Say goodbye to $ 30 plane tickets. The era of dirty-cheap flights ends

Are you thinking of finally taking that vacation? You are not alone.

Millions of Americans, many of whom have been together for a year, fall by the wayside and take to the air as more people are vaccinated against Covid-19. President Joe Biden said last week that by May, all U.S. adults are eligible for a vaccine.

As more people become confident that the threat of Covid-19 is disappearing, it becomes more difficult to find the cheapest rates, some in the double-digit range offered by airlines when they were more desperate to fill aircraft. Hotel rates are also rising.

The travel search website Kayak said that searches for summer travel have increased by 27% every week since Biden’s announcement, saying that flight prices for the 100 best US destinations in the US are up 7% monthly.

“Domestic air fares are rising. While discounts can still be found, they are no longer falling into the lap of consumers,” said JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker. “Discount rates increasingly require a hunt, and for many consumers who have been locked up for a year, they are probably not up to par.”

The cheapest domestic leisure fares, which include the promotional rates that airlines send to your mailbox, were $ 59.48 on March 15, according to Harrell Associates, still 26% lower than a similar week in 2019, but more than 6% per week. a firm that follows airline tickets. Average rates for recreation were almost $ 187, at about 5% during the week and almost 9% higher than a similar point in 2019.

Airline executives said Monday the bookings increase in March and extend into the summer. According to Airlines for America, US airlines are on the verge of losing an average of $ 150 million a day this quarter, but CEOs of United Airlines and Delta Air Lines said the rise would eventually halt their cash fire in the spring. JetBlue is calling back flight attendants a month early from unpaid due to stronger-than-expected demand.

“As long as there is no setback, we are on the road to recovery and we can largely put those in the rearview mirror in those days of talking about burning money, layoffs and things like that,” CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” . on Tuesday.

According to hotel data analysis firm STR, hotel occupancy in the U.S. averaged more than 51% by March 13, the highest in more than a year. In hot vacation spots like Miami, occupancy is nearly 70% with average rates of $ 228 per night, the highest price since February 2020.

Jamila Ross, owner and founder of The Cooper Door B&B in Miami, said she had reduced her January and February rates by more than 40% to $ 100 a night, but that she had been able to increase it to $ 120 since then.

Covid was particularly devastating to her hotel because it was so dependent on the shipping industry due to its proximity to the port.

She said the hotel is now about 70% full, up from 40% last month, although she’s holding back some stock due to Covid.

“We want to be a responsible brand,” she said. “We can not afford any type of slip ups.”

Maura Gannon, general manager of The Mermaid & the Alligator, a nine-room hotel in Key West, Florida, said: “Once people get the vaccines, the phones ring.”

She said some travelers ask about bookings in May and June, which are traditionally part of the season with lower demand.

Some travelers take note of superior accommodations that allow them to physically stay away from other guests.

“Villas go first all year,” said Viktoria Riley, director of marketing at the Ocean Club, a Four Seasons resort in the Bahamas. Three-bedroom villas cost $ 16,500 a night in the low season, which runs from early April to late November.

To be sure, rates and room rates have taken a deep leap into the pandemic, and there are still deals there, especially with business travelers still mostly being sidelined. The question is not yet close to pre-pandemic levels.

In the third quarter of 2020, U.S. domestic flights, the latest available data, averaged $ 244.79, the lowest in more than 25 years, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

However, airlines have greatly reduced the capacity to meet the weak demand, which means there are fewer seats there. They are expected to add more seats as the peak summer season approaches.

And because much of the international travel is not yet limited, the local leisure destinations have become the place to check out.

Delta Air Lines, for example, on Friday unveiled nine new destinations or increased service to overseas vacation destinations such as Glacier Park, Mont., And Jackson Hole, Wyo.

“American travelers are somehow being diverted to the US and the handful of countries we may visit,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of Atmosphere Research Group, a travel industry consulting firm. “This is the shift in demand pattern and therefore the shift in the price of aircraft prices.”