Securing cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages will be a little more challenging this summer because increased confidence about travel and the economy has resulted in more people purchasing airline tickets. Airfares for travel from May 27th to May 31st are up 18% according to Bing Travel.
Travel experts are not expecting airline travel to reach the pre recessions levels of mid 2008. However pent up travel demand is resulting in higher prices. Corporate and vacation travel demand is driving increased ticket sales.
Half of the people polled regarding their travel plans said that they would travel more this year as opposed to only 7 percent who anticipated traveling less, according to Travelocity.
Leisure travel is projected to rise 2 percent this year, with business travel up 2.5 percent and international travel into the U.S. up 3 percent this year. Experts attribute these increases to rising consumer confidence and disposable income.
One of the prime factors responsible for rising airfares is that the airlines have significantly reduced capacity the last couple of years and are not expected to add seats fast enough to match the projected rise in demand for this summer season.
More flights are expected to be completely sold out this summer than during the past few years.
One positive note for summer travelers is that the room rates have been reduced for nine of the top 10 beach destinations for Memorial Day weekend.
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