Dena Thornton and her daughter Emily are wrapping up a trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
"It was great," Thorton said. "Tim McGraw just put on the best show and the rodeo was good, too."
Thanks to an airfare sale on Southwest Airlines, the pair may be able to come back. The airline just announced deals on flights booked by March 15.
The sale comes at a time when travel industry leaders are finding airfare higher than last year at spring break. Travelocity found airfare is up about nine percent from a year ago -- something last minute flyers have been finding out firsthand.
Mike Weingart with Travel Leaders said, "People who call up and say they want to go somewhere next week, there are some bits and pieces available, but it is pricy."
But there is good news for last minute travelers. Weingart says hotel rates have fallen a bit. Travelocity found the average nightly hotel rate of about $156, but Weingart says travelers may be able to do a lot better than that.
"The big market now is the mid-range hotel, instead of the Hilton, maybe the Hilton Garden Inn, properties like that," Weingart advised. "The key is to get a hotel room for under $100."
With that in mind, Weingart says this year may be a good time to explore the lone star state where hotels under $100 a night are not difficult to find.
He said, "If you want to go somewhere on spring break next week I would say Texas is a good place to visit by car."
The top destinations for spring break are Orlando, Las Vegas, New York and Maui, so finding the best deals there may be hard.
