The Accuracy of Airfare Predictions Is Up in the Air

Flying has always been a pain: the endless security lines, the hip-checking other passengers to make sure there's overhead room for your rolly bag, the squeezing into a seat, the ear-popping, the spotty internet, the boredom. But these days, the irritation begins much earlier, when passengers start to look for tickets. The average round-trip ticket price in the US was $408 this week, up $100 from the same time in 2019, according to the airfare sales app Hopper. Part of that is pent-up demand from people sick of their homes after a still-not-over pandemic. Another is high fuel prices, spurred upward by the war in Ukraine.