Record heat, crowds drive offseason boom in international travel
Tired of the heat, crowds and high prices, a growing number of U.S. travelers are exploring the offseason of international travel; airlines and hotels are scrambling for a windfall.
Once seasonal, flights to vacation destinations in Europe now begin while there is still snow in the U.S. and end when the leaves fall from the trees, if at all, rather than following traditional late spring to late summer travel seasons.
For example, American Airlines‘ Flights from New York to Edinburgh, Scotland began in March. United Airlines‘The non-stop route from Newark, New Jersey to Palermo, Sicily will end in December and Delta AirlinesService from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Rome will operate until January, months later than in previous years.
This year’s surge in jet fuel is expected to cost airlines $100 billion in profits, according to the International Air Transport Association. That’s why it’s so important for the industry to maximize travel trends that attract high-spending customers.
Investors are optimistic that airlines can absorb the fuel hit from earlier this year after cutting back on unprofitable or less profitable flights, and airline executives have said strong demand is helping them cover some but not all of those expenses.
Shares of Delta and United, the two most profitable US airlines, have reached records in recent weeks, and shares of American have reached an 18-month high. Airlines will begin reporting second-quarter results and providing third-quarter updates this month, with Delta kicking off the season on Friday.
A couple cools off at the Trocadero Fountain with the Eiffel Tower in the background during a heat wave in Paris on June 26, 2026.
Dimitar Dilkoff | Afp | Getty Images
‘The creep of the seasons’
Industry executives told CNBC that international holiday seasons used to be more defined. New trends are forcing them to tear apart decades-old playbooks.
“It used to be a lot more cumbersome. There used to be more of it: good season, bad season,” Delta President Peter Carter said in an interview. “There are so many places in Europe where you can go year-round and still have an amazing experience, and that’s why we’re seeing such good demand from Europe.”
This demand is redefining the months in which airlines will make money.
“We’ve seen this big of a season where I would say the seasons are slowly progressing; the shoulder season blends into the whole season,” Patrick Quayle said. United Airlines‘ the senior vice president who designed the carrier’s network said in an interview last month.
Shoulder season refers to the period between a destination’s peak tourist season and off-season.
Airlines are trying to extend the season as long as possible to increase their profits.
International flights to Europe typically carry more premium seats, such as horizontal capsules, than the smaller jets used for domestic travel, and airlines plan to expand these options further. Business class fares on some of these routes can cost $10,000 round-trip, instead of less than half the price of a domestic route.
A dog stands in a long queue with its owners at Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1 in Germany.
Andreas Arnold | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Airfares are generally up this year compared to last year as airlines try to pass on rising costs to customers as much as possible, but there are signs that prices are moderating, especially as the industry prepares for the busy summer travel period in July to pass.
For example, the price of round-trip flights between the U.S. and Athens, Greece, on June 22 rose to $988 from $810 last year, falling from $1,350 two months ago, according to flight tracking site Kayak.
Jeff Arinder, Delta vice president of international network planning, said the increase in shoulder season and off-peak travel is forcing Delta to rethink maintenance and crew schedules.
“We would never put the planes in maintenance hangars if we could avoid it in the summer… because that’s when we made all the money,” he told CNBC. “We are now doing more maintenance in the summer months because we want to save these planes for the fall.”
He said Delta is trying to “flatten our seasonality as much as possible.”
Why do travel times change?
People try to cool off by standing in front of a nebulizer placed on top of a Civil Protection van that sprays cold water during a heat wave, near the Colosseum in Rome, June 26, 2026.
Andreas Solaro | Afp | Getty Images
The latest challenge to the usual summer European trip was the newest and most deadly. heat wave.
In late June, locals and tourists alike faced dangerous record temperatures across Europe, where air conditioning is not common. Fogging stations have been set up from Warsaw, Poland, to Rome. The Paris LGBTQ+ Pride Parade, among other events, was postponed and public consumption of alcohol was briefly banned in the city.
Residents of many European cities, such as Barcelona, Spain, and Venice, Italy, also express concerns about overcrowding during the busy summer months and beyond. Record numbers of visitors are coming from all over Europe.
However, it is not just the dislike of heat and crowds that causes travel patterns to change.
More flexible work policies for younger generations are helping some consumers, even those with children, take trips outside of late spring and summer. Baby Boomers, meanwhile, have piles of money and plenty of time, giving them more flexibility when it comes to travel.
“Delta’s target demographic tends to be a little bit older and a little bit more affluent,” Arinder said.
Looking forward to Sicily
United are pushing the boundaries of the offseason trend.
It extended its nonstop flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Palermo, Sicily, through December 16 instead of ending it with Boeing 767s in September.
Sicily has long been marketed as a summer holiday destination.
If there is little rain in July, daytime high temperatures can regularly reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit along the coast. But on the Italian island in December, top temperatures sometimes barely reach 60 degrees and the chance of rain is higher.
As hotel prices drop and crowds at major attractions thin during the winter months, United is betting that travelers will fill the three-times-a-week service even if it’s not ideal summer weather.
View from the ancient theater of Taormina on the Italian island of Sicily.
Reda | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
“I don’t think it’s that experimental. I think it’s a really safe bet,” United’s Quayle said.
Many beach hotels also close during the winter months. The Four Seasons’ San Domenico Palace in Taormina, Sicily, where the second season of HBO’s “White Lotus” is filmed, closes from mid-November to early spring, for example.
But manager Imelda Shllaku told CNBC that the hotel has experienced a “notable increase in bookings from U.S. guests” in March, April, October and November over the past four years.
“High-net-worth travelers are increasingly seeking experiences of real cultural value, and Sicily’s shoulder season is better suited to offer these experiences,” he said in his email, pointing to behind-the-scenes tours of Noto in southeastern Sicily and overnight excursions to Mount Etna. The hotel will reopen on March 1, a spokesman said.
Delta plans to extend its flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Catania on Sicily’s east coast until Jan. 3, compared to Oct. 24 last year. And it plans to continue the route on March 8, 2027. This year it started the route on May 1 and May 21, 2025.
shoulder season
United and Delta are not alone, as all airlines are redeploying some of their largest aircraft to maintain service to Europe all year round or during the off-season.
“When airlines want to buy airplanes, they have to think about, ‘How are we going to use this airplane year-round because it’s an expensive piece of machinery,'” said Brett Snyder, founder of the Cranky Flier blog and Cranky Concierge travel agency. “They know they won’t have any problems sending these widebodies to Europe in the summer. Now they can extend that into the shoulder season.”
based in seattle Alaska AirlinesThe company, which recently launched its first service across the Atlantic this year to London, Rome and Reykjavík, Iceland, keeps this in mind. President and Chief Financial Officer Shane Tackett told CNBC that travelers are becoming more flexible.
“Many people want to see the same destinations… [and that] “It makes sense that these seasons would start to spread out,” he said. “Maybe when I was growing up, my parents wouldn’t even consider picking me up from school in September, and I think my parents are a little more like, ‘Yeah, let’s go somewhere fun, so you can make it to school when you get back.'”
An American Airlines Boeing 777-223ER takes off from Barcelona-El Prat Airport in Barcelona, Spain, on April 29, 2026.
Joan Valls | Nurfoto | Getty Images
American AirlinesFor its part, it is extending some seasons of U.S. transatlantic travel.
“October isn’t as strong as June or July for Europe, but it’s becoming the busiest month for us,” said Brian Znotins, the carrier’s senior vice president of network planning.
But he said Americans don’t want to take the planes too far away from their proven performance for vacationers seeking skis and sun during the winter months.
“I won’t mince words: January and February are still very unusual months. I’d hate for anyone to come along and say they’re good months, they’re just not any less busy than they used to be,” he said.
Some travelers split the difference.
Atul Mehta, a finance executive in Chicago, said he was going to take his family to Portugal this summer shortly before school started, but when he visited family in Bahrain in the winter, “we took them out of school.”
