Higher Fares Force Some Consumers to Rethink Summer Travel Plans
Higher Fares Force Some Consumers to Rethink Summer Travel Plans
(Bloomberg) -- Higher air fares combined with widespread inflation have prompted U.S. consumers to pull back on summer travel plans.
Online bookings for domestic flights in the peak vacation months of June through August were up 1% from 2019 levels in the first 15 days of April, a slowdown from 3% growth seen in March, according to Adobe Analytics. Overall online ticket sales through the first two weeks of this month have fallen 2% compared with the last 15 days of March.
“The volatility in prices has really thrown a wrench into the equation,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for Adobe Digital Insights, a unit of software maker Adobe Inc., on Wednesday. “High prices have had a notable impact, driving a pullback in spend. Consumers are either waiting for fares to come down, or reorienting their travel plans for now.”
Adobe expects price fluctuations to continue. The large amount of spending in March may also be affecting the April numbers since some travelers have already booked their trips, Adobe said. Spending for flights continues to outpace bookings as fares rise, Adobe previously said, though the growth trajectory is now more murky.
“We can’t say with high confidence that summer bookings will continue to scale at the pace we observed earlier in the year,” Pandya said.
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