Demand for spring travel increases, driving up airfares and hotels.
Travel app Hopper said in a report last week that domestic airfare averaged $264 per trip in March and April, up 20% from a year ago and 5% above pre-pandemic levels.
Airlines, grappling with pilot shortages and delayed aircraft deliveries, have limited capacity, which keeps airfares up from last year.
Now travelers are returning to the general booking pattern before the pandemic, flying on peak days to traditional destinations, airline executives said. That makes it even more important for travelers to stay flexible when trying to save money to avoid fare spikes.
Good news for airlines trying to offset higher costs.
Spring break demand “probably the best we’ve seen,” Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle said in an interview. “Limited capacity is real. If you connect it with higher costs, especially fuel, people are willing to pay. [the higher fares]and airlines have to charge.”
Matt Klein, Spirit Airlines‘ chief commercial officer, told CNBC that there is a surge in travel after the new year, when schools reopen after a longer holiday break than usual, but demand has increased for travel through the spring, even beyond the peak holiday week.
“The busiest days of the week go back to Friday and Sunday,” Klein said in an interview. “The best offer and the best offer should be on Tuesday and Wednesday will be my expectation.”
But midweek during popular holidays, such as when schools are not in session, may see high demand all week, he added. “People will move to the best opportunities,” he said.
Klein said demand to Florida is particularly strong and that Spirit has increased capacity to certain cities such as Orlando, where service ramped up to record 96 departures per day on peak days.
“There are deals available, but what consumers don’t want is flexibility,” said Hayley Berg, Hopper’s chief economist. He recommends looking at alternative destinations to some of the most popular places and booking outside of the more traditional Thursday or Friday departures and returning to Sunday plans.
For example, Spirit flights from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sell for $411.78 before fees, such as seat selection or cabin baggage, from April 7-16, while the April 8-15 trip is $233.78 shorter.
A flight from New York to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic will cost $1,691.25 in standard economy JetBlue from April 10-14. For the trip they left and returned the day before that falls to $ 1,392.25.
This is the first US spring break season since the Biden administration removed the requirement that travelers show proof of a negative Covid test before flying to the US, making it easier for some people to travel abroad, while capacity remains limited.
Hopper said round-trip flights to Mexico and Central America from the U.S. are up 60% from last year and 30% from 2019 at $536 in March and April. The price from the US to the Caribbean island averaged $433, up 38% from last year and 9% from 2019, while the roundtrip to Europe averaged $706, 45% higher than in 2022 and 16% higher than four years ago.
“It’s not like a wedding. You’ve got some flexibility in where to go,” said Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, a flight deals site that the company recently named Going. “If cheap flights are a priority, see where there are cheap flights and choose your destination.”