Hopper Lead Economist Hayley Berg outlines travel delays expected due to the oncoming arctic blast storm, trends in travel destinations, the outlook for 2023 travel demand, and the most popular domestic U.S. locations.

Video Transcript

DAVE BRIGGS: Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live. The winter storm sweeping across the US this week is intensifying into a bomb cyclone, bringing sudden temperature drops and freezing weather to the Midwest and Northeast. The Arctic blast has already brought subzero temps to cities like Denver and Minneapolis, while Chicago, Nashville, even Dallas will feel like below zero tomorrow, according to AccuWeather.

The storm tackles the East Coast on Saturday. Areas as far south as Jacksonville, Florida will experience freezing temperatures. And it will also feel freezing in Washington, DC and here in New York City. But it's not just the cold you need to worry about. Parts of the Midwest and the entire Northeast will face wind gusts upwards of 40 miles per hour. NOA adding that travelers need to be wary of snow squalls, flash freezing, and icy spots on the road. Stay home. Work remote.

JARED BLIKRE: Oh, ho, fledgling meteorologist here at Yahoo Finance. Very nice work, Dave. And by the way, this bad weather is certainly going to impact travel for the holidays this weekend. And we've got to bring in our next guest, Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper. Hayley, what can you tell us about these winter disruptions that people may experience with respect to their travel plans?

HAYLEY BERG: We're already seeing the impact. Today and tomorrow, about 7 million Americans were supposed to take off for flights over Christmas weekend. We know that thousands have already been canceled or delayed, and we expect that to continue into the weekend. All in, we could see hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded or unable to make the trips that they planned for holidays after two years of COVID and being unable to travel.

DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, 2,500 flights already canceled, according to FlightAware. So what should people do? And is it too late, Hayley, to get travel insurance now?

HAYLEY BERG: Depends on where you booked. If you booked on the Hopper app, for example, you can add a disruption protection product, as long as your flight doesn't depart in the next 12 or 24 hours. So if you're leaving Saturday, Sunday, maybe on a vacation, you can add a disruption protection, but check what is already included in your ticket if you booked through a credit card company.

Sometimes travel insurance and disruption can be included. So find out what's already available to you. But if you are leaving in the next 12, 24 hours, even 36 hours, download the airline app and set up alerts, so that you're getting real time information about what's going on with your trip.

JARED BLIKRE: All right, most people's 2022 plans probably in the bag here, but thinking ahead to the new year, what are some of the destinations that people are looking at here and abroad?

HAYLEY BERG: Well, one of the most interesting trends we're seeing in 2023 is an incredible surge in demand to Asia. We're seeing destinations like Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Tokyo at the top of the list for the most searched for and the most booked destinations in the new year. Now as airlines rebuild those trans-Pacific routes, which have been slower to recover than the domestic market, we're expecting to see even more volume of passengers headed to either Asian, Southeast Asian, and Oceanean destinations like Australia, Fiji, New Zealand.

DAVE BRIGGS: Hayley, recently, we had kind of dueling CEOs talk about the demand they're seeing on the horizon, Delta versus JetBlue. What type of demand are you seeing into 2023?

HAYLEY BERG: All the signals we have now are that demand in 2023 will remain extremely strong. We did a survey recently of Hopper app users, which are primarily millennial and Gen Z. And over 95% of them are planning a trip in 2023. Over 80% plan to spend more or the same that they did this year on travel. It shows us a theme that has been persistent for the last 5 to 10 years.

But even more so, coming out of the pandemic, more Americans are spending on experiences, which involve travel, than they are in consumer goods. So we are expecting a strong year next year, hoping to see some lower airfares to make those summer vacations and those bigger trips more affordable.

JARED BLIKRE: Back to the present here, with people maybe getting trapped at airports over the next few days, what are some tips you might have for travelers who are a little bit bogged down by the weather?

HAYLEY BERG: Unfortunately, we can't control the weather, but you can be proactive. So even if you're not flying out of one of these airports, who's going to be directly hit by snow, ice, and wind, you could still be impacted. So I'm talking to you in the southwest in California. If you're able to drive safely to your destination, you may want to consider doing so, given all of the planes in the midwest, northeast, are going to be really tied up for the next couple of days.

For those who are about to endure probably some long lines and cancelations, pack your patience and go prepared to the airport. We are likely to see mass disruption. So be ready for what's ahead.

DAVE BRIGGS: Oh, goody. Flying with three kids on Sunday morning, that should be a hoot. Domestic locations that are hot in '23, what are they, and why?

HAYLEY BERG: We're expecting to see continued demand for big cities. So Las Vegas, Orlando, Los Angeles are some of the top destinations we're seeing next year. Florida has been a huge winner in 2022. We expect to see that continue next year. It offers a lot of beach frontage, low prices, given so many low cost carriers are flying in and out of different parts of Florida. So we expect to see that continue, as well as some of those outdoor cities like Denver, and even parts of Montana with access to national parks. Our parks are really increasing in popularity.

JARED BLIKRE: Hayley, we got time for one more here. Just, I'll give you the floor. Anything that you found interesting this travel-- this season in your job that you haven't had a chance to share with us just yet?

HAYLEY BERG: I think we have talked a lot about demand and pricing, but remote work is a really interesting trend. So about half of Hopper users have some level of remote work flexibility. And they say that going forward, that is going to impact how they plan travel, whether it be traveling midweek to take advantage of those low Wednesday and Thursday prices or extending stays, turning a business trip into a vacation.

I expect we're going to continue to see this blending of work and leisure to expand travel for many Americans. So I'm really looking forward to next year, seeing how that shapes out, how travel is going to be different moving forward now that remote work seems to be a core part of how people work today.

DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, the bleisure trend-- big fan of that. Hayley Berg, Hopper's lead economist, merry Christmas to you. Thanks for being on.