners as it expands into numerous other territories. More than 120 million users visit its websites and apps each year, receiving more than two billion search results a month from across 900,000 routes. The 10 million strong opt-in subscribers to the Cheapflights newsletter receive the best deals from over 120 travel businesses -- for whom it has driven more than $65 million in revenue this year. Together, the Cheapflights platforms generate enough bookings for its partners to fill a Boeing 747 every five minutes.

In 2011, Cheapflights became part of the privately owned online travel search and inspiration network, Momondo Group.

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