- Consumers have spent $11 billion more on flights this year than they did by this time in 2019, Adobe found.
- Bookings are only up slightly, but prices are up 24% compared to 2019.
Americans may have been on a "revenge travel" kick for much of this year, but flight expenses are skyrocketing on the eve of the holiday season.
That's according to a new study from Adobe, which the company shared with Insider. The researchers found that consumers have spent $11 billion more for domestic flights online this year, compared to the last pre-pandemic year, 2019.
The increase is partially due to the number of bookings that have increased since then, but mostly from higher prices. That data comes as high inflation hasn't stopped people from traveling, and as they've opted for experiences abroad rather than goods in stores.
"After record spending on physical goods in the first two years of the pandemic, we see consumers shifting more significantly towards services such as air travel," Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights, told Insider in a statement. "We expect the momentum to carry through the holiday season, even as prices remain elevated above pre-pandemic levels."
The number of flights booked are only up about 5% this year from 2019, Adobe said, but the prices are considerably higher. In October 2022, prices increased 24% from 2019 levels. 2022 alone has seen a 2% each month so far.
The researchers said that fewer bookings — especially for the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas periods — don't necessarily reflect a lack of interest in traveling for the holidays, just that people are trying to be more shrewd with timing and methods of transportation.
"The slower bookings growth indicates that some consumers may be waiting to see if prices come down materially, while others may pursue alternate forms of travel, such as by car or train," they said.
But while wary travelers may be trying to wait things out, things are only likely to get more pricey the longer they procrastinate. September through the end of October is typically when people can score the best airfare deals for the holidays, Lindsay Schwimer, a spokesperson for Hopper, a flight price tracking service, told The Arizona Republic's Michael Salerno in September.
People want to travel, and high inflation won't stop them
Until the beginning of this year, flight pricing remained below 2019 levels, or only slightly above it toward the end of 2021. But wanderlust has hit its stride and hasn't let up.
This past May, flight pricing was 43% higher than it was in January 2019, according to data Adobe shared with Insider, and it didn't stop people from spending the cash and taking to the skies.
That's even as inflation hit a four-decade high. Travel has stood out as something people won't compromise, even as they look to spend less on other goods and services, like vehicles of all kinds or furniture repair, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.
"Despite elevated prices, demand remained strong," the Adobe researchers said, of other product categories.