Travel costs for the second quarter in the Eastern US rose the most due to inflation among global destinations, according to data compiled by TravelPerk.
The data, based on bookings made through the TravelPerk platform, showed that three of the top five price increases from the first quarter to the second quarter were on routes outside of New York. Flights from New York to San Francisco nearly doubled in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, flights from New York to Paris were 62 percent more expensive and flights from New York to Amsterdam were up 36 percent, according to TravelPerk. Other routes with the highest growth included Berlin to London (43 percent), London to Berlin (42 percent), London to New York (35 percent) and São Paulo to Amsterdam (28 percent).
Hotel prices in New York showed some of the highest levels of inflation in the second quarter, up 49 percent from the previous quarter, the data showed. Chicago had the highest hotel inflation, at 77 percent, followed by Boston with a 63 percent increase. Other cities leading hotel price inflation in the second quarter included Barcelona (up 48 percent), Berlin and Paris (each up 38 percent).
“These increases are due to a number of external factors facing all parts of the travel industry, including rising fuel costs, labor shortages and disruptions in the global economy,” said the chief revenue officer of TravelPerk, JC Taunay-Bucalo. statement. “However, it is also true that providers are seeing an increase in demand and are looking to make up for lost revenue during the pandemic. With demand for travel still extremely high as businesses and consumers race to return to in-person meetings for work . and post-pandemic downtime, we expect the cost increases we’re seeing to continue for the remainder of this year.”
The data also showed that business travelers are still booking much closer to their travel date than they were before the pandemic, which is also leading to higher rates, Taunay-Bucalo added.
Aside from increased flights from New York, travel costs to San Francisco haven’t been hit as hard by inflation, according to TravelPerk data. While hotel costs for the second quarter rose 22 percent in the fourth quarter, this was one of the lowest growth rates among major cities, tying London, Madrid and Tallinn, Estonia. Only Singapore (4 percent) and Zurich (19 percent) had lower inflation rates.
Two routes from San Francisco also had the lowest quarter-over-quarter inflation rates: San Francisco to Amsterdam, down 6 percent, and San Francisco to London, where the price was down 4 percent, TravelPerk reported. The London to Singapore route, with a 10 percent reduction in costs, was the only route with a lower inflation rate.
Fare inflation on rail lines has not been as high as airlines, according to TravelPerk. The biggest quarter-on-quarter growth was in journeys from Bordeaux to Paris (up 35 percent), followed by Berlin to Munich (31 percent) and Paris to Bordeaux (up 30 percent). The lowest inflation rates on rail lines were Heathrow to London (down 15 per cent), Manchester to London (down 2 per cent) and London to Manchester (up 5 per cent).
