Ticket Prices??

Welcome to 2024! Yes, flight prices are much higher than 2023, 2022, and pre-pandemic. Supply and demand. Demand is high -- everyone wants to travel. Supply is short due to a myriad of issues including staffing shortages at airlines, airports and air traffic controllers. Shoulder season is no longer shoulder season.

Here is another recent discussion:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/airline-ticket-price-a64e0f4d-d24f-4832-b61d-965e6931564b

YEP -- they are the highest we've seen. We go over at least once a year. We booked tickets for April 2024 about a year ago and got about what we usually pay. We've been watching flights for Oct 2024 to Italy since December and they are crazy high. They aren't budging either.

Add in the Olympics in Paris spiking summer travel and pushing non-sports fans to
what-was-once-shoulder season....

I have some hope that 2025 may be a bit closer to normal, and there is some chance
that if the demand doesn't fully materialize, there may be sales here and there.

Airlines and hotels will charge as much as they can, for as long the market will bear. If seats and rooms start going empty, prices will fall but not a second earlier.

Travel writers are already saying (and the travel industry is hoping) that this will be another banner year. Apparently that pent-up COVID demand is just not going away. Plus as noted, summer Olympics in Paris which means Western Europe will be impacted.

"THIS YEAR" is 4 days old. Here is a differing opinion. https://www.travelandleisure.com/cheap-2024-flights-airfare-travel-study-8418552

I go to Europe right around the same time every year. It's a fact that tickets for THIS year are alot higher than any other time I have flown.

Interesting article, - a very different opinion to the reality we are seeing on the Airline websites. I still believe flight prices are way higher than they have ever been. From the midwest, prices are around $1800 to $2000 for a return ticket to London for the end of May/June time frame. My daughter's wedding will be in the UK in June and I attempted to get everyone to buy flights last Fall. Those that did got a reasonable priced ticket. Those that have waited are looking at very high prices. I just don't anticipate them going down much at all this year for the late Spring/Summer season.

I really don't know the truth. I tracked a flight for about 8 months, leaving on Christmas day. The price went down till about 2 months out, then back up as departure date approached.

The prediction of lower 2024 prices probably won't be evident yet. That could mean those who purchase a year in advance could end up paying the most.

Time will tell.

Yes!! Based on past years I thought we could go Austin-London and Paris-Austin for 1k per person in late May. Now I am worried as I see 1400-1600 USD. Will they go down a little later in January or Feb? I would even consider flying out of Dallas or Houston but the prices are not really any different. I have a couple of hotels reserved and I am comfortable with their pricing but airfare is brutal!

Last fall, the tickets I booked multicity, economy plus on Delta into Amsterdam out of Paris for $1500. We felt it was too expensive and then with a YOLO attitude went ahead. What I really appreciate about tickets since COVID is that most ticket classes can be rebooked for a credit as prices go down. At least about 50% of my tickets in the last four or so years have decreased, some just slightly some by a lot. Since I fly a lot, I don't worry about using credits up.

I also really research prices tweaking my itinerary to make use of lower priced days and airports.

I just got last minute economy plus tickets RT Minneapolis to Seattle for $340. The same tickets for mid April are $480. I'm waiting because I agree that excluding Hawaii, for domestic tickets, 2 months out is kind of a sweet spot.

Maybe this year tourism will finally reach pre-COVID levels and if it does and if the airlines are not ready with pilots and planes then there could be some price issues. Google flights is showing a decline in costs over the last few months on the few flights I've checked (there is a button to see that). Let's hope it continues and its broad based.

RT to Austin to London in early Msy is as low as $750 which is about as good as its ever been. Let's see if it drops.

russia, HAMAS, Iran, Yemen, N. Korea, China.... protests in the streets, lots of insanity. Let's see how the tourist market deals with it.

I am dictated by a school schedule because I work for a school district and I have kids in school so unfortunately we cannot travel until Memorial Day weekend. I want to get in and out before the Europeans go on holiday in mid June and I definitely do not want to be anywhere near Paris in July due to the Olympics so unfortunately, we do not have much flexibility.

gtmom, sounds like a perfect opportunity to broaden your experiences and look for new unimagined destinations. I did that once and never looked back.

Right now from what I can see, if you can go before May 4th then you can get decent pricing. For example, my flight to Madrid on May 4th is about $1000. On May 11th, it goes way up to $1700. Ouch

I find a travel sweet spot is after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, everyone is exhausted from the former and preparing for the latter so easy peasy.

And if you want to be inundated with bargains, sign up for Going. There will be deals to be had, if you are flexible (in every sense of the word given some of the airlines).

Big difference between May and November with flight prices. We could fly to London and back out of Paris for 900 USD per person versus the 1700 I am getting for late May. Strongly considering going for Thanksgiving now even though we will miss some school and I know it will be dark by 4:00 pm. Do you all think 900 USD is a good price for Aus-Lon and Par-Aus? Thanks!

I have no experience monitoring transatlantic fares out of Austin, so I shouldn't speculate on that, but I'll point out that it's worth asking yourself how likely a significant decrease might be (enough that you'd regret having bought the ticket so early) vs. a significant increase. Who cares if the fare drops to $825 later? On the other hand, the sky's the limit on airfares, especially in non-competitive markets. Clearly, that fare could increase a lot more than it could decrease.

The other thing I've noticed--in my relatively competitive market--is that as you get closer and closer to the travel date, the gap between fares on the best routings and fares on the worst routings (extra stops, uncomfortably long or short connection times, etc.) expands. The premium for the best flights may start out at only $100-$150, but it may end up being $400+ by 30 days before departure. Are you the sort of traveler for whom it's important to have a good flight itinerary rather than a nightmarish overnight slog through four airports? If so, it's probably not a good idea to push your luck by waiting till shortly before the trip to buy the ticket. That does not mean you need to buy a November ticket now!

On the other side of the coin, the airlines are still making a lot of adjustments to schedules and cancelling flights. The earlier you buy, the greater the risk you'll end up on a routing quite different from what you initially selected, and you'll be locked into the airline/alliance with which you originally booked unless you ask for and receive a refund and start ticket-shopping again--at a time when overall fares (cash or miles) are likely to be a lot higher. These are not easy times for travelers.

As I said, I'm in an easier market than Austin. I'm now looking at tickets for a departure around April 30-May 1 to Albania and then a late-September return from Venice. That's not exactly a cheap multi-city ticket, and it's a challenge to fly out of Venice later than the crack of dawn (I don't do crack of dawn). As of 24 hours ago there was an acceptable routing around $1050, which seems pretty good to me. The main reason I haven't bought the ticket is that I'm mulling the use of frequent-flier miles instead of cash. I like the flexibility I get by using miles, and those miles will continue to drop in value if I don't use them. At last look that routing was going to cost me 84,000 miles and $115 in taxes and fees. Just writing this out has almost convinced me to go ahead and grab the frequent-flier ticket. If it's still available, LOL.

I've seen oddball routings like the above bounce around a lot, up and down $500 at a time. I ask myself: Is that $1050 fare going to drop by $500? The answer is "absolutely not". Could it bounce up by $500? Unfortunately, yes. And then I'd be stuck, gnawing on my fingernails, hoping for it to drop back down. Which it might. Or might not.

Edited to add: I should have mentioned that I'm looking at regular economy (not basic economy) tickets. The eastbound transatlantic segment I'm leaning toward is on Austrian Air, and I assume I'll be paying a seat-selection fee there. On the return, the transatlantic leg is on United, after a change in Frankfurt, and I won't have to pay to select a regular coach seat on that flight. United has a useful 11:05 AM non-stop flight from Venice to Newark that I used in 2022, but this time around it costs an extra $200-$300 or an extra 26,000 miles, and I kind of prefer the overall schedule through Frankfurt anyway.

My entire thought process is geared to scoring a good price on a standard economy ticket. Premium-economy and business-class seats are an entirely different ballgame. It's clear from reading this forum that those swimming in the business-class pool are usually very smart to investigate options as soon as flights become bookable and act quickly.

YIKES! Some of your high prices look good, after the "sticker shock" of $1200-1600 ONE WAY for economy from the various options I just tried, back to Seattle with the one-way I need!
This is for mid-June, so maybe that explains Paris? Amsterdam, though, or Frankfurt?
I would really appreciate any creative ideas, with the exception of waiting till just prior to departure. I'm just not that laid-back about anything!

Thanks for those suggestions! Long story about the multi-city aspect and uncertain return date of my flights from Sea to Europe that made it easier for two one- ways.
I am ending up in Lyon and assumed it's cheaper to train (2+ hours) to CDG and British Air and Delta both have options that would work.
But flights from Lyon through Amsterdam or Frankfurt are almost the same price. (And I'd like to stick to airlines I've at least heard of before!)
The posted prices during the search are the lowest fare class, and I at least want to choose a seat in coach, for a trans-Atlantic flight. I'm seeing between $1100 and $1600, one way...

This one is good news but I can find as many that contradict it. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/travel-price-tracker

Part of it is they want to catch your attention with bad news so they compare this year with immediately after COVID when prices were very low because no one was traveling. The few factual reports you can find that show prices compared to pre-COVID look to me like they have gone up more or less in line with all the other inflation. Other factors seem to be a loss of pilots and flight staff after COVID. Airline profits are still in the same tank they are always in .... somehting below 3% so its not price gouging. But it is unfortunate for those that like to travel.

The best advice I think, is to shop 6 to 8 months out. Put a Google Flights price tracker on the flight and then watch. It wont be long before you see the highs and lows and know when to buy. Also note that if you are tracking the cheapest flight on the day you looked, it may not be the cheapest flight a month later. But Google Flights will tell you the options so you can check them out as well. And be flexible. Moving things just one day forward or backward can make a big deal, but that floats too. So constant checking is in order. Again, Google Flights has a date matrix you can look at.

Basically I set the tracker I determine the best price for that flight and when the flight returns to that price i check using the date matrix all the other flights within a few days of the one I was tracking and buy the cheapest basic economy that lets me pick a seat. Doing that I think you can still get from mid-America to mid-Europe for $1000 or less. Then if you start looking at secondary markets in the US and in Europe, maybe much better. For instance Austin departures are cheaper than Houston departures even though its further and some of those Austin Flights change in Houston. At the other end you might find a cheaper destination that interests you for a few days before you buy a discount ticket to the primary destination. That can save $100 or so. I use to fly to Odesa on the way to Budapest because it was cheaper than direct to Budapest. Loved Odesa so that was fine.