Looking to fly somewhere this winter?
Some advice, using some football parlance: Go long.
According to The Economist (via the analytics site FlowingData and data provided by Expedia), airline ticket prices have been steadily decreasing for transatlantic and long-haul flights. Ticket costs overall have actually been going down since 2014, but the savings on longer journeys (over 3100 miles) have fallen a whopping 30-50% on economy-class seats during that time frame, while shorter trips have seen savings of just under 10%.
Why has longer recently been better? The Economist sites the falling cost of jet fuel, increased competition from low-cost carriers and state-owned Chinese carriers undercutting their rivals.
So take a big trip next time out, but do it soon: The report posits that rising fuel costs and decreased airline profits could mean these savings will probably never get lower than they are now.
Photo by Menglong Bao on Unsplash
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