Travel Costs Start to Decline in December

New data showed that airfares in the United States have climbed nearly 30 percent over the last year, but the prices started to fall in December.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, airfares are up 28.5 percent year-over-year, but down in December by 8.2 percent compared to the month before.

When adjusted for seasonality, the decline was 3.1 percent, which followed seasonally adjusted declines of three percent in November and 1.1 percent in October.

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American Airlines and Delta Air Lines both recently reported success in the fourth quarter, as the former reported revenue increases of between 16-17 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

As for Delta, the company reported operating revenue of $12.3 billion, eight percent higher than in December 2019. The carrier also revealed an operating income of $1.4 billion, with an operating margin of 11.6 percent.

“Most travel costs saw a drop this month, and some of the biggest aspects of vacation budgets saw especially-major drops,” NerdWallet travel expert Sally French said. “Gasoline costs were the largest contributor to the overall decrease, and airline fares also saw a significant eight percent decrease.”

Overall prices in December dipped by 0.1 percent from November, thanks in part to decreasing travel costs, including a massive 12.5 percent decline for gasoline.

Rental car prices were down 3.4 percent month-over-month, but they are still up 36.1 percent since December 2019. They have dropped from their 2021 record highs, down 4.9 percent year-over-year.

“Whether road-tripping or flying, the cost to get around is a lot less this month than it was last month,” French continued.

As for hotel room rates, the prices were slightly down in December, but up 3.2 percent versus this time last year and up 17 percent versus this time in 2019.

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