Holiday travelers could face higher fares and fewer flight choices, experts warn
Millions of people are expected to fly this holiday season. But experts say booking those flights may not be as easy as it has been in the past.
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The holiday travel season is just two months away and experts warn that travelers who have not booked their flights yet could face fewer options and significantly higher prices.
Millions of people are expected to fly this holiday season. But experts say booking those flights may not be as easy as it has been in the past.
Experts say soaring fuel costs are driving up ticket prices and could leave travelers with fewer flight options.
"We could fly from the New York, tri-state area down to Florida for $300 or $400 a person. We're now seeing that upwards of $800, $900, even sometimes over $1,000," says Matthew Kondrup, owner of the Matty K Travel Group.
Experts say airfare prices are now 40% to 50% higher than they were last year.
"It actually went up to $92 for crude oil," says Anoop Rai, a finance professor at Hofstra University.
Kondrup says higher prices are becoming the new reality for travelers.
"We are seeing not just it's harder to find flights but finding flights that are affordable," says Kondrup.
Several major airlines cut flights and raised baggage fees over the summer because of the high cost of fuel.
"Jet fuel is a special kind of fuel. So, they need to have the basic ingredients in there and that increases the price of refining it to the right capacity," says Rai.
Now, United, American and Southwest say that if fuel prices do not come down soon, they may have to cut additional flights later this year.
"They'll be cutting down especially lines that are not profitable or to have a lower capacity than the others," says Rai.
On Long Island, a spokesperson for MacArthur Airport told News 12 that no airlines have informed the airport of any planned cuts to service.
