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Prepare to Spend More on Holiday Travel This Year
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Traveling for the holidays this year could prove to be a budget buster, with travel booking group Hopper predicting air travel could be one of the most expensive on record.
Hopper revealed Thanksgiving air travel is up by 25 percent over last year – and Christmas air travel has jumped by a whopping 55 percent over 2021 prices and 19 percent higher than 2019.
According to NBC News, it’s not just inflation to blame for the rising airline prices. Demand for post-pandemic travel is still high, and airlines are still operating at an 87 percent capacity compared to 2019.
“So you’re still missing 15% of the flights and seats that would be otherwise taking off,” Hopper economist Hayley Berg told NBC News.
Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, jet fuel costs also remain high.
“For airlines, the cost of flying each seat is higher than ever before, and for consumers, there are fewer seats available to buy and each is going to be more expensive,” Berg told NBC News. “That is going to continue to drive up airfares.”
