Inflation has rattled nearly every aspect of Americans\u2019 finances, including vacation budgets. But one major travel cost isn\u2019t just lower than it was last year \u2014 it\u2019s even lower than pre-pandemic.<\/p>\n
June 2023\u00a0airfares are 18.9% lower than what they were in June 2022, according to July 2023 consumer price index data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).<\/p>\n
Considering that booming demand \u2014 alongside other factors like high jet fuel costs \u2014 led to record-high airfares last summer, it\u2019s not surprising to see prices normalize. Not only have\u00a0air travel costs come back down to earth\u00a0from 2022\u2019s highs, they\u2019re even lower than pre-pandemic prices.<\/p>\n
According to BLS data, June 2023 airfares are down 1.33% from what they were in 2019, when airfares were already trending lower. Relative to what prices were a decade ago, they\u2019re even cheaper.<\/p>\n
You might like:<\/strong> Which country\u2019s passport is the most powerful in the world? Hint: it\u2019s not the U.S.<\/p>\n Before the pandemic, airfares had steadily been trending downward since 2014, save for a small bump in 2019. In 2020, prices dropped sharply with the onset of the pandemic, with June 2020 airfares averaging 27% lower than June 2019 airfares.<\/p>\n But as travel returned, so did higher prices. June 2021 airfares spiked 25% over the prior year, and airfares rose 34% more between June 2021 and June 2022.<\/p>\n If you take a long-term view, those increases aren\u2019t necessarily as big as they seem. In fact, in June 2022, airfares averaged just 0.4% more than in 2014.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at how airfares have changed relative to prices in 2014, using June prices from BLS inflation data:<\/p>\n In 2023, airfares are 19% lower than a decade ago.<\/p>\n Compare that with something like the cost of milk, which is up 9% over that same period, according to BLS data. Hotel prices are up 28%. Admission to movies, theaters and concerts is up 33%.<\/p>\n Plus<\/strong>: 4 mistakes to avoid with your travel points<\/p>\n Over the past decade, prices for most items have increased. But if airfares are down 19%, why do they feel so expensive?<\/p>\n For starters, not every route is necessarily cheaper. Data from travel booking app Hopper indicates airfares to Europe this summer are averaging nearly $1,200 per ticket, the highest prices in the past six years. That\u2019s perhaps a response to people who might usually book a low-cost domestic flight finally taking extravagant bucket list trips.<\/p>\n And given recent major flight cancellations on airlines including United Hayley Berg, Hopper\u2019s lead economist, has her own theories as to why people feel like airfares are higher, including recency bias, shorter booking windows and unbundling.<\/p>\n Berg pointed to how many people traveled for this summer\u2019s major holidays.<\/p>\n For example, Fourth of July weekend set records for U.S. air travel, with more than 2.884 million people passing through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints on the Friday before July 4, according to TSA checkpoint data. That topped the previous record of 2.882 million people flying on the Sunday after Thanksgiving 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times, we anchor the cost of travel to our most recent trips,\u201d Berg says. \u201cFor many, that meant July Fourth and Memorial Day. It\u2019s always expensive to travel on those weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n You might like: <\/strong>This style of travel is growing more popular among the 50-plus set, and it can offer a richer, more relaxing experience<\/p>\n Airfares typically get more expensive the closer they\u2019re booked to departure, and Berg says people are booking trips later than usual \u2014 perhaps a holdover from those pandemic times when people intentionally booked last minute given the extreme uncertainty.<\/p>\n Berg recommends typically\u00a0booking one to two months in advance for domestic travel\u00a0and three to four months ahead for most international travel.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, people are searching for travel three weeks later than they did pre-pandemic, and they\u2019re subsequently booking later,\u201d she says. \u201cIf I\u2019m booking a trip today that I intend to take two weeks from now, it\u2019s going to be expensive because it\u2019s always more expensive to book at the last minute.\u201d<\/p>\nPandemic aside, airfares have been trending cheaper<\/strong><\/h2>\n
If airfares are lower, why do they feel so high?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n UAL,
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\n and Southwest,
\n LUV,
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\n more travelers might opt for more expensive direct flights to reduce the risk of flight disruptions.<\/p>\nRecency bias<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Shorter booking windows<\/strong><\/h4>\n