WISCONSIN (NBC 26) — As the travel industry continues to recover, many people might be wondering what does this mean for those looking to still purchase their spring break or summer flights?
Right now, if you buy flights for later this year, you’ll see you can still find some good deals.
“At this point in time, the airline travel probably won’t be impacted for a little while,” said Rose Gray, of Fox World Travel.
Gray said the hike in oil prices shouldn’t have an immediate impact on flight prices.
"That fuel has been purchased pretty far in advance,” Gray said referring to the fuel for air carriers.
The airport director for Austin Straubel International Airport agrees.
He said thanks to the air carriers purchasing fuel months ahead, he doesn’t also anticipate flight prices increasing too much soon.
“When I talk about airlines being prepared for fluctuating fuel prices that’s how they prepare for it. If we start going several months with high fuel prices that’s when we could start seeing the impact,” said Marty Piette, the airport director.
But because there is a possibility that reasonably priced tickets could go up, officials recommend to buy airfares early or now.
“We'll probably won’t see that effect probably until a little bit later in the spring and summer,” Gray said.
“If you find a great fare get it right away. The one thing that we are finding is that our flights do fill up pretty quickly,” Piette said.
But as seats continue to fill up this, this is a reason why flights could cost you more than usual.
“What’s affecting airfare more so, is that many of those planes that sat idle for all that time during the pandemic have not been pressed into service yet so schedules have been reduced so available seats have been reduced,” Gray said.
In the meantime, as the future of oil prices seem unclear, experts recommend being flexible with your plans and continue to monitor prices.
