For months, the second most popular travel question that's been lobbed my way (after "is X, Y or Z safe?") has been: "Why, with the cost of gas so low, haven't airfares dropped". I always took the cynical road, pointing out that in this age of monopolies, the airlines had no reason to drop their prices since so many of them fully controlled hubs and routes within the United States.
But it looks like airline execs have more of a conscience than I'd given them credit for (or are making so much money on corollary fees that they can afford to throw the public a bone). Between June and July of 2015, airfares fell a whopping 5.6%, the largest one-month drop since December of 1995. The figures come from the experts at the Montreal-based data crunching firm Hopper. The whizzes there have predicted that the drop should continue through the fall, with domestic airfares dropping another 2.8% to an average of $249. This is partially based on the fact that jet fuel is down 47% from a year ago.
So how to get the best deal? Watch Frommers.com. We'll soon be posting an article on the best and worst booking engines for airfares (see our piece on the best and word booking engines for hotels here).
Happy cheaper flying to all!
Photo credit: Peosoldier/Flickr
