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Holiday Airfare Will Be Most Expensive In 5 Years As Pandemic Fears Wane

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By Leslie Josephs

If you’re thinking about flying over Thanksgiving or Christmas, get ready to pay up.

Flights for the holidays will be the most expensive in five years, fare-tracker Hopper said Monday.

Average domestic airfare for trips over Thanksgiving is $350, and international round trips are going for an average of $795 — both mark a 22% increase compared with 2019, before the Covid pandemic, Hopper said.

Domestic round-trip tickets over Christmas, which falls on a weekend this year, are nearly a third more expensive than 2019, averaging $463, while international is up 26% to $1,300, according to Hopper’s data.

Traveling during peak-demand days, like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or the days leading up to Christmas, always command higher prices. Travel experts recommend flexibility and traveling outside of the busiest travel days.

But Brett Snyder, founder of the Cranky Flier travel website and a former airline manager, warns cheap fares might be hard to find on any day this holiday season because airlines have improved their control over how many seats they sell.

“Airlines are so much better at this now,” Snyder said. “Now they just fly a lot fewer flights on Christmas Day. If it is cheaper, it’s not significantly cheaper.”

[vc_message message_box_color=”blue”]CNBC, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.comSept. 12, 2022

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This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.