BCD Travel has analyzed its data from U.S. business travelers for 2024 and ranked the most visited cities and states. The report also examines information on car rental bookings and air travel classes. Overall, the growth of U.S. business travel in 2024 exceeded expectations, paving the way for further expansion in 2025.
Top 10 Business Travel Cities
The top three cities in the U.S. for business travelers are significant hubs for some of the country's largest airlines. Atlanta, home to Delta Air Lines, is the busiest city in this regard, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago, which serve as major hubs for American Airlines and United Airlines.
In 2024, the top five intercontinental cities for U.S. business travelers were in Europe: London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, and Munich. Among the most visited cities in Asia, Tokyo ranked sixth, while Seoul came in ninth. Dublin improved by one position compared to last year, pushing Zurich, the Swiss financial center, down to eighth place. Factors such as new market entrants and the introduction of new and revived routes have increased travel between Ireland and the U.S. The only Latin American city to make the ranking is São Paulo, which placed tenth.
| Rank 2024 | Destinations (USA) | Destinations (Int.) |
| 1 | Atlanta, GA | London, UK |
| 2 | Dallas-Fort Worth, TX | Frankfurt, DE |
| 3 | Chicago, IL | Amsterdam, NL |
| 4 | New York City, NY | Paris, FR |
| 5 | Denver, CO | München, DE |
| 6 | Washington, D.C. | Tokyo, JP |
| 7 | Seattle-Tacoma, WA | Dublin, IR |
| 8 | Charlotte, NC | Zurich, SW |
| 9 | Houston, TX | Seoul, KR |
| 10 | Los Angeles, CA | Sao Paulo, BR |
Top 10 Business Travel States and Countries
The states that attract the most U.S. business travelers also represent some of the country's most substantial economic regions. Texas ranks first, followed by California, Georgia, Illinois, and Florida.
Additionally, seven of the top ten destinations for U.S. business travelers are in Europe, highlighting the robust trade and investment connections between the U.S. and European countries.
| Rank 2024 | US States | Countries (Int.) |
| 1 | Texas | UK |
| 2 | California | Germany |
| 3 | Georgia | The Netherlands |
| 4 | Illinois | France |
| 5 | Florida | Japan |
| 6 | North Carolina | Ireland |
| 7 | Colorado | Switzerland |
| 8 | Washington, D.C. | Spain |
| 9 | Washington | Brazil |
| 10 | New York | UAE |
IllinoisTop 10 Business Travel Routes
New York City was the most popular destination for domestic flights, with the two busiest routes being between Chicago and New York City in both directions. Other common routes to New York City included flights from Los Angeles, Boston, and Dallas-Fort Worth.
The Big Apple also ranked as the top city for international travel, followed by Chicago and Los Angeles. Most U.S. business travelers flew to London or Frankfurt, followed closely by Paris and Amsterdam. These cities house Europe's busiest international airports in terms of seat capacity.
| Rank 2024 | Routes (USA) | Routes (Int.) |
| 1 | Chicago-New York City | New York City-London |
| 2 | New York City-Chicago | Chicago-Frankfurt |
| 3 | Los Angeles-New York City | Los Angeles-London |
| 4 | New York City-Los Angeles | New York City-Frankfurt |
| 5 | Atlanta-Dallas-Fort Worth | Chicago-London |
| 6 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Atlanta | Washington, D.C.-Frankfurt |
| 7 | New York City-Boston | Seattle-Tacoma-London |
| 8 | Boston-New York City | New York City-Paris |
| 9 | New York City-Dallas-Fort Worth | San Francisco-Frankfurt |
| 10 | Dallas-Fort Worth-New York City | Atlanta-Amsterdam |
Air Travel Classes and Flight Types
According to the BCD Travel Buyer Survey: Travel Policy 2024, most travel policies determine the rules for booking business class based on flight duration. Typically, business class bookings are allowed for flights longer than seven hours. This trend is evident in the booking data of U.S. business travelers, with 48% flying internationally in business class and 39% in economy class. Premium economy accounted for 12%, while first-class bookings were less than 1%. This marks a slight decrease in business class usage compared to 53% last year, while economy class saw a slight increase from 36% in 2023.
The situation is quite different for domestic flights, where nearly all business travelers (95%) flew economy class, and only 4% opted for business class. Less than 1% of bookings were made for first and premium economy class. This data aligns closely with last year's trends, showing a less than 1% deviation.
Additionally, most domestic flights were direct (81%), whereas just under half (47%) of intercontinental flights were non-stop. Direct flights also result in lower CO2 emissions, which benefits travelers and their companies in reducing their carbon footprint.