Finding Deals on Travel Amid Higher-Priced Flights and Hotels
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Here's your money briefing for Tuesday, January 17th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. Our wallets are finally getting a break. Inflation-weary Americans are seeing lower prices on gas, cars, and even some items at the grocery store. Unfortunately, inflation relief has not reached the travel industry.
When it comes to travel, people do want to spend their money having those experiences. And so there is still a lot of competition for hotel rooms, for airfare. And there's a lot of interest from travelers. And so that means companies are able to keep charging high rates because people are willing to pay them.
But there are deals out there, even though they might not be easy to find. Our travel reporter Allison Pohle has tips for booking travel and not paying sky-high prices. We'll talk about them with her after the break.
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How are airfares and hotel prices trending despite overall inflation cooling?
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We got some good news last week when it comes to inflation, which ticked down to 6.5%. So what does that mean for airfares and hotel rates, which spiraled higher last year? Wall Street Journal travel reporter Allison Pauley has been running through the numbers, and she joins me now. Hey Allison, thank you for being with us.
Thanks for having me.
So Allison, last year as people got vaccinated and restrictions were lifted, people got back to booking flights and planning vacations. But it didn't come cheap.
Anyone who traveled last year knows that they paid a pretty penny to be able to do so. So in 2022, we saw record prices for airfare, hotels, and short-term rentals, not to mention dining out. But people felt really determined to get out because they hadn't traveled in a long time. And I think to some extent, they still feel that way. So if you're looking for travel this winter, yes, it is the off-season, but there's a difference between cheaper and cheap.
Oh boy, sounds like the airlines are coming for your wallet again. So let's fast forward to now. A lot of people might be getting cabin fever and they're trying to plan a spring break trip or just go somewhere to relax. Are there deals to be had out there?
There are deals, but they're hard to come by. So round-trip domestic plane tickets for flights in March cost an average of 461 dollars and that's a 30 increase compared with both 2021 and 2019 according to kayak but there are emails from airlines that travelers might have seen in their inbox that are advertising low fares but those are for certain dates so if you can avoid traveling on a holiday weekend or on certain peak weekends you might be able to get a really cheap flight for a random tuesday
Ah, so keep the suitcases packed and just be ready to go.
Exactly. On a random Tuesday.
All right, if you can swing it. Well, we often hear that it pays to plan ahead to try to get a deal on rates, but not everyone has the ability to plan out travel several months in advance. With prices rising everywhere, are last-minute travelers out of luck?
Not necessarily. So last minute travelers might find slightly better rates than people who are planning ahead.
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