Travel Tips

Increase In Travel Is Causing Travel Prices To Rise

Prices for many travel expenses are higher in the summer of 2021 than a few months before. The price increases vary by expense type and the travel destination.

A rebound in leisure travel is fueling the rising travel costs. Business travel may resume in the fall as more people first return to the office before traveling again for meetings and conferences, causing prices to propel higher yet.

The April 2021 U.S. Travel Association Travel Price Index shows a 9.5% year-over-year increase. There’s also a 30.1% increase in transportation costs for the same period, primarily because of rising gas prices.

As a fair comparison, many domestic travel restrictions were still in place for April 2020. States didn’t begin reopening until May 2020 (at the earliest), but many people didn’t make their first post-pandemic trips until 2021 after becoming fully vaccinated or when more travel restrictions lifted. For example, the daily TSA screenings for many days in April 2020 were below 100,000. The busiest day (April 30, 2020) logged 171,563 screenings. The busiest day in April 2021 (April 18, 2021) had 1,572,383 visitors. That’s quite a change but well below the 2019 daily average between 2 and 2.5 million.

Here’s a closer look at the rising prices by each travel sector.

Airfare Prices Finding pandemic flight bargains is difficult. Alaska Airlines reports the average fare price for June 2021 is higher than in 2019. Other domestic airlines are reporting a similar pricing effect. Cheap fares were still available in the opening months of 2021.

But as the nation and the world reopens, prices and travel searches began increasing in March 2021. Popular flight routes and peak travel weekends have the highest fares. Flying to less popular destinations or using alternate airports may help you find lower prices. Booking flights several weeks or months in advance can be

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another way to secure the best rates.

Hotels Rates for hotels and vacation homes are higher than pre-pandemic nightly rates in many destinations. Data company Transparent reports that average nightly rates for Airbnb stays in July/ August 2021 cost $220. The average cost was $194 in 2020 and $185 pre-pandemic.

Rental Cars The rental car industry is suffering from the low supply for several reasons: -Fleet downsizing due to low demand in 2020. -Difficulty acquiring new cars due to a semiconductor shortage -A rapid increase in leisure travel demand

The BBB reports that some agencies are charging ”several hundred dollars” for entry-level vehicles. Usually, these compact cars can cost less than $100 per day. As some car rentals cost $722 per day in Maui in March 2021, tourists were renting U-Haul moving trucks as a cheaper alternative.

Rental rates are likely to be higher, and the inventory can be slimmer at airports and popular tourist destinations. Rates and rental options can be more favorable in off-site agencies.

Airline Sorry for Sharing ’Fact’ About ’Safest’ Seats in Crash

TSA Finds Missle Launcher in Baltimore Transportation Security Administration officers have found some Dutch airline KLM is apologizing after one of strange things in travelers' baggage, and on Monday, they found a its Twitter accounts suggested passengers in the missile launcher. The weapon, which was not loaded or "live," was found in a checked bag at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport in Bal timore, and the bag's owner—a man from Jacksonville, Texas—was back of a plane are less likely to die in a crash. "Seats at the back of a plane are the safest!" KLM Consider booking travel reservations several months in advance. located by airport police and detained for questioning. He explainIndia tweeted Wednesday, citing a 2015 Time Of course, look for flexible cancellaed that he's active-duty military and was bringing the launcher article that described a 32% fatality rate in the tion policies. Last-minute deals are back from Kuwait as a souvenir. "Perhaps he should have picked back third of a plane over 30 years of aircraft achard to come by as many places report up a keychain instead," a TSA rep tweeted. Military weapons, while cidents, compared to 39% in the middle third, low vacancy rates. June, July and early not illegal, are not allowed in baggage. The man was released and caught his flight; the missile launcher was given to the state fire marshal for disposal. and 38% in the front third, per Business Insider. The tweet featuring a picture of an airplane seat among the clouds was deleted after 12 hours! August can be the busiest and most expensive months to travel as school is out of session. Families are usually taking a summer vacation. Waiting until school restarts can mean fewer crowds and cheaper rates.