For the procrastinators still hoping to score a great deal on summer airfares, things aren't looking good.
The average ticket price between Memorial Day and Labor Day from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is $518. And nationwide, fares jumped almost 5 percent from May 2013 to May 2014, the biggest increase in three years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Blame it on supply and demand. For years, cash-strapped airlines have cut capacity to save money, so there are fewer seats available for fliers to buy than ever before. Pair that with the summer stretch of good weather and fares rise to even loftier heights.
"Planes are very full now," said Chris McGinnis, editor of TravelSkills.com. "Load factors are at record levels. There are fewer planes flying now than before 9/11."
Airlines continued to pull back on capacity during the recession and have been reluctant to add more planes after becoming more profitable without them. A string of mergers and acquisitions among the major carriers have also pushed up prices, said Christopher Elliott, ombudsman at National Geographic Traveler magazine.
"It's a cat-and-mouse game between fliers and airlines," he said. "There is higher demand, so fares go up, but if prices go too high, travelers don't book and then there's a sale."
It gets even costlier in the Twin Cities, where experts say a lack of competition has kept ticket prices historically higher than other markets. The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is more expensive than 22 of the 30 major airports, and that's despite discount carriers such as Spirit Airlines joining the fray in recent years.
Matthew McElhiney of Sarasota, Fla., who flew into the Twin Cities for a volleyball tournament Tuesday, said that his plan to fly to New York this summer is in jeopardy if prices don't come down.