Last-minute travel bookings are going to be a big thing this year, and Hopper is all in

By Zlati Meyer

May 11, 2021

You’re not along in that-fly-or-drive-by-the-seat-of-your-pants spirit. Fifty-one percent of all hotel bookings on the travel app Hopper are made within 48 hours of check-in, so now the company is embracing that wanderlust. The top 10 cities for these last-minute travelers are Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Dallas, Houston, and San Diego.

Hopper today launched a last-minute hotel booking feature so travelers can find the best available rates. The feature, Stay the Night, lists the top deals across the country, or if you share your location, the best deals within driving distance. These bargains are available in all major U.S markets.

According to Hopper, the advantage of booking so close to when you’re going to travel is you can save 25% off peak prices.

And chances are, that hotel deal will be closer to home than, say, Fiji. Hopper data shows that 55% of all its hotel bookings are for so-called staycations—or places within 200 miles—and that more than half of all last-minute hotel bookings are these not-venturing-too-far types, a close to 10% increase since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As more Americans get vaccinated, travelers are eager to book that post-vaccination vacation they’ve been dreaming of,” the company says in a written statement. “However, with changing travel guidelines and various vaccine timelines, we’ve seen more consumers opting to book last-minute and plan trips closer to home.”

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