by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:22 AM ET, Wed February 15, 2023
New data from the United States government highlights how inflation is impacting prices across the travel industry.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index, airfares in the U.S. rose by 26 percent in January compared to the same month last year. The price increase outpaces the 6.4 percent year-over-year jump for the all-items index.
While airfare prices are through the roof, they are still only 3.7 percent higher compared to January 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic shut down travel. And prices look to be coming down, as airfare last month was down 23 percent from record totals in May 2022.
Another change in the Consumer Price Index was rental car prices, which dropped 4.6 percent month-over-month, but were still up 35.7 percent compared to pre-pandemic totals. Hotel room rates were up four percent month-over-month, 8.5 percent year-over-year and 16.3 percent compared to January 2020.
"For folks planning trips year based on budgets from last year, it's going to cost a lot more to get the same thing," NerdWallet travel expert Sally French said. "If you have a stash of points and miles, now's a good time to use those as most loyalty programs haven't yet adjusted their redemption rates to account for inflation - yet."
Data also showed a 23 percent increase in air travel service complaints from October to November 2022, and a 603.1 percent increase in complaints received compared to pre-pandemic totals from November 2019.
As for the cruise industry, a report from last month revealed that 52 percent of adults in the U.S. are just as likely or more likely to consider taking a cruise vacation than before COVID-19-related restrictions were implemented. The number increased from the 45 percent who said the same in last year's AAA cruise report.
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