Black Friday is no longer a day. It's an entire booking season.
The competitive rush to capture holiday travel spend has led to a seemingly earlier start for Black Friday promotions this year.
Sally French
"Brands want to get their deals out early because so many people say, 'I have X budget,'" said Sally French, a lead writer of travel and credit cards for NerdWallet, which compiled a list of Black Friday deals. "Once you've spent that money, it's gone. And with travel, people aren't just limited by money, but they're also limited by time.
"We've never seen this many deals come out this early before Black Friday."
Travel advisors have noticed that cruise lines began launching their Black Friday deals in mid-November. On the land side, ALG Vacations' annual "Black Fri-yay" offering opened Oct. 25.
But some advisors were also surprised by how late into December many of the sales will stretch.
Expedition line HX, for example, has a Black Friday sale from Nov. 12 to Dec. 9. Cunard Line also has a promotion that will last until Dec. 9. Oceania's will continue until Dec. 10.
This long sales period strategy is helpful for advisors, said Teresa Tennant, senior vice president of Cruise Specialists in Seattle. Her agency focuses on world cruises and longer voyages, and the additional time enables her to explain complicated purchases to her clients without them being under pressure.
"It's not a $599 special. They're not going to buy now at one easy click, right? They have to think about it because it's a significant purchase," she said. "It gives you the opportunity to have that conversation, to explain the value, to tell them what all the offers are."
Travel Tuesday has become huge
The long promotional periods for cruising, especially, have the potential to connect Black Friday to Wave season, which traditionally starts in January, said Julie Howard, vice president of cruise partnerships at Signature Travel Network.
"We expect Black Friday/Cyber Monday to blend nicely into an early Wave season and are hopeful for many successful booking months ahead," she said.
French also said deals were extending well beyond Black Friday, with promotions spanning into the following week with Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday.
At least one analyst group said more and more companies are reserving their best travel offers for Travel Tuesday, five days after Black Friday proper.
The phenomenon took flight six or eight years ago, decreased in popularity during Covid and is now gaining new momentum, according to a report from consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
"Over the past two years, Travel Tuesday has gained increasing interest from consumers who are on the hunt for travel bargains," the eight-page report said.
Last year, airline bookings jumped more than 60% that day and cruise bookings by more than 50%, compared with the two-week period before and after it.
Travel Tuesday joins a growing number of Thanksgiving-adjacent days devoted to discounted holiday purchases, including Small Business Saturday and the long-standing Cyber Monday. According to Ryan Mann, a McKinsey partner in the Chicago office and one of the authors of the report, travel sales on Travel Tuesday now exceed those on Cyber Monday.
Resorts do especially well. Among the destinations getting the biggest spikes in search traffic on Travel Tuesday last year were Nassau, Punta Cana, Cancun and the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area, the report said.
Elsewhere, McKinsey and others have documented the increasing number of people who say they value experiences more than goods. That trend could shift some gift buying from traditional Black Friday merchandise to experiential items such as travel.
Signature Travel Group is seeing "very rich offers" in this year's array of Black Friday cruise promotions, said Howard. Those offers include savings, category upgrades, prepaid gratuities and onboard credits.
Black Friday deals with restrictions
Hotels and travel companies are also rolling out aggressive Black Friday deals earlier than ever -- though many come with significant strings attached.
French of NerdWallet said that boutique hotels are offering discounts ranging from 30% to 50% off, while major chains like Hyatt were advertising deals up to 45% off at select properties. However, steeper hotel discounts often come with restrictive conditions.
"We're seeing better deals but more restrictions," French said. "For example, Hyatt is running this really good deal on their Hyatt Regency Maui, and 45% off seems good. But you have to stay a minimum of five nights."
Even airline deals, like recent Southwest promotions, often come with limitations such as restricted flight times.
"That 50% off deal might not end up being that great, because it's only for one very specific date or one specific flight time that you're not going to take," French said.
Another notable trend this year involves travel companies using promotional offers to drive loyalty program sign-ups.
Lifestyle hotel group Ennismore, for instance, is hoping to lure more travelers to its Dis-loyalty membership platform by offering 50% off stays at around 50 select hotels from brands like The Hoxton, SLS and Mondrian this year.
However, shoppers will need a Dis-loyalty membership (around $18 per month, or $140 per year) to access the deal, which is available to book between Nov. 19 and Dec. 4.
Likewise, Hotels.com is leveraging its One Key program to offer discounts of up to 50%, but only for bookings made through its app.
"They're kind of stringing this carrot in front of you," French said. "Maybe you did get 50% off, but they're getting app downloads out of it. And they're getting you in their loyalty program."
Tom Stieghorst contributed to this report.