Americans have brain inflation due to gasoline and food Other goods and services are on the rise, including holiday essentials. But many are feeling the impact on their wallets in a myriad of other ways.

Last year, the consumer price index for airline tickets surged by about 25%. It's the biggest rise since the St. Louis Federal Reserve began tracking the index in 1989. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In June 2022, the average cost of a “value-for-money” round-trip domestic flight was $398, Hopper said. That puts him over $100 higher than the 2021 average for the same month.

The high cost of air tickets, coupled with additional costs such as travel insurance and checked baggage, has put some travelers on hold. According to a recent Bankrate survey, about 79% of people planning to travel this holiday season say they're changing their plans because of inflation.

According to the Department of Transportation, here are the average domestic airfares for the top 10 busiest airports in the United States:

Average airfare in the US

US airfares are determined by many factors. Some of them are distance, time of year to travel, cost of fuel, time of purchase, etc. While the average cost of flying in the US dropped during the 2020 pandemic, travelers booking domestic flights are now seeing ticket prices skyrocket. This is due to a steady increase in travel demand over the past two years and a surge in inflation.

According to Hopper's Price Tracker, the average cost of domestic air travel is approaching his 2019 levels, as shown below.

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5 for domestic The three most expensive (and cheapest) departure city airfares

The cost you pay to depart from a particular airport varies greatly from country to country. This ticket price discrepancy can be attributed to differences in the number of airlines serving that particular airport and the overall demand for flights. Flying to a smaller airport with less traffic than one of the country's major airports can be expensive.

Here we compare the top 5 most expensive airports to the top 5 most affordable airports based on how much you expect to pay for airfare. All data are from the Department of Transportation.

Top 5 Most Expensive Airports

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Top 5 Most Affordable Airports

When is the cheapest time to fly?

According to a 2022 study conducted by CheapAir, January and February will have the lowest flight prices of the year compared to flights in December, the busy holiday season. It's the moon. For summer travel, planning an August departure date can save you more money than earlier in the summer.

For the days of the week when flights are cheapest, the middle of the week tends to be more affordable, such as Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In fact, according to CheapAir, you can save an average of $56 to $57 per ticket if you choose to fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

When it comes to weekends, Saturdays also tend to be one of the cheapest days to travel. According to Experian, Sundays are usually the most expensive days to travel.

Air travel How to save money

Despite rising prices, there are some strategies you can use to reduce your overall costs when booking flights.

• Book in advance .Timing is everything, and it can save you a lot of money when buying flights.. According to the same research conducted by Cheap Air, the best time to book a domestic flight is, on average, about 76 days before the travel date.
• Set up price alerts. Monitoring flight prices is a job in itself. Automate as much as possible. Sites like Skyscanner, Hopper, Kayak, and Google Flights let you set up price alerts to notify you when the flight you're about to buy falls below a certain price.
• flexible

strong>. Not only when you buy your ticket, but when you choose your ticket is also the key to saving. As you begin planning your trip, see if your departure plans are flexible. If you can travel mid-week or on a Saturday, you can save a lot on airfare.

• Choose a travel card. With a top travel credit card, you can earn valuable rewards towards flights, hotel stays and other travel related expenses. If you already have a travel card, check to see if there are offers you can redeem to maximize your savings. Many top travel cards come with a number of travel protections, so you may be able to cut other costs such as travel insurance.