This summer travel season can turn into a nightmare

If you’re planning to fly this summer, be prepared to pay.

The average domestic airfare is now $330 per round trip, according to flight booking website hopper. That’s a 7% increase year-on-year in 2019 and the highest average price since data collection began. International airfares in 2019 are in line with a price tag of $810 per round-trip.

In large part, pent-up travel demand, higher fuel prices and staff shortages at major airlines are contributing to the increase. That exacerbates perennial cash flows and flows that often contribute to price increases.

“We anticipate other factors such as frequent seasonal changes in demand, jet fuel prices, capacity and carrier competition to be key drivers of price action in the market.” America,” wrote economist Hopper Hayley Berg earlier this month.

Transportation Security Management movies has returned to about 90% of the capacity seen in 2019 and is up 7% from a year ago. Meanwhile, jet fuel prices are up 158% from 2021 levels and up 30% from just a month ago, to around $153 per barrel, according to the International Air Transport Association.

But with increased demand, there’s the potential for greater scheduling headaches as travelers flock to airports. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom recently told employees that the airline must do everything it can to maintain service reliability.

“People really need to feel like they have control over their journey, and we give them control by making sure they get where they want to be on time. I just couldn’t be more blunt about it,” he told pilots in a corporate town hall last week in the comments. Reviewed by CNBC. “Other airlines are really struggling.”

Meanwhile, data from airline tracking website FlightAware.com shows that about a quarter of flights are in the US. are experiencing delays – while overall flight capacity is within 16 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Staff shortages are still causing headaches for some airlines, forcing them to cut flight schedules. Among the airlines that do it are JetBlueMore flights were canceled between April 8 and April 17 than any other airline.

Another factor driving prices up is rising inflation. In a separate reportThe authors of the Adobe Digital Price Index found that while domestic prices increased by 20% in March of this year compared to March 2019, actual bookings in March only increased 12% compared to March 2019. On a monthly basis, spending in March increased 32 percent – ​​but total bookings increased only 15 percent.

“Consumers have seen the online prices of physical goods rise for 22 consecutive months according to the Adobe Digital Price Index, and inflation has also increased,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. services are becoming more prominent,” Vivek Pandya, principal analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement. “The release of pent-up demand is a major driving factor, as air travel desire is coming back stronger than anticipated.”

In an interview, he said that consumers should be aware that discounted flights during the pandemic are essentially over and book them as soon as possible.

“The double-digit gain, 15-20%, in price is a very sudden increase,” he said. “So that price increase is pretty impressive – and it’s not something we’ve been used to seeing lately.”

Hopper’s Berg forecasts prices will stay at $330 per round trip through the end of April – then increase to $360 through the end of May to $360. Airfares will drop seasonally in the fall, she said.

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here