Airfares climbed 25.5% in July compared with the same month last year, far outpacing every other travel expense tracked by the government, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index data reported by NerdWallet on August 12.
How travel costs compare
Overall travel costs are up 9% year-over-year. Airfares are the clear outlier: lodging rose just 2.6%, dining out climbed 3.4%, and entertainment such as movies and concerts increased 2.3%. Rental car prices actually fell 3.9% over the same period, the only major travel category to get cheaper.
The longer trend
Measured against pre-pandemic prices, overall travel costs are up 18% since July 2019. Looking back a full decade, airfares have risen a comparatively modest 9.8% since July 2016, while hotel prices are up 15.2% and restaurant prices have jumped 50.9% — a reminder that this year's airfare spike is a sharper, more recent trend rather than a decade-long pattern.
Why fares are rising
NerdWallet's analysis attributes the jump largely to airlines' pricing power: with less low-cost competition in many markets, unbundled fares and fewer discount seats give carriers more room to raise base prices even when demand softens elsewhere in the economy.
What travelers can do
With airfares rising faster than any other travel cost, booking early, staying flexible on dates, and comparing nearby airports matters more this year than in most recent summers — even small savings on airfare now outweigh what you'd typically save by shopping around on hotels or rental cars.
