U.S. Airfare Will Be SUPER Discounted For the Rest of 2015, Research Shows

Flyers in the U.S. can expect lower domestic airfares throughout the remainder of the year, according to a research published by Hopper.com.

U.S. flyers will see a 14 percent decline in domestic Labor Day airfares and a 2.6 percent drop in airfares this fall, according to research published Tuesday by travel data and research website Hopper, which says travelers should expect airfare prices lower than last year to continue through the remainder of 2015.

“Typically, prices will fall during the latter part of summer before stabilizing in the fall and early winter,” Hopper writes in its report. “Since this summer was cheaper than last summer, we expect prices to remain lower than last year through the rest of this year, returning slightly closer to normal by the end of the year.”

Hopper, founded in 2007 and based in Boston and Montreal, uses data-driven research to form its consumer airfare index, which combines search records for every origin and destination in the U.S. and provide real-time estimates of overall airfare prices.

Average Labor Day weekend round-trip airfare this year is currently coming in at $310, down 14 percent from 2014. Hopper predicts domestic round-trip airfare prices between August and November will average around $249, down 2.8 percent from the same period last year and down 6.8 percent from 2013.

“While the current price decrease is mainly seasonal, it’s noteworthy that the typical fare is still 3.9 percent below July 2014, when it was measured at $272,” Hopper writes. “Prices this year are still well below last year’s levels, and we expect consumers to continue to find better deals through the rest of the year.”

According to Hopper’s research, these airports saw the largest decline in average ticket price for domestic flights from June to July of this year:

On the opposite end of the spectrum, these airports saw the largest increase in average ticket price for domestic flights:

 

Looking back, Hopper found the overall average price for a round-trip domestic flight fell 5.2 percent to $262 from June 2015 to July 2015.

In July, flyers searched for flights at a median of 32 days in advance of travel, roughly the same as June, but considerably higher that what Hopper historically observed in previous years. In the year-ago period, the median search was 23 days in advance. The typical 2015 departure date is in August 2015 or early September 2015, the end of the summer travel season.

Read Hopper’s report here.

[Photos: iStock, Hopper]