What air travelers need to know before booking summer vacations this year: experts

Adriana Diaz
·3 min read
People traveling
People traveling

Summer vacation, here we come.

Experts expect another busy summer travel season but airfare prices should sit steady this summer thanks to stabilizing supply and demand, according to The Points Guys (TPG).

“We expect summer 2024 to be similar to last year in terms of demand and pricing,” Hayley Berg, lead economist at booking app Hopper, told TPG.

“We expect summer 2024 to be similar to last year in terms of demand and pricing,” Hayley Berg, lead economist at booking app Hopper, told TPG. Getty Images
“We expect summer 2024 to be similar to last year in terms of demand and pricing,” Hayley Berg, lead economist at booking app Hopper, told TPG. Getty Images

Travelers may even be able to score a better deal than last year, especially if you’re looking to visit Orlando, Miami or Las Vegas.

“Current airfare as of this week to Orlando, Miami, Las Vegas and most other top domestic destinations remains lower than at this time last year, and in 2022,” Berg noted.

The average price of a domestic ticket in the next six months is expected to spike at $307 in May and drop down to $264 in September, Hopper reported.

“We shouldn’t expect a significant reduction in [fares] this summer as airlines both manage capacity and also have to work their way through issues of aircraft availability in some cases,” John Grant, an analyst at travel data firm OAG, told TPG.

Several Boeing models have shown drastic malfunctions — plunging haplessly through the sky and having their doors blown off mid-flight in recent months — forcing airlines to ground many of their planes and leading the airplane manufacturer to pause producing new aircrafts.

The average price of a domestic ticket in the next six months is expected to spike at $307 in May and drop down to $264 in September, Hopper reported. Getty Images
The average price of a domestic ticket in the next six months is expected to spike at $307 in May and drop down to $264 in September, Hopper reported. Getty Images

Despite the current issues with Boeing, the cost of airfare is currently at a historic low when accounting for inflation, according to Scott Keyes, founder and cheap flight expert at Going.com, in a post on X. He noted, sharing Federal Reserve data, that inflation-adjusted airfare is around 33% cheaper than it was a decade ago.

“By historical standards, we are living in the golden age of cheap flights,” Keyes posted.

Travelers should take advantage especially if they’ve been dreaming of a European getaway.

Data from FCM and Corporate Traveler showed that round-trip airfare to several of the most popular European destinations is cheaper than it was last year, according to TPG.

Travelers may even be able to score a better deal than last year — especially if you’re looking to visit Orlando, Miami or Las Vegas. Getty Images
Travelers may even be able to score a better deal than last year — especially if you’re looking to visit Orlando, Miami or Las Vegas. Getty Images

“For travelers priced out of Europe in 2023, you may be in luck for a 2024 trip,” Berg said. “Prices to Europe are down [roughly] 10% compared to this time last year already.”

Round-trip prices dropped roughly 12% to the United Kingdom and France earlier this year compared to last while fares to Spain were down 9%, and those to Italy were down nearly 4%, the FCM and Corporate Traveler data showed.

So put in your PTO and start packing your bags, a summer season of travel seems to be an affordable option for many this year.