Travel costs for Travel Leaders Corporate’s business travel clients have mostly decreased or remained flat in the third quarter of 2012, compared with the same period in 2011, with only a few increases, according to the company’s just-released data on its third-quarter bookings. The cost of an average international airline ticket and the cost per trip segment both decreased 5 percent in the third quarter of 2012, compared with the third quarter of last year. The average cost per ticket for international air in the third quarter of 2012 was $1,622, compared with $1,710 in the third quarter of 2011. The average cost per segment was $534, compared with $563.

“The decreasing cost of international airfare reflects what we’ve already reported quarter-to-quarter this year, specifically that demand continues to soften somewhat,” said David Holyoke, president of Travel Leaders Corporate. “This softening is due, at least in part, to the economic uncertainty in Europe.”

In addition, domestic airfares remained relatively flat. The average cost of a domestic airline ticket increased approximately 3 percent, to $412, in the third quarter of this year, compared with $400 in the third quarter of 2011 among business travelers. The average cost per segment was up 2 percent, from $164 to $168. Holyoke said the company’s early projections indicate that those costs will increase slightly going into the first two quarters of 2013.

Travel Leaders Corporate also found that the average cost per day of a car rental among its business travel clients continued to decrease. In the third quarter 2012, the cost was down 4 percent, to $44, compared with the same quarter in 2011, when it was $46. But the average cost per rental booking was up roughly 12 percent, from $147 to $168.

When comparing the average cost per night of a hotel room for business travelers, the company’s data suggests that domestic rates are flat year-over-year. In both periods, the rate was approximately $140. International hotel rates continued to trend downward, with the average cost per night of a hotel room decreasing 6 percent to $214, in the third quarter of this year, compared with the same quarter in 2011, when it was $228.