Airline fares are relatively cheap this travel season
DALLAS — Enjoy lower airfares while you can. Airlines are taking steps to push prices higher by next year.
Fares have been dropping for more than a year. Taking inflation into account, the average round trip within the U.S. in late 2015 was the lowest since 2010.
Ticket prices have fallen even further this year, according to the airlines.
Fliers can thank the steep plunge in oil prices since mid-2014. As they saved billions of dollars on jet fuel, both domestic and international carriers added supply — seats — faster than travel demand was growing. The major airlines have announced steps to rein in the oversupply, but such changes can’t happen overnight, so fares will remain affordable for the peak travel season.
One downside: Be prepared to spend a few more hours of your vacation standing in an airport security line.
American Airlines and United Airlines say they each plan to spend about $4 million on contractors who will help the Transportation Security Administration by handling some of the non-screening duties at airport checkpoints, like running bins and managing the lines.
Stories about horrific lines might be an opportunity for last-minute deals, according to Pauline Frommer, editorial director of the travel guide company Frommer’s.
Signing up for fare alerts from the airlines and pricetracking websites can help consumers spot those deals, many of which lapse quickly.
If you don’t have kids in school, the easiest way to save money would be delaying a big trip until at least mid-August. “After that, we see fares drop off a cliff,” Hobica said.
Within the U.S., the cost of an average round trip fell about 8 percent last year to $363, according to government figures.
Through March, the average fare per mile was down 6 percent from early 2015, according to the industry trade group Airlines for America.
Faced with fuel costs that have gone back up since February, investors are now pressuring airlines to reverse the decline in fares by growing more slowly.