The outlook for the fall travel season set to soften as elevated inflation continues to weigh on household budgets. The average US domestic airline fair has risen almost 40% year-over-year. That's according to travel booking platform Hopper.

a lot of people, um myself included, uh put off travel till the fall because we think, hey, you know, these are when the prices really come down. And typically during the fall season, the shoulder season, which is considered, you know, from Labor day till say mid November, um, the prices usually drop around 20% for airfares, hotel deals are there. But that is simply not happening this year. They're either staying the same or they're a tad higher than they were uh this summer. So there are not some not those great deals people have come to expect uh from fall travel season. So I think people who are aiming uh to get those great deals are going to be a little disappointed this fall.

Are there certain areas where maybe they can find them?

Yeah, I mean without question, uh the different uh operators I talked to uh all mentioned that, you know, if you look even outside the the main uh United State, you know, you look up to Hawaii, you look down to Hawaii or to Alaska, you might find some opportunities there. Domestically, there seem to be some opportunities from, you know, Montana to um uh San Diego. So, you know, isolated markets around the country, you're going to find some opportunities. Um, there is often uh right now because a lot of carriers have added routes to Asia, that if you're looking for a big trip over to Asia, you might find some good opportunities as they're trying to fill their airplanes to get there. So, uh don't forget about looking there. So I think, you know, really open up your scope of where you might want to go and and there's some really some basic ways to go about doing that by using, you know, just your your computer right at home, you can do a lot of tracking and monitoring of prices.

I'm curious about hotel um fairs also. How how those are changing.

Yeah, you're right

really. Hotels are really, you know, it's a it's a funny game because you might see a price online, if you go to their website or or what have you or book through one of an online travel agency. But if you actually pick up the telephone and call the hotel directly, that's when you're likely to get the best uh best rate for your room. And that's particularly true as you get closer to the date that you want to be there because they start seeing empty rooms and they're like, hey, okay, we've got some pricing deals for you. So that's very important. I think it's also a good year if you want to go back to the airline bit for a second, is look at your miles. A lot of the um airlines are offering some great deals uh for people who want to tap their miles to go places. So really dig into what you've got socked away there and see if you can find any special deals for using your miles.

I'm curious if you looked at cruising at all to see if those prices are changing.

Yeah, I mean, Julie, cruising has been hot all year long. I mean, this is such an important uh travel um uh angle here that so many, there it's amazing how these cruise ships have continued to really prosper and people are loving it. These all-inclusive ideas of just, you know, you know straight up front what you're going to be paying for this trip. And there are deals. It's not necessarily on that top uh line that you see, but there's deals once you get on board for, you know, free restaurant vouchers and and various deals throughout the experience on the ship. So, um I definitely see a lot of people aiming that direction. And it's and and one particular reason there too is it's very cost effective for many people because you know you can budget for it, you know what you're spending pretty much up front instead of sort of being surprised once you're on the road.