Why Summer Travel Is More Expensive Than Ever This Year

We’re moving into the prime season for travel here in the United States. That means people are going to be looking for travel deals and other ways to save on a trip.

Money expert Clark Howard says summer travel is going to be especially pricey, but that doesn’t mean you can’t save money on your trips.

Travel Summer 2023 Forecast: Prices Are Going To Be Sky-High

Clark’s prediction for summer travel 2023 is that people looking to get away for a vacation are going to have to pay a premium. Airlines and other travel providers are going to raise prices to capitalize on demand. Clark says a couple of reasons for that include:

• Pent-up demand is spillover from people who didn’t travel as much as they wanted to over the past three years due to the COVID pandemic.
• In the case of cruises, many people are booking to take advantage of FCCs, Future Cruise Credits, which they acquired over the past few years. Since these operate on a “use it or lose it” policy, you can expect to see a boost in bookings.

Summer Travel: How To Save

Be flexible: Build flexibility into your travel schedule, which can especially benefit people who can afford to get away after back-to-school time in August and beyond.

“Air travel that you can shift to the second half of August or later will be significantly cheaper than it’s going to be from Memorial Day till mid-August,” says Clark.

Be open-minded: Clark typically saves on travel by choosing a destination that’s on sale rather than booking a place he has predetermined to visit. Not only has he traveled at a lower cost, but he’s been to six continents.

Compare: Whatever you do, don’t just go to your favorite airline’s website and book a fare without doing some research. Here are some great travel sites to compare prices:

• Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights)
• Dollar Flight Club
• Google Flights

Read our guide on how to use Google Flights

Final Thoughts

As always, Clark wants you to take advantage of every resource at your disposal when it comes to saving on a trip. With a little flexibility, open-mindedness and research you can still snag some great summer travel deals.