Book Those Plane Tickets Now! Air Travel Is About to Get a Lot More Expensive

Dreaming of a summer getaway but not sure when to pull the trigger on airplane tickets? According to a new report by travel app Hopper, the answer is sooner rather than later. That's because the flights you have your eye on are about to get a lot more expensive.

Hopper, which just published its Consumer Airfare Index, predicts domestic airfare will see an increase of seven percent each month through June 2022. And if you're planning a trip abroad? International airfare is set to see a five percent rise each month, with the most significant increases between now and March. The softer increase in international airfare most likely stems from heavier international travel restrictions, including test requirements, quarantine mandates, and more.

So what exactly is causing this upward trend in pricing? One factor is the expected boom in demand for travel this spring and summer, after the rise of a new variant and panic surrounding 5G rollouts caused flight cancellations around the world. An increase in the price of jet fuel is a significant contributor, with jet fuel prices currently sitting at $2.56 per gallon, its highest price since 2014.

"Over the course of 2021, we saw a 60 percent increase in jet fuel prices from $1.34 per gallon at the start of the year," Adit Damodaran, an economist at Hopper, said in a recent interview. "We expect higher jet fuel prices to contribute to higher consumer airfare for 2022."

If you can't book right this second, you don't have to kiss your dream vacation goodbye just yet. According to the recent State of Cheap Flights 2022 report by flight deals newsletter service Scott's Cheap Flights, there's a good chance of seeing some last-minute deals pop up in an effort by airlines to fill empty seats.

Regardless of whether you hop on those tickets now or wait it out, one thing is sure: navigating your next vacation will require some meticulous pre-planning and a sizeable amount of compromise.