MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — MEA weekend is just a few days away; the four-day weekend is usually one of the busiest travel periods of the year for the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
It marks the beginning of a busy few months of travel.
Demand continues to rise after more than two years of the pandemic delaying plans.
"Based on our last couple of holidays that we've seen, we have been in line with... just a little bit below those pre-pandemic numbers. So what we're seeing is close to those 2017, 2018 numbers but not quite the 2019 numbers which were those record-breaking numbers. We are definitely getting close again though," said Meredith Mitts, public affairs specialist for AAA Minnesota/Iowa.
According to a AAA travel survey in the summer, about a fifth of Minnesota travelers had plans to take a trip during the holidays. Half of travelers plan to take at least one flight during the holiday season.
The travel booking site Hopper projects that pent-up holiday travel demand — along with jet fuel prices and fewer flights scheduled — will drive holiday airfare to its highest in the last five years.
Thanksgiving airfare prices are up 25% from last year, averaging $281 round trip, according to an NBC report. Christmas travel airfare prices are averaging $435 round trip which is up 55% from last year.
Meanwhile, The Points Guy reports Thanksgiving domestic flights are currently averaging around $271 round trip with Christmas travel 40% above 2021 levels for a domestic round-trip flight.
"What we've seen so far this year is despite inflation, people are still choosing to travel. This is because there's this pent-up demand. We haven't been able to travel the last couple of years and so there's a little bit more money that's been saved, potentially, but also people are choosing to find room in their budget otherwise," Mitts said. "If gas prices are high, they're looking at cutting budgets by potentially eating out a little bit less or at a less nice restaurant, staying in not as nice of a hotel."
Hopper's Hayley Berg told NBC it's not just inflation causing the rise in prices but, "While carriers have rebuilt much of their passenger capacity as the Covid-19 pandemic ebbs, they still only have about 87% of the available seats they had in 2019."
If you haven't booked your holiday travel yet, experts recommend doing it now.
The AAA survey from the summer found that a majority of Minnesota travelers at the time expected to have their Thanksgiving plans set by now.
Hopper recommends booking for winter holiday travel by Oct. 20. The company said Thanksgiving prices will rise by $10 on average per day from the beginning of November until Thanksgiving.
"If you're flying, try to book a flight early in the morning. They are less likely to be delayed and if something were to go wrong, there are more flights later on in the day that you can potentially get on to," Mitts said.
AAA also recommends traveling a day or two earlier than planned to avoid potentially missing any important events.
AAA is expected to release its Thanksgiving travel forecast in the coming weeks.
MSP plans on releasing more information on what to expect for MEA weekend later this week.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities in our YouTube playlist: