Travel Tips

Travel Tip: Summer Airfare Tips

Hate to break it to you boys and girls, but airfares are going up this summer.

Here’s why and what you can do to get around it.

If history is any guide, fuel prices will go up this summer. In fact, prices for jet fuel have gone up about 50 percent in the last year.

That’s why most airlines, like Southwest, United, American, and Delta, have hiked up fares this year.

Meanwhile, demand for travel is up, yet the airlines have shrunk capacity.

Translation? Fewer seats and higher prices.

In fact, the FAA has predicted that fares will go up 2 percent for domestic flights and 5 percent for international trips.

My advice is to avoid peak travel dates, when airlines tack on even more surcharges. Last year, that surcharge was the lowest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Don’t lock yourself into busy dates like July Fourth weekend.

Instead, be flexible, sign up for airline alerts and look for deals on sites like Farecompare, Travelzoo and even resources like Twitter.

When you see the deals, jump on them.

For more tips, visit our Budget Travel section.

Or get airfare advice in our Airlines & Airports section.

And check out the rest of our Daily Travel Tips here.