It's not every year that Valentine's Day falls at the end of the week. That in itself is something to celebrate because it offers an opportunity to actually escape for a long weekend with your S.O. or besties. Ahead of the holiday, Hopper, an app that alerts travelers when they should buy plane tickets based on pricing data, analyzed travel trends and found that there's one destination that stands out as a popular option this Valentine's Day. V-Day 2019 has many people excited to visit Puerto Rico.
According to Hopper's research, interest in Puerto Rico as a travel destination has risen 133% since February 14, 2018, making it the top trending destination for this year's Valentine's Day weekend. It's worth noting that February 2018 was five months after Hurricane Maria, and at the time Puerto Rico was dealing with a devastating humanitarian crisis. In recent weeks, Puerto Rico has been the subject of stories from outlets like the New York Times, which named the island its number one travel destination of 2019, and the Tonight Show, which just aired an episode taped in Puerto Rico. Hopper also highlights the 17-day run of Hamilton starring Lin Manuel Miranda that's happening right now in San Juan as a potential reason for increased attention.
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Though Hamilton will have finished its special San Juan run by the time February 14 rolls around, Puerto Rico still has plenty to offer V-Day visitors. Plus, airfare to and from the island isn't prohibitively expensive. According to data pulled by Hopper for Refinery29, round-trip flights from the U.S. to Puerto Rico are currently averaging at $283, which is down from $321 at this same time last year. If you're looking to nail down plane tickets for Valentine's Day weekend travel at or around this price, try booking sooner rather than later as Hopper notes prices are expected to start spiking by about $7 per day in the final two weeks leading up to departure.
Prices for air travel over Valentine's Day weekend are currently averaging $291 round-trip, which is a 5% decrease from the same time last year. That means that even if Puerto Rico isn't your ideal destination for this holiday, you can find plenty of other travel deals to spots where celebrating will come easy.
Currently, the best Valentine's Day travel deals are to Nashville, TN; Palm Springs, CA; and Portland, ME, according to Hopper. Airfare prices to Nashville are down 30% from last year and have an average round-trip price of $224. Roundtrip flights to Palm Springs are 28% less expensive than they were this time last year and have an average price of $238. Finally, traveling to Portland, ME will cost 25% less with an average round-trip cost of $292. These deals should make it easy to take full advantage of the long weekend this Valentine's Day has to offer.