Hotel Prices Fall as Airfares Keep Climbing

The cost of travel is falling and rising at the same time, depending on which part of a trip is being paid for. The U.S. Travel Association’s Travel Price Index dropped 1.0% in July from the prior month, a second consecutive monthly decline that left the index 3.0% below its May level. Even so, travel prices remained 7.1% higher than in July 2025. That year-over-year figure has been easing steadily, down from 8.1% in June and 9.8% in May, which suggests the sharpest phase of travel inflation is behind rather than ahead.

Hotels drove almost all of July’s decline. Lodging prices fell 3.3% over the month, following a 2.8% drop in June, and the July decrease was the largest for that month since 2017. The cumulative effect is striking: hotel prices now sit only 2.6% above where they were a year ago, and 8.8% above 2019 levels at a time when overall consumer prices have risen 30.1% since then. Measured against general inflation, in other words, hotel rooms have become relatively cheaper over the past several years rather than more expensive.

Airfares have moved the opposite way. Ticket prices rose 2.2% in July and have now increased in every month of 2026, up 19.9% since December and 25.5% higher than in July of last year. Jet fuel is part of the explanation: after holding below $3 per gallon through the first week of July, the Argus US Jet Fuel Index climbed through the month to close at $3.83. Gas prices tell a similar story for drivers, down 3.0% on the month but still 24.8% higher than a year ago and 41.5% above July 2019, the steepest rise of any travel category over that span.

For anyone planning autumn travel, the practical implication is that the trip’s cost structure has shifted. Flights and fuel are where the pressure sits; accommodation is where the relief is. Travelers with flexibility may find that longer stays in fewer places pencil out better than itineraries built around multiple flight segments. Bus and rail fares are worth a look as well, having fallen 2.1% over the month and 4.4% over the year, and remaining the only travel category priced below its 2019 level, down 5.3%.

Sources: U.S. Travel Association, Bureau of Labor Statistics