The travel industry wants to turn gift-giving season into wanderlust winter with its wealth of Black Friday and Travel Tuesday sales.
Despite being named for the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday sales often start in early November and can stretch to mid-December.
That gives travelers time to think about their 2026 plans. In the coming weeks, shoppers will find a wide variety of hotel options on sale, from major brands like Hilton to the art-filled 21c Museum Hotels. Marriott Bonvoy’s sale offers its highest discounts — 25 percent off — to travelers who book through its app. Booking.com has accommodations up to 40 percent off, and the travel agency network Envoyage has trips at half off.
Be sure to scrutinize the terms. Beware of prepaid and nonrefundable offers. Expect blackout dates galore and know that starting rates often apply to midweek or off-season travel.
For the thrifty and flexible traveler, this year’s crop of deals is value-packed, from discounted luxury vacations and expedition cruises to hotels under $100 a night.
Luxury for Less
Travel has been slow in 2025. Companies aim to jump-start 2026 with enticing Black Friday incentives, including — increasingly — those at the highest end.
This is the first year that the Peninsula Hotels will hold a global sale across its 12 luxury properties. Guests booking Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 will get 20 percent off stays from Dec. 1 through March 31. Presale rates start around $590 at the Peninsula Hong Kong.
The luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent is putting its small-ship expedition cruises on sale for the first time through Dec. 5, at 50 percent off entry-level staterooms. Ten-day sailings around the Greek isles in June and October aboard a 148-passenger vessel start at $14,895 a person prediscount.
Luxury hotel offers include the Hermitage Nevis on the Caribbean island of Nevis. Its first Black Friday sale — Nov. 28 to Dec. 5 — features cottages at 30 percent off, taking nightly prices to $357 from $510, including breakfast and a rum tasting, for travel from Jan. 6 to April 15.
In southern Chile, the 25-room Hotel AWA offers views of snowcapped Osorno Volcano, bikes for exploring the Lake District and, between Nov. 28 and Dec. 3, 30 percent off rates. With the sale, nightly rates start at $560 a person, including meals and activities.
In the Peruvian beach town of Máncora, the 13-room boutique KiCHIC is offering $500 off five-night packages, including most meals, airport transfers and yoga sessions. Booked Nov. 28 through Dec. 7 for travel from March 1 through the end of 2026, the package costs $1,750 for two sharing a room after the reduction.
Thrifty Deals
Budget travelers have a haul of deals to sort through.
The sibling hotel brands Freehand and Generator will hold their first-ever Black Friday sales. Both are offering one-third off stays of three nights or more. The Freehand deal, running from Nov. 20 to Dec. 1 for travel Dec. 1 through March 31, brings the rates at Freehand Los Angeles to about $66 a night from $99.
Across five small hotels in Texas, French Cowboys Hospitality will hold its first Black Friday sale, with bookings 20 percent off Nov. 24 to 27 and 30 percent off Nov. 28 to Dec. 1. At Hacienda del Rio on the Guadalupe River in the Hill Country, near Gruene Hall, Texas’ oldest dance hall, rooms start at $109 before discounts.
You might have funds left to splurge at the in-house restaurant, Compère Lapin when you book at the Old 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans’s Warehouse District through Dec. 5, when discounts run up to half off on rooms that normally start at $153.
The only hotel within Everglades National Park, Flamingo Lodge & Restaurant, will put rooms on sale at 35 percent off Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 for weekday stays from May through September. Prediscount, rooms start at $159 a night.
Try out van life during a 30-percent-off sale from Roadsurfer in the United States, Canada and Europe. Book a camper van by Dec. 1 for travel through 2026. Prediscount, domestic rentals currently start at $115 a night.
Incentives on New Openings
The Thanksgiving sales period is prime time to get a deal at new hotels, including the Printing House Nashville in Music City, walking distance to Ryman Auditorium. Its sale, Nov. 24 to Dec. 31, covers travel from Jan. 1 to March 31, with rooms, which average $369 a night, 30 percent off.
The new eco-focused Populus Seattle is on sale through Dec. 7, with rooms that normally start at $359 up to 40 percent off. Opened in October in Atlanta, the Tess will sell rooms at up to 50 percent off through Dec. 2. Rates usually start at $209.
Hotel Glorieta in Santa Fe, N.M., is offering 30 percent off and a $25 food-and-beverage credit through Dec. 3 for stays through 2026. Set on six acres with views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the hotel has 128 rooms, which normally start at $165.
Miiro Hotels will include its new Vienna property, the Palais Rudolf, in its seasonal 30-percent-off sale running through Dec. 4 for stays through April. Rates start at 287 euros, or about $333, before the discount.
New resorts entering the Black Friday realm include Ocama on the Samaná Peninsula in the Dominican Republic. On 35 acres, its eight villas range from one to three bedrooms and include kitchens and private pools starting at $700 a night. From Nov. 22 to Dec. 2, rates will drop 30 percent on stays from April 15 to June 30 and Sept. 1 to Nov. 15.
Flight Deals Take Off
The online travel agency Hopper found that Travel Tuesday consistently offers the most deals in the holiday sales week, nearly three times more than Black Friday. It’s a particularly good time to shop for airfare deals.
You’ll find first-quarter sales this year from Scandinavian Airlines, which is lowering fares from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2. Sale fares include a $429 round trip from New York to Copenhagen in February; a similar itinerary in June was recently priced around $735.
American Airlines’ Travel Tuesday webpage recently listed a February sale on a round trip from Miami to Edinburgh for $599. A search for a similar route in June turned up tickets from $1,400.
Determine how best to use your frequent flier miles with Point.me. On Travel Tuesday, the service will sell annual premium memberships for $156, down from $260, which includes search access and a points-strategy consultation.
Recovery Aid
In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, resorts in Jamaica are hoping deals will lure travelers back. Officials have announced that tourism will be restored by Dec. 15.
In Ocho Rios, the 52-suite Jamaica Inn, which survived the storm relatively unscathed, is offering 30 percent off rooms, which normally start at $499, when booked Nov. 28 through Dec. 2.
In Montego Bay, Round Hill is offering 35 percent off bookings made Nov. 28 to Dec. 1. Rates usually start at $420 before the discount. Five percent of the sale proceeds will go to the resort’s charitable fund for employees. The deal includes a $100 resort credit and 20 percent off spa services.
The adults-only, all-inclusive Sandals Resorts and its companion family-friendly Beaches Resorts will reopen five Jamaica properties on Dec. 6 with the remaining three to follow in May. Sandals’ holiday sale runs through Dec. 2, promising up to 65 percent off at 17 resorts across the Caribbean — sale rates start at $199 a person a night — plus perks like spa and airfare credits for stays of five nights or longer through Dec. 25, 2027.
Cruise Discounts and Perks
Cruise deals often add perks rather than slash rates. The high-end Crystal Cruises is offering $250 a person in credits to be used for extras like spa services and excursions on bookings made Nov. 20 to Dec. 5. Its 12-night voyage from the Philippines to South Korea in March starts at $6,800 per person.
Through Dec. 4, Virgin Voyages is offering 80 percent off on the second passenger sharing a cabin and up to $400 in bar credits. Through Dec. 5, Atlas Ocean Voyages is offering up to 40 percent off cruises and a complimentary amenity such as a $2,000 flight credit per stateroom or one night at a hotel before sailing.
Travel the slow way to Europe on a seven-night trans-Atlantic voyage with Cunard. During its sale, running through Dec. 8, cruise fares are discounted up to 40 percent, starting at $899 for a late May voyage from New York to Southampton, England.
Last year, AdventureSmith Explorations, which specializes in small-ship adventure cruising, had no discounts in Alaska, but this year it lists more than 30 departures on sale Dec. 1 to 6 at $500 off with a $250 airfare credit per person on eight-day cruises that start at $4,400.
Adventure for Less
Outdoors lovers have much to choose from, starting with 10 to 20 percent off trips offered by the small-group specialist Intrepid Travel. Through Dec. 4, tours on sale include a 19-day Maya culture trip in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala (normally from $2,980) and 15 days trekking in Nepal to the base of Mount Everest (usually about $1,700 to $2,000).
In-season ski deals are rare, but Boyne Resorts is discounting hotels up to 40 percent at Big Sky Resort in Montana and Sugarloaf Resort in Maine, offering $20 lift tickets at Pleasant Mountain, Maine, and taking 20 percent off ski lessons at Summit at Snoqualmie in Washington. Sales vary by resort, but most conclude after Dec. 4.
Alaska-bound travelers can book Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises out of Valdez at 20 percent off from Nov. 28 through Dec. 11. Day trips to view the Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound from May 16 to Sept. 13 start at $173 before the sale.
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