Forget 2023 — Travel Agents Are Booking For 2024 On Inflation Worries

Travel agents loudly tell customers that time is of the essence when it comes to booking. With no sign of falling fuel prices, it remains to be seen how much the trip will cost.

Rashad Jordan

Travel agencies have seen a surge in bookings in recent weeks as customers plan to make a record number of trips this summer as customers have been unable to travel by land due to the pandemic for more than two years.

But travelers don't plan to travel before the end of this year, even in 2023 or more travel agencies are booking flights for 2024 as customers worried about rising prices try to complete their travel plans before their planned trips rise.

“I tell people if they have any plans for 2024 by the end of 2023, do it now,” said Sarah Klein, president of Time for Travel of Maryland, who has booked five wedding packages for 2024.

“If (the price) goes down, we can adapt. If it (the journey) goes too far or grows, there is no going back.”

Joshua Bush, CEO of Avenue to Travel in Pennsylvania, believes consumer concerns are justified by rising prices, especially when it comes to planes and cruises. “(The Ukrainian war) put pressure on oil prices,” he said. “There will be additional fuel surcharges on cruise lines and airlines that charge base fares.”

Klein offers another reason why travelers should be wary of rising prices. He said resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean are raising prices to take advantage of travel fees to those regions. It has already doubled and tripled the value of packages booked for travelers last summer.

“Now we are signing (for summer 2024),” Klein said. “But we notice that when someone checks the price with us and comes back a few weeks later (ready to book), it really starts to go up.”

John Lovell, president of Travel Leaders Internova Travel Group, cites another reason travelers are already booking trips through 2024 because they are more affected by strikes. Consumers are choosing to travel with an extended travel credit until the end of 2022, postponing their planned vacation this year, they said.

“Many of the flights that were originally scheduled for 2020 or 2021 will take place in 2022, which means the travel calendar is off,” Laville said.

But with dozens of travel companies announcing their travel plans for 2024, what challenges do travel agents face when booking well in advance of departure? When Lovell replied that cruise lines and tour operators had not yet scheduled a trip, Klein replied that resorts were often reluctant to accept bookings for the next two years.

“They don’t have a charging speed. So far, no one has been able to send an ideal solution, which is not strange.

Klein gave the example of booking a 2024 vacation last week at the resort, for which he did not disclose the timing. Real estate officials told Klein the resort would use the 2023 terms and roll them over to next year, he said, because he only wants to deal with books.

Klein acknowledges that passengers are unusually interested in booking flights two years in advance, with customers booking tickets up to a year in advance. But as travel booking patterns have changed over the past two years, many travelers feel they want to end the pandemic before a major life event happens.

“Everyone really wants to do something,” Klein said.

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