In New York City, airfare is actually one of the most expensive increases over last year. So domestic tourism is up, Brian Kelly Points Guys Founder joins "The Close".

New York

Travel activity in the US is on the rise, with nearly a 2 percent increase from the previous year. Domestic travel is expanding at twice the rate of international trips, as many Americans opt to stay closer to home amid economic uncertainties. Major cities like New York have experienced some of the highest airfare increases, contributing to the surge in domestic tourism.

Despite the high demand, travelers can still find last-minute deals, particularly by using frequent flyer miles or credit card points. Airlines have opened up more award seats, and certain destinations like Canada have seen notable airfare drops due to decreased demand. Premium travel experiences are improving, with US carriers like Delta enhancing their lounges and services, though international airlines continue to set the standard for luxury.

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Yeah people are traveling. We're going to be up almost 2 percent from last year. We're seeing strong European numbers. But really domestic travel is growing at twice the clip. You know my hypothesis is that a lot of people book summer travel in March April even into May. And of course the stock markets were all over the place. Tariffs. There's a lot of concern with you know everyday Americans. So the trend we're seeing is people are flying but domestically and staying closer to home hitting up major cities. New York City airfare is actually one of the most expensive increases over last year. So domestic tourism is up. And yeah people will be flying in record numbers. I'm curious as those people fly in record numbers. Is there any sort of I guess bargains to be found out there. I know most people have already probably booked their their tickets and their hotels and such. But are there any sort of last minute deals out there. Absolutely. I was actually just checking right before this segment. New York to Madrid using your frequent flyer miles. You can fly on a beer and American for fifty five thousand miles. One way business class. So there's tons. I've never seen this in other experts. The airlines have opened up a ton of award space. Air France you can fly on 30 different dates this summer for 60000 points. And of course you can transfer in your credit card points. And actually if you're looking to go not to Europe Canada we're seeing huge drops. Of course airfare is related to demand. A lot of Canadians are sort of boycotting the U.S. right now. So that drop in demand of Canadians coming to the U.S. we've seen drops as much as 20 percent to Toronto and Vancouver. So a great summer destinations especially for those who don't want to go too far. Yeah Algonquin a fantastic place to go in these hot summer months here. It's a little bit cooler up there. I'm headed to Rome next week and I got to fly luggage class because the split between economy and business was just too high for me to handle. Is that growing. Brian the difference in cost between business class flights and economy flights. Oh yeah. And the experience you know is amazing. You know up front lifelike seats are now the norm. But I'll give you the tip. Always ask a check in. You know airlines like Emirates which flies to Milan. You can even upgrade my friend the other day. If you ask when you board the plane if there's a single seat open in business or first class you can use your miles on the plane to upgrade. So if when you were booking you just refused to pay that eight thousand dollars for business class call the airline in advance. See if you can use frequent flyer miles. You can transfer credit cards. But you know often any last minute seats they want filled and they'll take your cash or points to sit up front. I actually flew to Paris a couple of weeks ago for work. And so I flew business class with Delta Delta 1. I have never in my entire life experienced such a luxurious commercial airline experience. I mean it was truly unbelievable from JFK. And they even drove me in a car out to the tarmac. Are others going to catch up with that or are they just far and away the best. No. You know the others are coming for Delta United just expanded their Polaris lounge. And I will get you know Delta that Delta 1 lounge is beautiful at LAX JFK. But Delta was far behind competitors. Delta used to just have a one size fits all lounge. They were crowded. I flew once in business class from South Africa. I had to wait in a 30 minute line to get into a Delta lounge. So they've just recently rolled out these beautiful lounges. But they are I would say definitely the top domestic carrier. They just got number one airline from the points guy in our detailed rankings. But you know I will say the Delta is nice. But you know other airlines the Middle East or in the Asian carriers blow away even the best U.S. carrier. I will warn people that once you start flying Emirates and Singapore Airlines it will ruin you because everything else even that Delta will seem like a bad experience.

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Jerusalem

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Hiroshima

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Beijing

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Beirut

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Breakdown