Even fares for last minute booking are down
In the world of physics, what goes up must go down and travelers are finding that to be true now more than ever with airfare.
According to the most recently released CPI data for airfare, the report shows that the average price of airfare is not only 5% cheaper than a year ago, but the lowest its been since March 2020.
We haven't seen average prices this low outside the pandemicsince June of 2009, 15 years ago, Katy Nastro of Going.com, told ConsumerAffairs.
Some examples Nastro shared included these for the end of August:
- Phoenix to Calgary, CAD $148
- Miami to Denver $151
- NYC to Shannon, Ireland $399
- Chicago to Madrid $465
Whats even more interesting in Going.coms data dive is that atypically last minute airfares are way down, too.
And its happening in other travel categories, too.
Nastro went on to say that according to the latest inflation report, the average price of hotels is also down 1.7% from a year ago. Her travel peer Wendy Perrin agreed as much. In an email sent to ConsumerAffairs, Perrin said that what may have helped, interestingly enough, is that Taylor Swifts concerts have moved from the U.S. to Europe this summer.
And, with hotels and other travel-related businesses having ramped back up post-pandemic, service levels have picked up. Travelers just back from U.S. adventures are reporting better experiences, and better value for their dollar, than we saw the past few summers, Perrin said.
How long will this last?
When will airfare go back up? Nastro said that when her team looked ahead into late summer and fall, they didnt see any reason to anticipate a major swing in the other direction despite airlines not having as much extra capacity versus this summer.
But dont get us wrong, there are more flights scheduled, just not exactly a high season for travel like the summer is, so there will be more renormalization, she said.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-07-18 11:16:17
