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MarketWatch@marketwatch Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas are still months away — but travel experts are advising those heading home for the holidays to book their flights now. In August, airline fares were up more than 23% from the year prior, according to the U.S. consumer-price index — and flights are expected to keep getting pricier. The cost of jet fuel was at $4.32 a gallon as of Sept. 11, according to energy-information provider Platts, up 6% from the previous week and nearly 16% from the prior month. Even those budgeting for fall and winter travel this week will likely see elevated prices. While the cost of Brent crude oil, which is used to produce jet fuel, dropped significantly in the summer, the price surged above $100 a barrel again after military escalation in the Middle East threatened to further tighten global oil supply. Because pricey airfares haven’t slowed travel demand thus far, airlines have been raising ticket prices over the past year to cover increasingly expensive fuel — and experts expect some consumers to be priced out of holiday travel altogether. At the start of 2026, the average domestic airfare was $290, according to Kayak’s airfare tracker; by Sept. 7, the average fare had skyrocketed to $397. Consumers are especially likely to feel the sticker shock when booking flights for busy travel days. Round-trip economy flights from New York City to Los Angeles, leaving the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and returning Sunday, ranged from $579 to $1,177, Google Flights showed Tuesday afternoon. Major airlines are also canceling flights in response to the fuel-cost hit. Executives from American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines all said at a Morgan Stanley conference that they would be cutting back planned flight schedules through the end of the year as rising fuel costs threaten profits. The airline executives said they could trim schedules further into 2027 if fuel prices remain elevated. Read more at the link in our bio.
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@mallorytravels Thanks for the feature @marketwatch! With daily rising fuel costs and uncertainty of geopolitical events, it’s safer to lock in holiday and end of the year flights sooner than later. 🛫⛽️📈🛢️
@marketwatch #airfare #travel #travelcosts #holidaytravel #airlines #majorairlines #americanairlines #unitedairlines #southwestairlines #fuelcosts #thanksgiving #christmas #holidays #kayak #middleeast #CPI
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