Cheapflights.ca "Compass Report" Reveals Most Affordable Destinations for Canadians

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 26, 2016) - Calling all Canadian travellers: Get ready to save time and money on your next trip with the release of Cheapflights' first Compass Report for Canada. This new annual research report pulls from extensive data to reveal the most affordable destinations for Canadian travellers.

Cheapflights.ca, the champions of simple travel search, tapped into a year's worth of searches on its site to identify where Canadians are looking to go and what it costs to get there. The Compass Report boils down the results from more than 663,550 hours, or more than 75 years (or more than three Justin Bieber lifetimes), worth of travel searches by users of Cheapflights.ca to reveal and rank the affordability of the most popular destinations for Canadians.

"Travel is clearly a passion for Canadians," said Andrew Shelton, managing director of Cheapflights. "And our goal, as always, is to help streamline the search for the best flight options and travel savings. The Compass Report takes that effort to the next level, packaging a year's worth of insights into a single snapshot to help travellers zero in on the best value destinations near and far."

To kick off the research, the team started by analyzing the flight searches from six key cities across Canada (Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal) from May 1, 2015, to April 30, 2016, to see where travellers are looking to fly. Looking at all the searches by region, it breaks down as follows:

North America (45%)
Asia (23%)
Europe (22%)
Africa (5%)
South America (3%)
Oceania (2%)

Tellingly, searches to the U.S. are on par with all of Europe. Twenty two per cent of all the searches were for travel to the U.S. while Canadian destinations accounted for 10 per cent of the year's searches. Other North American destinations claimed 13 per cent of total searches.

Using the same departure points and dates, the team also identified the 101 most-searched destinations. The top 10 is a very diverse line-up:

1 Manila, Philippines
2 Vancouver, B.C.
3 Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.
4 Bangkok, Thailand
5 London, England
6 Fort Lauderdale, Fla., U.S.
7 Las Vegas, Nev., U.S.
8 Delhi, India
9 New York, N.Y., U.S.
10 Orlando, Fla., U.S.

Then, to help streamline bargain hunters' quests for the best deals, the team ranked those destinations by average round-trip airfare only to find that the 10 most affordable destinations are all in the United States:

1 New York, N.Y., U.S. $294
2 Boston, Mass., U.S. $362
3 Washington, D.C., U.S. $378
4 Chicago, Ill., U.S. $410
5 Seattle, Wash., U.S. $441
6 Fort Lauderdale, Fla., U.S. $442
7 Orlando, Fla., U.S. $442
8 Tampa, Fla., U.S. $456
9 Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. $458
10 Phoenix, Ariz., U.S. $461

In fact, U.S. destinations claim the top 11 spots. The most affordable spot in Canada is Montreal, which ranks 15 with an average airfare of $481.

It only takes a quick scan of the list to start gleaning valuable cost-savings information. For example, top value airports outside mainland U.S. and Canada include San Juan, Puerto Rico ($487), Montego Bay, Jamaica ($587) and Mexico City, Mexico ($599), none of which are traditionally front-of-mind destinations for Canadians heading south. Equally noteworthy: Hawaiian destinations -- Honolulu ($639) and Kahului ($613) -- are on par pricewise with Varadero, Cuba ($639).

The Cheapflights Compass affordability breakdown also showed:

• The top three Caribbean money savers are Cancun, Mexico ($473), San Juan, Puerto Rico ($487) and Montego Bay, Jamaica ($587)
• Hong Kong ($961) is the best gateway into Asia, followed by Tokyo, Japan ($1,026) and Shanghai, China ($1,048)
• In the U.K., it's best to skip London ($873) and Glasgow ($920) and head to Dublin ($801) instead
• Craving a Spanish getaway? Try Mexico City, Mexico ($599) over Barcelona, Spain ($918) and you'll save more than $300
• On average, it's just as cheap to fly all the way to Hawaii ($613) as it is to fly to Vancouver ($612)
• Heading to Scandinavia? It's best to fly into Oslo, Norway ($877) or Helsinki, Finland ($830) rather than Reykjavik, Iceland ($954) or Copenhagen, Denmark ($955)

See the full affordability rankings of the 101 most-searched destinations as well as an animated recap of the results at www.cheapflights.ca/news/2016-compass-report-canada.

KEY TAKEAWAYS -- CITY BY CITY

The report also zeros in on the 25 most popular destinations in each of the six local markets, adding more surprising results. For instance, Manila is the most-searched destination worldwide for consumers in Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg. For Torontonians and Ottawans, it's Vancouver, while for sun-seeking Montrealers, it's Fort Lauderdale.

Read on for some highlights from each market:

TORONTO

• Top three destinations in popularity: Vancouver, B.C. ($633), Manila, Philippines ($1272), New York, N.Y., U.S. ($252)
• Most affordable: New York, N.Y., U.S. ($252), Orlando, Fla., U.S ($417), Halifax. N.S. ($422)
• Beyond the U.S. and Canada: Kingston, Jamaica ($661), Paris, France ($762), London, England ($789)
• Swap and save destinations: Paris, France ($762) over Frankfurt, Germany ($948) or Orlando, Fla., U.S. ($417) over Miami, Fla., U.S. ($445)

See the 25 most popular spots for Toronto travellers ranked by affordability as well as an animated recap of the results at www.cheapflights.ca/news/2016-compass-report-toronto.

MONTREAL

• Top three destinations in popularity: Fort Lauderdale, Fla., U.S ($433), Bangkok, Thailand ($1,196), Paris, France ($796)
• Most affordable: New York, N.Y., U.S ($206), Fort Lauderdale, Fla., U.S ($433), Orlando, Fla., U.S ($441)
• Beyond the U.S. and Canada: Cancun, Mexico ($475), Varadero, Cuba ($575), Mexico City, Mexico ($598)
• Swap and save destinations: Cancun, Mexico ($475) over Varadero, Cuba ($575) or Fort Lauderdale, Fla., U.S. ($433) over Miami, Fla., U.S. ($475)

See the 25 most popular spots for Montreal travellers ranked by affordability as well as an animated recap of the results at www.cheapflights.ca/news/2016-compass-report-montreal.

CALGARY

• Top three destinations in popularity: Manila, Philippines ($1,133), Vancouver, B.C. ($338), Toronto, Ont. ($581)
• Most affordable: Vancouver, B.C. ($338), Seattle, Wash., U.S. ($338), Victoria, B.C. ($352)
• Beyond the U.S. and Canada: Cancun, Mexico ($502), Hong Kong ($1,022), London, England ($1,036)
• Swap and save destinations: New York, N.Y., U.S. ($525) over Toronto, Ont. ($581) or Hong Kong ($1,022) over Bangkok, Thailand ($1,184)

See the 25 most popular spots for Calgary travellers ranked by affordability as well as an animated recap of the results at www.cheapflights.ca/news/2016-compass-report-calgary.

WINNIPEG

• Top three destinations in popularity: Manila, Philippines ($1,308), Vancouver, B.C. ($503), Toronto, Ont. ($488)
• Most affordable: Edmonton, Alta. ($411), Calgary, Alta. ($414), Las Vegas, Nev., U.S. ($482)
• Beyond the U.S. and Canada: Cancun, Mexico ($507), London, England ($955), Amsterdam, Netherlands ($1,025)
• Swap and save destinations: Cancun, Mexico ($507) over Miami, Fla., U.S. ($584) or Amsterdam, Netherlands ($1,025) over Frankfurt, Germany ($1,143)

See the 25 most popular spots for Winnipeg travellers ranked by affordability as well as an animated recap of the results at www.cheapflights.ca/news/2016-compass-report-winnipeg.

OTTAWA

• Top three destinations in popularity: Vancouver, B.C. ($697), Orlando, Fla., U.S. ($451), Fort Lauderdale, Fla., U.S. ($446)
• Most affordable: Toronto, Ont. ($217), New York, N.Y., U.S. ($347), Halifax, N.S. ($387)
• Beyond the U.S. and Canada: Dublin, Ireland ($697), Paris, France ($835), London, England ($965)
• Swap and save destinations: Dublin, Ireland ($679) over London, England ($965) or Las Vegas, Nev., U.S. ($491) over Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. ($565)

See the 25 most popular spots for Ottawa travellers ranked by affordability as well as an animated recap of the results at www.cheapflights.ca/news/2016-compass-report-ottawa.

VANCOUVER

• Top three destinations in popularity: Manila, Philippines ($998), Hong Kong ($843), Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. ($307)
• Most affordable: Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. ($307), Calgary, Alta. ($338), Las Vegas, Nev. U.S. ($386)
• Beyond the U.S. and Canada: Hong Kong ($843), Paris, France ($917), Shanghai, China ($937)
• Swap and save destinations: Toronto, Ont. ($641) over Montreal, Que. ($729) or Hong Kong ($843) over Tokyo, Japan ($964)

See the 25 most popular spots for Vancouver travellers ranked by affordability as well as an animated recap of the results at www.cheapflights.ca/news/2016-compass-report-vancouver.

NOTE TO EDITORS:
The Cheapflights Compass is a research report from Cheapflights.ca. It taps into search, price and travel trends to uncover insights that help consumers make informed, savvy vacation decisions. This first Compass Report explores the most popular destinations, search trends and the most affordable airports based on the average round-trip airfares (taxes included) for flights from six key airports across Canada. The insights are based on searches via Cheapflights from May 1, 2015, to April 30, 2016. All prices are in Canadian dollars.

About Cheapflights.ca, part of the Momondo Group
Founded in 1996, Cheapflights is a leading global flight comparison and deals publishing platform dedicated to taking the complexity out of finding the best value flights through the application of innovative, intuitive technologies: Smart search. Made simple. It is now a market leader in the U.K., U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand generating more than C$4 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 more than 120 travel businesses -- for whom it has driven more than C$80 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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