If you travelled at all this summer, you likely became familiar with packed airports, delayed flights, cancelled flights, and of course…higher domestic airfare prices. After more than two years of pandemic-era restrictions, many (if not most) business travelers are willing to put up with all of these setbacks – and then some. All of them. Just to have that meeting. Or attend that conference. Or even just to have a few days away from home.
Luckily, all of this chaos isn’t going to last forever… at least, that’s what the experts are saying.
Industry leaders have forecasted that pent-up leisure travel demand will begin to subside when the summer season comes to a close. As a result, domestic airfare is expected to drop by approximately 40% over the next few months.
Flight costs generally decrease in the fall, but this year’s drop is on track to be much higher than normal. Travel buyers should notice an average of $300 or less per dometic air ticket through the end of October.
According to Hopper, a popular travel discount app, recent data found, “The drop this year is larger than usual as a result of the abnormally high summer prices and earlier peak in demand.”
Domestic airfare peaked at roughly $400+ for the average ticket in May 2022, but that didn’t stop the hundreds of millions of Americans who escaped for summer vacation. Major airlines were then forced to cut back their schedules to reduce frequent delays caused by staffing shortages and operational issues. All of these factors, combined with supply and demand principles, led to flight costs not seen in the last five years.
Now that record-breaking summer travel is winding down, the prices are coming with it.
Round-trip flights could reach as low as $238 per domestic ticket this fall. Although daily delay and cancellation totals currently remain high, airline executives are confident that new schedule adjustments will change that soon.
Other driving factors like global jet fuel prices, which were up 95% in comparison to 2019 earlier this year, will continue to impact domestic airfare. Another brief price jump is expected in the winter months during holiday travel.
Airfare is constantly fluctuating. Partnering with a reputable TMC is key to maximizing your travel program ROI (and keeping your travelers happy).
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For more details on this year’s price drop, we recommend checking out these great articles:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/08/01/cheap-flights-fall-travel/
