Anxious to reconnect with family over the Christmas season? Hopper, a travel booking site, estimates that fliers will spend an average of $463 for round-trip domestic flights — a 39% increase from last year, with prices expected to reach their highest point in the last five years. And prices may increase even more as the holiday season inches closer.
“Basically, the number one driver of why we’re seeing such high prices is there’s pent-up demand from people not traveling over the last few years,” explained Heritage.
Moreover, Heritage attributes the rapid increase in airfare to the rise in jet fuel prices and lowered plane capacity.
The pilot shortage may also contribute to increased prices. Because there are fewer pilots, U.S. airlines have decreased the number of U.S. flights by 16% compared to October 2019 — a trend that will extend to the month of December. Unlike last year, however, demand is just 5% less than it was in 2019. Airlines have responded by flying much larger, higher-capacity planes. However, this may reduce the myriad of flight options enjoyed in the pre-pandemic era.
In order to save some money while still visiting family this Christmas season, choose departure and arrival dates wisely. Expedia flight data suggests that fliers who choose to depart between December 18-21 can save an average of 15%. Hopper also recommends returning on December 27 or 28 to save money.
If you are not afraid of extending the holiday trip to a full 12 days of Christmas, Hopper said travelers who return on January 3 could save as much as 20%.
Traveling on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day can also save money, per NerdWallet. According to the website, airport crowds increase substantially on the days before and after Christmas, but Christmas Eve and Christmas Day crowds are usually light travel days.
NerdWallet also suggests avoiding travel on Friday, December 23. Friday, normally a busy day for travel, will be extra busy since Christmas falls on a Sunday this year.
As Thanksgiving comes to a close, Heritage suggested booking Christmas flights as quickly as possible.
“We expect popular routes to sell out and people to book early,” Heritage said. He said once people have booked a lot of those flights, “prices will start to surge.”
This Christmas, reasonably priced tickets are going quickly, and travelers who want to see extended family should not delay in getting tickets because affordable flights are in short supply.
Travel planning website “The Vacationer” recommends booking Christmas flights no later than Thanksgiving Day. The planning website cautions that if you wait until December to book, expect to pay a premium, in addition to finding flights with more connections and undesirable times.
