Travel News Air Travel Airfare Prices Are Expected to Drop After a Costly Summer Just in time for fall travel By Astrid Taran Astrid Taran Astrid was the Senior Special Projects Editor at TripSavvy. Travel's editorial guidelines Published on August 5, 2022 Fact checked by Jillian Dara Fact checked by Jillian Dara Jillian Dara is a freelance journalist and fact-checker. Her work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, USA Today, Michelin Guides, Hemispheres, DuJour, and Forbes. learn more Photo: izusek / Getty Images After a savage summer that saw domestic flights fall prey to jaw-dropping inflation increases, it looks like airfare for your next fall getaway won't be as painful. Travel booking service Hopper reports that flight prices are on their way down, with the most significant drops set to happen through September. The drop is a welcome respite after a summer that saw prices climbing to a hair-raising 47 percent year-to-year increase due to a combination of "revenge travel" bookings, surging fuel costs, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. As peak travel season subsides and demand lowers, prices are primed to come back down to earth. "Flight prices drop seasonally in late August through mid-October, as demand tapers off following the peak vacation months in May, June, and July," the Hopper report stated. "The drop this year is larger than usual as a result of the abnormally high summer prices and earlier peak in demand." This summer's airfare prices have been prohibitively expensive for many, with average domestic flight prices clocking in at more than $400 in May. Beginning this month, Hopper predicts that prices are expected to decrease to an average of $286 round trip and to remain below $300 through at least September before holiday travel demand approaches in the fall. Relief may also be on the way for supercharged gas prices. The national average for a gallon of gas this week came in at $4.21. This is 14 cents less than the previous week and a 63-cent drop from a month ago, according to a report from AAA. Gas prices, however, are still hovering at $1 a gallon higher than last year. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources TripSavvy uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Hopper. "Late Summer (Q3) Travel Index." August 1, 2022. Travel Agent Central. "Domestic Flight Prices Up 47% Since January; Demand Remains High." June 15, 2022. Hopper. "Late Summer (Q3) Travel Index." August 1, 2022. AAA. "Pump Prices Fall Again, But Will the Trend Stall?" August 1, 2022.