The Sindex: Airfares Have Fallen Below Prepandemic Levels

The Reason Sindex tracks the price of vice: smoking, drinking, snacking, traveling, and more.

If you're tired of election bickering and would love to escape to a spot that isn't in the middle of campaign season, the Reason Sindex has good news for you: Flights are cheap! After a pandemic nosedive, airfares spiked in early 2022 but have since fallen below their prepandemic levels, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since January 2020, airline fares are down 10.2 percent, and in the last year alone are down 2.8 percent. Aside from the COVID-19 era, flights haven't been this cheap since mid-2009, amid the Great Recession. Consider what you're getting on those flights too: Airlines are increasingly offering free Wi-Fi and movies or TV to watch, even to flyers with the cheapest tickets. These and the rest of the numbers in the Reason Sindex use data from July 2024.

Category	Change since January 2020	Change in last year
Overall Inflation	21.1%	2.9%
Tobacco and smoking products	34.9%	7.9%
Cable, satellite, and livestreaming services	17.9%	1.6%
Medicinal drugs	7.9%	2.9%
Meats	28.0%	3.1%
Televisions	-24.1%	-5.4%
Cigarettes	36.7%	8.5%
Sugar and sweets	27.4%	1.8%
Airline fares	-10.2%	-2.8%
Gasoline, unleaded regular	24.5%	-2.3%
Prescription drugs	4.6%	2.5%
Alcoholic beverages (At home)	11.7%	2.0%
Alcoholic beverages (Away from home)	19.4%	2.0%

 

Comments

[Commenter_XY]

You know what matters to 160MM voters...that big, fat 21% right up top. They don't fly...they eat, drive, drink, watch TV.

That is a big part of why Pres Trump will become POTUS Trump on January 21, 2025.

And BTW, flights aren't THAT cheap.

[SRG2]

And a significant portion of those voters are unaware that the rest of the world exists, it seems - except as illegals or whatever.

[TJJ2000]

Paraphrased, "If [Na]tional So[zi]al[s] can't invade conquer and consume USA wealth then voters just don't care."

When you figure out the difference between immigrants who want to live in a USA (25%) and immigrants that just want to Gov-Gun self-entitle themselves to others long-*EARNED* "greener pastures" (75%) of wealth then and only then what you say won't be complete slogan BS.

[SIV]

The rest of the world where inflation peaked at no more than 3.0- 3.5% like Switzerland and Japan?

[chemjeff radical individualist]

You know what matters to 160MM voters…that big, fat 21% right up top.

Yeah you are probably right. But it's incorrect to say that "they don't fly".

When there are bad economic conditions in other areas - stock market declines, layoffs, unemployment, etc. - these conditions affect only a subset of the population at most. When unemployment is rising, sure it sucks when people lose their job, but not everyone loses their job. Inflation on the other hand affects everyone, and it persists for a while. So even though all of the other economic numbers actually look pretty good, the inflation number is probably going to dominate. And they are going to blame Biden for it, fairly or not, because he was the guy who presided over most of the inflationary increase.

That is really the only reason why this race is tight. Team Red basically has no policy agenda, they have outrage and grievance and scapegoating of foreigners. But they might win anyway because of inflation.

[Don't look at me!]

You are told it’s a tight race.
It is not.

[TJJ2000]

MORE "BIG government policy agendas please!!!" /s
It's really quite humorous how conflicted the leftard-mind is.

[Chumby]

Biden-Harris failed their fidoucheiary responsibilities to the American citizens but did great for Ukraine, illegal aliens, Taiwan, and Israel.

[Longtobefree]

But you still have to give up your first, second, fourth and fifth amendment rights in order to pay less.
And, oh by the way, how much did airport parking and Uber rates go up?

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Who but a climate cultist thinks traveling is a sin?

[Don't look at me!]

This.

[Chumby]

NBA referees prior to 1985?

[Stuck in California]

The same one that puts medicinal and prescription drugs on a "Sin" list. And Meat.

[Stuck in California]

Speaking of -- there's NO FUCKING WAY IN HELL meat is only up 28% since January 2020.

They have to be basket switching or doing substitutions to get anything close to that number. In the beforefore times I regularly got favored cuts of beef for roughly half of the current sale prices. Tri tips I got for $1.99 on sale, $2.99 every day are ON SALE for $5.99 or 6.99. Ribeyes I could always get for $3.99 on sale, $5-6 are usually ON SALE for $8.99. Ground beef is always $6. Cheaper cuts like Sirloin or London Broil that would regularly go on sale for under $2 are NEVER less than $5.

Same with pork products. THe $1.29 picnic roasts are $3 to $5 a pound. Bacon has gone from $3-5 a pound to $8-12 for the same products.

Chicken I can still get on sale for maybe 50% more than it used to be.

Literally NONE of the examples I see in the store are only 28%, all massively exceed that.

I'll say the same for "Overall inflation". EVERYTHING is way more than 21% more expensive. Everything.

These numbers are bullshit.

[Rick James]

Tobacco and smoking products 34.9% 7.9%

Reason literally has a spittin' tobaccy index...

[AT]

Aside from the COVID-19 era, flights haven’t been this cheap since mid-2009, amid the Great Recession. Consider what you’re getting on those flights too: Airlines are increasingly offering free Wi-Fi and movies or TV to watch, even to flyers with the cheapest tickets.

Of course, the experience is a thousand times more miserable – what with the entitled jerkoffs who bring their pets on board and the morbidly obese who think everyone else should accommodate them, both of which are made all the more horrible by the sardine seating; the ridiculous cost of an in-flight meal and drink; and the terror that there’s a high likelihood that your plane was built by Boeing, is being flown by DEI hires, and has a good chance of there being a passenger or flight crew that ends up on a viral video.