Florida, Phoenix are top U.S. spring break destinations, report says

Spring break is right around the corner, and the most popular U.S. destinations for 2014 are clustered in Florida and the West, according to online travel booking site Travelocity.

The rankings show South Florida as first and the Orlando area as second when it comes to hot places for students and families to visit between March 1 and April 15. The rest are:

3. Phoenix area
4. Fort Myers, Fla.
5. Las Vegas
6. Cancun, Mexico
7. Los Angeles area
8. Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.
9. Maui, Hawaii
10. Honolulu

Travelocity also noted that domestic airfares are up 14.7% this year over last year. And you can expect airfares to climb the longer you wait to make plans.

Travel booking website Hipmunk says you’ll pay 8% more this week for an airline ticket than you would have last week, and 12% more if you wait until the week of Feb. 25. Procrastinate until the week of March 4, and your ticket could cost 53% more.

Hopper.com, another online travel website, suggests that spring breakers:

--avoid traveling the weeks of March 16 and 23, which could add 34% and 33% respectively to the cost of a plane ticket; and
--avoid traveling on Fridays and Saturdays, which also could boost the price.

Mary.Forgione@latimes.com
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