On The Move: Where Canadians Are Looking To Go

Where are Canadians looking to go and what does it cost to get there? Is Asia proving to be more popular than Europe?

The answers are revealed in Cheapflights.ca’s new Compass Report, offering insights gathered from a year’s worth of search data and revealing the most affordable and most popular destinations on a national level, as well as at a local level for six key markets across Canada – Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Some interesting findings include:

• Of all the searches done from those six key airports from May 1, 2015, to April 30, 2016, only 10% were to Canadian destinations.
• More people searched for flights to Asia (23%) than to Europe (22%) and searches to the US equaled searches to all of Europe.
• The most popular spots for Canadians were Manila, Philippines; Vancouver; Los Angeles.

The 11 most-affordable destinations were all in the US. The most affordable spot among Canadian cities is Montreal, which ranked number 15.

“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 flight searches and 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 US are on par with all of Europe. Twenty two per cent of all the searches were for travel to the US while Canadian destinations accounted for 10% of the year’s searches. Other North American destinations claimed 13% of total searches.

Using the same departure points and dates, the Cheapflighs team also identified the 101 most-searched destinations. The top 10 is a very diverse line-up: Manila, Philippines; Vancouver; Los Angeles; Bangkok, Thailand; London, England; Fort Lauderdale; Las Vegas; Delhi, India; New York; Orlando.

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: New York, $294; Boston, $362; Washington, D.C., $378; Chicago, $410; Seattle, Wash., $441; Fort Lauderdale, $442; Orlando, $442; Tampa, $456; Los Angeles, $458; Phoenix, $461.

In fact, US destinations claim the top 11 spots. The most affordable spot in Canada is Montreal, which ranks 15^th 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 US 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 price wise 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 http://www.cheapflights.ca/news/2016-compass-report-canada.