Latest Inflation Data Shows Airline Ticket Prices Up 27% From Last Year

As the war in Iran has squeezed energy supplies, its impact is beginning to ripple across sectors that rely heavily on fuel and gas, like travel.

Americans planning to travel this summer are finding far steeper prices than they did a year ago. Federal inflation data released on Wednesday showed airline fares averaged across cities in the United States had rocketed up 26.7 percent in May compared with the same time last year. They were up nearly 3 percent from the month before.

Airlines like United, Delta and American flagged concerns about rising fuel prices in their most recent earnings reports in April, when all three said fuel expenses were up more than 10 percent from the year before.

Hotel rates have also risen about 5 percent since last year, possibly because of increased demand from the FIFA World Cup.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/business/economy/americans-travel-expensive.html