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☆ US airlines thrown a curveball as consumer habits change post-pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Rajesh Kumar Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Even as the thirst for travel remains strong, the changing trends are driving up airlines' operating costs and hurting revenue. Travel demand has also softened on days in the middle of the week, but has strengthened on peak days. Frontier Airlines (ULCC.O) decided to slash flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays by about 20%, citing weak demand. Delta Airlines (DAL.N) reported that bookings for trips inside 30 days were declining, while those outside 30 days were stronger. Last year, it denied boarding to more customers than American Airlines (AAL.O) and United, U.S. Transportation Department data shows.

☆ Some travel is 'off the charts' expensive, experts say. Here are 3 ways to cut some costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

D3sign | Moment | Getty ImagesInternational travel costs have hit record highsThe Eiffel Tower and Seine River at sunrise in Paris. The so-called "revenge travel" dynamic has helped to push up prices, perhaps most acutely for travel abroad. These are record-high prices, Berg said. People should be prepared not just for a busy travel season, but an expensive travel season. Sally French travel expert at NerdWalletThis summer is expected to be the busiest on record for international travel, the U.S. State Department said in March.

☆ Millennial and Gen Z travelers have bigger budgets but seek deals, Hopper app says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Doyinsola Oladipo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Eduardo MunozNEW YORK, April 6 (Reuters) - Most Millennial and Generation Z travelers are planning bigger 2023 travel budgets but also growing more cost-conscious when booking flights and hotel accommodations, according to travel booking app Hopper. Some 84% of Hopper users, primarily Millennial and Gen Z travelers, plan to spend more on travel in 2023, according to the company's 2023 Travel Trends Report which surveyed 1,500 Hopper users. About 70% of Hopper users are between ages 18 and 35. "It's not to say that Millennial and Gen Z travelers just have unlimited budgets and they're spending all their money on travel," said Hopper economist, Hayley Berg. Although Millennial and Gen Z travelers booked in 2019 travel earlier than the rest of the population, they are growing more averse to booking, the company added.

Online searches by Americans for flights to Europe trips are surging despite soaring air fares, a worsening economic outlook and risks of gridlock at some of the airports in Europe. The travel boom is promising record profit margins at some U.S. carriers, which are ramping up transatlantic capacity to cash in on Americans' thirst for travel to Europe. Travel website Kayak said searches for travel to Europe this summer are up 77% from last year. There is still untapped travel demand for Europe even after a busy summer last year, said Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper. Average fare for a round-trip flight to Europe, meanwhile, has risen 31% from last year, Hopper data shows.

☆ Spring break gets pricey as travelers return to old booking habits
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Spring break travel demand is picking up, driving up airfare and hotel rates. Airlines, grappling with pilot shortages and aircraft delivery delays, have already limited capacity growth, which is keeping airfare up from last year. Now travelers are going back to booking patterns common before the pandemic, flying on peak days to traditional destinations, airline executives say. That makes it even more important for travelers to stay flexible if they're trying to save money to avoid spikes in fares. Spring break demand is "probably the best we've ever seen," Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle said in an interview.

Airlines’ service cuts that ramped up this summer show no sign of relenting this holiday season, leaving more travelers likely to pay higher fares for fuller planes at crowded airports. And while dozens of small cities receive federal subsidies to support air travel through the long-running Essential Air Service program, Malarkey Black said even 29 of those communities are facing potential cutbacks due to pilot shortages. For the regional flights that do remain, “fares are up markedly as a result of service cuts,” said Scott Keyes, the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights. Major U.S. carriers have cited pilot shortages for their cuts at regional airports, with some of them saying the labor crunch would take years to resolve. “Commercial air service is an expected amenity to both businesses and residents alike,” Grover said, promising to work “relentlessly, tenaciously” to restore it.

☆ Get ready for the most expensive holiday travel season ever
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

US gas prices are higher than they’ve ever been at this time of year. “Holiday travel has come back as strong as ever, and leisure travel is why that recovered,” said Scott Keyes, founder of travel site Scott’s Cheap Flights. “Holiday travel is definitely more expensive than we’ve seen in previous years,” said Hayley Berg, chief economist for Hopper. Even with the annual surge in holiday travel, the amount of driving in November and December is typically well below the summer driving season. Other travel costsHotel prices also are more expensive than they’ve ever been this time of year.

Thanksgiving airfare prices are currently averaging $281 round trip, up 25% from last year, according to travel booking group Hopper. At the same time, the demand for flights has continued to surge as households book travel that was waylaid by the pandemic. On its quarterly earnings call Friday, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said demand for air travel "remains very strong." "Demand has not come close to being quenched by a hectic summer travel season," Bastian said. "For airlines, the cost of flying each seat is higher than ever before, and for consumers, there are fewer seats available to buy and each is going to be more expensive," Berg said.

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