US Travel Agencies' Airline Ticket Sales Increase

U.S.-based travel agencies' airline ticket sales increased by 2.7 percent last month compared to March 2017, Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) announced Tuesday.

The consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by American agencies in March 2018 totaled $9.1 billion, with the average U.S. roundtrip ticket price coming in at $495, up $11 from the previous month.

Average ticket prices are down approximately one percent year-over-year in March.

ARC also announced the total number of passenger trips settled for U.S. travel agencies increased 0.5 percent to 26,646,579 compared to 26,516,456 in March 2017. While U.S. domestic trips decreased 3.1 percent, international passenger trips increased 7.1 percent.

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Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) sales and transactions both dropped off by approximately 19 percent last month compared to the same month the previous year. EMD transactions fell to 128,641 in March 2018 versus 158,919 in March 2017 and EMD sales dropped from more than $9.2 million in March 2017 to $7.5 million last month.

ARC's figures are based on the monthly sales data ending March 31, 2018, from 12,024 U.S. retail and corporate travel agency locations, satellite ticket printing offices and online travel agencies.

ARC's latest report comes one month after it joined the recently-launched NDC Exchange in a move poised to improve distribution for airlines and agencies.

Click here to view a complete visual breakdown of last month's sales and transactions and to see where U.S. travel agencies currently stand through the first quarter of 2018.