With the cost-of-living crisis ongoing, consumers can use as much good news as they can possibly get. This month, it seems there actually is some welcome news for travelers who are having to watch their wallets when it comes to vacation planning—well, at least a little.
According to NerdWallet’s latest Travel Price Index, the general cost of travel is currently lower than it was during the same period in 2023, down by one percent overall. While travel prices are mostly on the rise yet again, in a few areas at least, they have dropped a bit since last year.
NerdWallet’s report uses the most recent set of Consumer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is based on January 2024 prices but released just this month.
It found that average airfares, in particular, are down by 6.4 percent versus the same month of 2023 and are actually three percent below what they were in the pre-pandemic days of January 2020.
Besides enjoying minor savings on flights, travelers can also expect to pay less for car rentals, the price of which has gone down by 14 percent compared with last January. Meanwhile, hotel prices have stayed relatively static, rising a nominal 0.7 percent in comparison with last year.
While overall travel will cost you slightly less than this time last year, it will still cost you quite a bit more than it would have before the pandemic, due to double-digit increases in the price of hotels, car rentals, dining out and entertainment. NerdWallet reported that the combined cost of travel is up 12 percent when compared with January 2020.
The outlet factored in two more categories when calculating the overall cost of a vacation: dining out and entertainment (consisting of things like movies, theaters and concerts).
Since this time last year, the cost of eating while away from home has been up 5.1 percent, which makes sense given that the cost of food seems to be continually rising. In fact—and brace yourself—the cost of dining at restaurants has risen 25.6 percent from what it was in January 2020.
Like dining out, the cost of entertainment has been increasing fairly consistently. This past month, prices were gauged to be up 5.2 percent year-over-year and up 19.6 percent from what they were in January 2020.
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