To no surprise, an economist with an expertise in travel is predicting a notable increase in the sector for the upcoming holiday season beginning next month.
Travel, especially for airlines, is a lucrative venture during the roughly six-week winter holiday season from just before Thanksgiving until just after the New Year.
"We're expecting to see a huge surge in travel over this holiday season," Hayley Berg, lead economist for the travel website Hopper, told Yahoo Finance. "We know that travelers have pent-up demand for holiday travel traditions, visiting family, vacations, and we're expecting to see a very busy holiday season. And with that super high demand, we're expecting to see the highest prices, especially for Christmas, that we've seen in more than five years."
That's good news, of course, as the industry continues to rebound from the two-plus years of downturn due to the pandemic. But the holidays also mean an increase in airfares. Hopper estimates that average price of a domestic ticket will be $350 roundtrip for Thanksgiving and $463 for Christmas. Yahoo Finance noted that's 22 percent higher than it was in 2019, the last year of pre-pandemic travel, and 43 percent more than the 2021 holiday travel season.
And check the sofa and your pants pockets for any loose change if you're thinking about going overseas. Hopper says international travel will average $795 for a roundtrip airline ticket.
"If you're traveling for Thanksgiving, your best bet is to travel on Monday before Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day if you can," Berg said. "Do not try to fly home on that weekend after Thanksgiving. Those will be the busiest airports and the highest prices."
And don't wait to book, she added.
"That means it's harder to find deals," she said. "If you're not planning far in advance using a price monitoring tool, it's harder to find those one-time price drops or sales that are going to help you get a great deal."
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