“It’s very crowded,” she said. She said, “It felt like there were a million people in the Vatican. Just touring group after group.”
As travelers prepare for summer vacation this year, experts say they will have plenty of company. This is especially true for flights to Europe and Asia, where prices are the highest in more than five years, according to travel apps. hopper.
But interest in travel remains strong, said Kayla Inserra, an expert on consumer travel trends for travel search sites. Kayak. She said airline ticket prices are up 35% overall, but searches are up 20% compared to last year.
“Prices don’t seem to deter travelers,” Insella said.
Here’s how much you can expect to spend and save this summer compared to last year.
For most parts of the world, flights to international destinations are up significantly from both last year and 2019, Hopper said. And the interest is high: price comparison site Kayak data shows a 42% increase in searches for international flights.
Hopper said passengers to Europe will expect airfares to be 36% higher than last year, averaging $1,167 per ticket. Airfares average up to $1,817 for Asia, where many countries have only recently lifted coronavirus restrictions. This is a 62% increase compared to 2019.
South America is the only region where air fares have fallen compared to 2019 and last year, Hopper said.
Hopper’s chief economist, Haley Berg, said: “The price increase is absolutely incredible.
She said prices are very high because capacity for travel to Asia is still well below 2019 figures.There are also fewer flights between the US and Europe, but not as much as Asia. The costs associated with the pandemic are also higher than they were before the pandemic, she said.
Danforth’s client demands show the popularity of these locations despite the cost. She said the top destinations people are asking about for summer travel include Italy, Greece, Japan, France and Portugal. And they are ready to pay.
She said the attitude towards prices is like this. what should i do? “
For travelers staying within the United States, airfare will be cheaper than last year. Hopper says domestic airfare averages $306 in the summer because of lower jet fuel prices and more available capacity. This is a 19% drop for him from last year, but still 6% higher than in the summer of 2019.
Hopper said travelers enjoy hit songs and plan theme park trips to Orlando and vacations to cities like New York, Las Vegas, Miami and Los Angeles.
“I think domestic travel is going to feel a little bit more normal this season,” Berg said. “We’re going into the regular season, and the regular season is the busiest time of the year.”
Hotel stays this summer are likely to be higher than last year, and were already quite high.
Berg said hotels still struggle with high costs, including wages, energy and food, that flow to customers. In New York and Miami, the app’s most searched hotel markets, median nightly rates rose 51% and he 33%, respectively.
Travelers have seen fewer disruptions to hotel stays so far this year.according to data According to the American Travel Association, lodging costs in March were up 8% year-over-year and 19% higher than in 2019.
Demand for vacation rentals also seems to be increasing towards the summer. AirDNA, which tracks the performance of Airbnb and Vrbo properties, said last month Bookings from June to August are up about 10% over the same period last year.
Gone are the days of rampant car rental shortages and skyrocketing prices. According to Kayak, the data shows he’s down 13% in daily rental rates.
“The only thing you don’t have to splurge on is probably a rental car,” says the company’s summer forecast.
Hopper summer car rental prices average about $46 per day, down 17% from 2022. This time in 2021, travel apps Said Prices reached an average of $99 per day.
Berg said the city remains important when it comes to pricing and availability. Minnesota’s smaller airports may have fewer options and higher prices than the more well-stocked and popular Florida airports.
“Prices will be lowest where the fleet is most concentrated,” she said.
There is one more benefit for those who rent a car. price Gas usage is significantly lower than it was a year ago. The national average for a regular gallon on Tuesday was $3.53 for him, and in 2022 he was $4.33.
Several new ships will be launched this summer from operators including Virgin Voyages, MSC Cruises, Viking Cruises, Silversea and the renewed Crystal Cruises.
The cruise industry took longer to reopen than most parts of travel, shutting down early in the pandemic and returning to operations in the US in 2021. this summer, cruise critic According to Editor-in-Chief Colleen McDaniel, the industry is regaining momentum.
“They are full, sailing with full fleets,” she said. “This was exactly what we were waiting for in terms of a real turnaround for the industry.”
She said there were still some discounts, especially about 90 days before the sailing date, but there were no cruise holiday deals in general.
“As far as cruise lines keep their prices consistent, they’ve done a really good job,” she said.
However, operators are offering incentives such as additional benefits and travel reimbursement on Mediterranean and Nordic cruises to offset the high cost of air travel to these regions. , said Caribbean reservations were “pretty strong” because so many U.S. travelers can reach cruise ports by car.
Scott Keyes, Founder of Cheap Flight Alert Service going comsays finding good deals for summer travel is “a challenge at the moment.”
“We are looking at one of the busiest air travel summers on record,” he said. Winter was the ideal time to book, but procrastinating travelers are “not entirely out of hope,” he said.
He said the first two weeks of June or the last two weeks of August tend to be cheaper than the mid-summer eight weeks, with airfares being up to 40% cheaper.
Keys said travelers should also be open-minded about where to go if they don’t want to spend too much. The Caribbean could be a much better deal than far-flung destinations, he said, noting that a round-trip airfare from Cleveland to the U.S. Virgin Islands was $379 in early June. rice field.
If anyone planning a trip to Paris in July wants a good amount of money, “it’s a recipe for disaster,” he said.
Insera is a KayakexpeditionThe tool allows travelers to enter their departure city, budget and other parameters to get some inspiration on where their money can go.
Berg said avoiding weekends also saves money. She said she could save about $300 on airfare by flying to Ireland on Monday night in a few weeks.
“If you can fly on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, you’ll save about $200 per international ticket,” she said. She also noted that hotel rates are often higher on Saturday nights as well.
“If you’re going to travel Europe for a week, if you can limit yourself to just one Saturday night stay instead of two bookends over the weekend…you’ll save a lot of money,” Berg said.
Travel experts all say that the shoulder season, which lasts from late summer to early fall, is an ideal time to travel to Europe, if people can swing it. says Berg. “Much cheaper. The weather is still great.”
Once these summer trips are planned, it’s wise to start thinking about planning later in the year, Keyes said.
“When others zig, you have to zig,” he said. “Start thinking about booking flights for Christmas.”