Travel Tuesday 2025 Is Here—But What Does It Mean?

By Jack Beresford

Senior Life and Trends Reporter

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Travel Tuesday is now upon us—but what exactly is it and where did it come from?

Hot on the heels of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, this Tuesday, December 2, consumers will head online in search of the best vacation deals available.

It’s part of what’s come to be known as Travel Tuesday or Travel Deal Tuesday and it’s been a fixture in the calendar for close to a decade now.

The origins of Travel Tuesday can be traced back to 2017, when the online flight marketplace Hopper conducted an analysis of historical pricing data. The figures revealed the day after Cyber Monday ranked as its biggest day for post-Thanksgiving travel discounts.

The figures showed that particular Tuesday had been the biggest for travel discounts in each of the previous nine years, going back to 2008. Sensing an opportunity, Hopper christened the day Travel Tuesday, promoting a variety of offers within that particular 24-hour time frame.

Travel Tuesday now features offers on flights, cruises and hotels while travel booking websites and tour operators have got in on the act with one-day-only deals.

According to Hopper’s Travel Day Tuesday website, the 24-hour period sees three-and-a-half times more trips planned compared to an average day throughout the year.

Hopper states discounts of up to 50 percent will be available on flights, hotels and other travel services. They also estimate the number of deals to be around two to three times as many as those offered on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

In 2024, a report by the consultancy firm McKinsey & Company highlighted Travel Tuesday’s increasing popularity. Over a two-year period, there was a fivefold increase in the number of Google searches for the term “Travel Tuesday.”

While there were some elevated volumes of search traffic for the term in the U.K., Australia, the Netherlands and Spain, interest was largely concentrated on the U.S. and Canada.

McKinsey & Company concluded Travel Tuesday was most likely created by travel firms as an effort to create a “marketing moment” around what was previously a quiet period for travel bookings.

As with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s important to exercise caution and always read the small print before committing to any of these deals.

Consumers should always try to shop around for the best price. While it’s important to set a budget and stick as closely to it as possible, some flexibility when it comes to dates and destinations can prove handy if getting the cheapest vacation possible is the aim.

Keeping a close eye out for package deals is recommended, though the aforementioned flexibility on dates is key.

Signing up to receive notifications from hotels, airlines or holiday providers can also prove useful and gives you the option of booking directly and enjoying the best possible savings.

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