New Report: How Value and Loyalty Are Defining This Year’s Holiday Travel Trends

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

As airlines, hotels, and other travel operators gear up for the traditional surge in travel volume that accompanies the holiday season — from Thanksgiving weekend through New Year’s — uncertainties loom on the horizon. With the post-pandemic travel resurgence leveling off, will rising costs prompt consumers to moderate their plans?

On the positive side, travel demand is stronger than last year: In a survey released by iSeatz earlier this year, 53 percent of respondents claimed they planned to travel more in 2023 than they did in 2022. At the same time, higher travel prices and ongoing cost-of-living challenges may lead consumers to moderate these plans.

“We’re seeing a return to more traditional seasonality patterns with travel, but at a higher volume than recent years,” said Kenneth Purcell, founder and CEO at iSeatz. “Consumers still have a strong desire to travel, and increased loyalty program participation combined with decreases in inflation rates are providing an opportunity for travel brands to capture that spend.”

To help travel and loyalty executives capitalize on the upcoming spike in demand amid this unique set of considerations, iSeatz released “The Tipping Point for Travel Loyalty 2023: Holiday Travel Trends.” Packed with fresh insights, the report shows how loyalty programs have the opportunity to prolong the post-pandemic travel resurgence by providing reward and redemption options that make holiday travel more attainable for members.

The iSeatz report includes survey results from more than 2,000 U.S. consumers who belong to loyalty programs that incorporate travel-related rewards, and more than 150 loyalty program managers. Questions focused on consumers’ travel intentions for this holiday season compared to last year, their priorities and considerations when planning for the holidays, and what benefits they expect to receive from their loyalty programs.

“One of the key findings in our report is that booking windows are increasing, with 57 percent of the consumers we surveyed saying they’re now planning their travel more than two months in advance,” Purcell said. “This gives loyalty programs longer runway to engage members and own more of the customer journey.”

In this report, you’ll also find:

• Survey data on the 2022 season, travel plans of loyalty members for the upcoming holidays, and travel intentions for 2024
• What value actually means to loyalty program members and how brands can prompt them to travel more this season by offering benefits and rewards that deliver on that value
• How inflation impacted travel plans of each age group in 2022 and how loyalty programs can engage younger and older generations more effectively with targeted offers
• How consumers perceive a lack of holiday-specific benefits and rewards in their loyalty programs and why that creates opportunities for travel brands to fill the gap
• The best time of the year for brands to capitalize on holiday travel intentions

This content was created collaboratively by iSeatz and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.