Plane Tickets Are About to Get Much More Expensive

The summer months typically mark the busiest and most expensive time of the year for commercial air travel, and it sounds like those fares are about to get even more expensive just before that peak season.

As a result of the United States' armed conflict with Iran, the global price of oil has already begun to surge, and that price increase is expected to cause a significant surge in the cost of airfares, as well.

Cost of Oil Begins to Surge

On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel launched a joint offensive against Iran with no clear end in sight. The conflict has already spilled over into other oil-producing countries in the Middle East and threatened key trade routes.

Amid fears of a prolonged conflict in the region, the oil market has already begun to surge, as CBS News reports.

"West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil benchmark, shot up more than 11% on Friday to nearly $91 per barrel after President Trump demanded Iran's 'unconditional surrender,' stoking investor concerns about a prolonged conflict. Brent crude, the international benchmark, jumped to $92.47, the highest level in nearly two years," CBS News reported this week.

Airfare Expected to Surge

As the price of oil begins to rise, so does the cost of jet fuel, which accounts for about one-fifth of airlines' operating expenses. This week, Jet fuel surged to $3.95 a gallon, up 56% from $2.50 in late February, one day before the joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran, according to the Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index.

Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, founder of the Atmosphere Research Group, recently warned that he is already seeing commercial air ticket prices creep up since the Iran conflict began.

"Airlines began increasing airfares this week as spot jet fuel prices started to spike," he told CBS News.

Harteveldt said that most of those increases have been for premium tickets in business and first-class cabins, noting that prices are less likely to climb for "people who buy basic economy or discount coach tickets."

Additionally, Harteveldt said that some carriers are beginning to add "fuel surcharges" to fares for some long-haul international routes.

Harteveldt said that airlines will do their best to account for the high fuel prices while making sure to keep prices where travelers will continue to fly.

"Airlines know, perhaps better than any other industry, what consumers' willingness to pay for a flight is," he told CBS News. "So they are trying to find a balance between how much they can increase fares to cover substantially higher fuel costs and how high is too high."

So as you plan your summer travel, this is certainly something to keep in mind.