This is an excerpt from Dollar Scholar, the Money magazine where managing editor Julia Glum teaches you the modern money lessons you NEED to know. Don’t miss the next issue! Subscribe to money.com/subscribe and join our community of 160,000+ scholars.
At work, I am good at deadlines. In my personal life? Not so much.
I am a chronic procrastinator, always waiting until the last minute to get ready, to order a wedding dress, to call an Uber. Case in point: I’ve been kicking around the idea of visiting London in June to see Harry Styles, but I haven’t really decided which dates I’d like to go.
I was pretty much dragging my feet and just dealing with the consequences until about a week ago, when I started seeing some of the articles about airfare.
United Airlines warns of a 20% increase in fees to cope with the increase in oil! Air travel faces ‘unprecedented’ fuel crisis as war cuts supplies, experts warn! Travelers face higher costs and fewer flight options as jet fuel prices fluctuate! Aaah!
The more I read, the more concerned I am with how expensive my plane tickets can be.
Do I need to book my summer trip ASAP?
According to Robin Mitchell, senior travel consultant with AAA, the answer is yes.
“We have been advising people to book their flights as soon as possible,” he said. “If you want to do a program this summer, you want to get into it quickly.”
Katy Nastro, spokesperson for Going, a travel app, also says I should get moving. Air fares have started to rise; He says he noticed that “even the cheapest tickets have gone up” in price over the past two weeks. (More on this in a bit.)
You probably know by now that fuel prices are rising because Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping channel, for weeks. As supply is limited, the cost of a gallon of jet fuel in the US has jumped from $2.50 in Feb. 27 to $4.24 as I write this.
Along with labor, jet fuel is one of the two biggest expenses for airlines. Normally, carriers can predict rising fuel prices and raise prices incrementally, but a war with Iran “wasn’t in their playbook for 2026,” Nastro said. So they try to make their numbers work.
Nastro points out that just because the price of oil goes up, that doesn’t mean that jet fuel automatically goes up and ticket prices go up. Airlines are certainly looking to pass the burden of additional jet fuel costs on to customers, but they’re also experiencing strong demand heading into summer (including, of course, some scary shopping).
“It’s a combination of things, unfortunately, that drives up prices for consumers,” Nastro said. “And that means if you want to travel this summer and you have an idea of where you want to go, you want those flights locked in at the price you see today.”
There are a few caveats to be aware of. The first is that not all tickets are created equal. Nastro compares it to the stock market: Just because the market rallies overall doesn’t mean the entire stock price goes up. In this case, not all airline tickets go up; some routes are more affected than others.
Another is that airlines have to find a way to balance supply and demand. Travel isn’t slowing down: Even amid the partial government shutdown and infected TSA lines, inspection numbers hovered between 2.1 and 2.8 million people per day in late March.
Nastro says that if companies keep raising their prices, at some point, people will decide they don’t want to leave. In an effort to cut costs, several airlines “want to take the scalpel and make thin cuts” in their programs, but they can’t cut every single flight, especially during peak travel (and income) seasons.
The biggest problem is that no one knows what kind of timeline the conflict in the Middle East is on.
Nastro says airlines are trying to “find out how long this will last, because the longer it takes, the bigger the impact” on both their profits and consumers’ wallets.
Companies like Delta, JetBlue and United recently announced that they are raising the cost of carry-on bags, while airlines like WestJet and Japan Airlines have increased fuel costs. Even after reopening, travelers should expect airlines to “try to refund as much as possible,” Mitchell said — and not be surprised if those costs become permanent.
An important point
Before we wrap up, I want to acknowledge that it is a great privilege to be concerned about leisure travel while war is negatively impacting the lives of millions of people around the world. That is not lost on me.
The money lesson I’ve learned here, however, is that I should book my summer flights soon before the prices go up too much. The global energy crisis adds a new layer of urgency, but putting off buying airplanes is rarely wise.
“It’s a good lesson for the future that you shouldn’t wait until the last minute, or even two months out, to sign up for the senior season,” Nastro said. “You have to book in advance … because anything can happen.”
More from Mali:
Dollar Scholar Asks: Is Buying a Timeshare a Good Investment?
Dollar Scholar Asks: What Are the Best Money Tips for Traveling Abroad?
Dollar Scholar Asks: Can Travel Booking Sites Like Expedia Actually Save Me Money?
