In case you haven’t been deluged with enough day-themed holiday shopping sales yet, the travel industry will try to tempt you with some seemingly tantalizing travel offers on December 2, aka Travel Tuesday, traditionally the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
But whether the travel deals are actually steals may require you to do some research in advance and read the fine print so you don’t face some unexpected fees once you’re on vacation. If you regularly book through a specific travel provider and have a sense of what you normally pay, that will help you to better suss out whether you’re actually saving money.
Knowing what a specific trip or ticket would normally cost is important because travel providers may have artificially inflated the price just to offer a discount this week, Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet, cautioned to the Associated Press. There’s a sense of urgency with deals like these, she said, but it’s also important to make sure a trip that you’re booking actually works for you and is something you genuinely want.
That said, there may be some discounts that are worth taking advantage of. Here are some highlights.
BLANKET DISCOUNTS WITH SPECIFIC COMPANIES
For seasoned travelers, some of the most attractive offers this week will likely come from companies you already book with regularly. Even then, however, there are some asterisks to each of these deals. Perhaps they can be used only on select dates or for specific locations, for example, which may put a damper on your wanderlust.
Amtrak may not seem like the most exciting place to begin, but if you regularly travel by train—or have a trip in mind—you may be able score up to 25% off regularly priced fares if you book a ticket by December 3 for travel anytime from January 5 to March 15, 2026. That said, there are four blackout dates that coincide with holidays in January and February, while some routes aren’t eligible for the discount.
If you do have your eye on something a bit more exciting, then “insiders” (aka people who have supplied their information) could score up to 20% off a stay at one of the boutique hotels in the Proper Hotels collection, along with a $175 dining credit. And Marriott is offering discounts ranging from 15% to 25% off stays at participating locations for reservations made through December 2, depending on whether or not you’re a Bonvoy member and book through its app.
Many major airlines are also advertising discounted fares for flights booked on Travel Tuesday; however, deals are primarily focused on specific routes.
DEALS ON BOOKING SITES
Aggregators in the travel world are also getting in on the action with some specials. Discounts range widely in terms of what’s being discounted and the amount, but it’s worth checking the various sites if you have a trip in mind.
You may be able to score up to 40% off by booking accommodations through Booking.com, while Hotels.com is promising up to 50% off on reservations for eligible hotels and resorts. Not to be outdone, Priceline is offering up to 60% off select travel packages, and some people may even be able to score up to 75% off at a “curated” list of 24 hotels by booking through Expedia.
Some property owners are running their own promotions for bookings on Airbnb and VRBO, though you’ll have to have some dates and locations in mind to find those deals. More broadly, Airbnb is offering up to 50% off a single experience or service in Los Angeles, New York, or Paris if you book through Thursday, December 4.
DISCOUNTS FOR CRUISES, RESORTS
The most tantalizing, but trickiest, deals to navigate are often at resorts or for cruises. That’s because the discounts offered this week may not tell the full story of how much you’ll pay once you arrive, as fees and on-site activities can be quite expensive.
This is the area of Travel Tuesday where you may want to proceed with caution lest you sign up for a trip that turns out to be far more expensive than you realized. It’s also fair to wonder why specific locations are so heavily discounted when others are not.
You can score up to 65% off reservations and potentially get some other money-saving perks at select Sandals Resorts locations for travel booked through December 2. And Club Med has extended a sale through December 2, offering up to 50% off at some of its all-inclusive resorts.
The major cruise operators are seemingly always running some sort of sale, but the discounts may be bigger this week. Princess is offering up to $800 off fares, while Royal Caribbean is advertising up to $1,000 off its fares. And you can save up to 75% off the booking for a second guest with Celebrity Cruises.
But if all these deals feel dizzying, travel experts say don’t book just for the sake of booking. The decline in international visitors to the U.S. has seen many travel companies discount rates to ensure they are booked, and that trend will likely continue.
As French told the AP, rest assured: “If you don’t buy on Travel Tuesday, you haven’t missed your moment.”
