# Holiday airfares hit a decade high as fuel costs bite

> Black Friday discounts may only bring prices back to last year's levels as airlines pass fuel surcharges to customers.
- Title: Holiday airfares hit a decade high as fuel costs bite
- Summary: Black Friday discounts may only bring prices back to last year's levels as airlines pass fuel surcharges to customers.
- Keywords: holiday travel, airfare pricing, black friday, jet fuel costs, delta, hopper, thanksgiving, christmas, travel deals, Fortune
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/11/08/black-friday-travel-deals-holiday-airfare-hopper-delta
- Author: Martie Bowser
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: holiday travel, airfare pricing, black friday, jet fuel costs, delta, hopper, thanksgiving, christmas, travel deals
## A discount brings you back to last year
A fifteen percent Black Friday discount on a Christmas hotel room costs about one hundred sixty-seven dollars a night, roughly what the average Christmas room cost a year ago.
## Holiday fares are up sharply from last year
According to Hopper's two thousand twenty-six Holiday Travel Index, domestic round-trip Thanksgiving flights average four hundred two dollars, up thirty-one percent from two thousand twenty-five.Christmas fares are up twenty-three percent, averaging four hundred fifty-two dollars.
## This is the priciest holiday season in ten years
Hopper projects this will be the most expensive holiday travel season in a decade. Elevated jet fuel prices are behind the climb, making deep holiday discounts less likely.
## Delta's fuel bill jumped one point six billion dollars
Delta said after its third-quarter results that its jet fuel costs rose sixty percent, an increase of one point six billion dollars from a year earlier.For most carriers, fuel is the second-largest cost after labor.
## Airlines are passing nearly all costs to customers
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in July he expected Delta to pass close to one hundred percent of its higher fuel costs on to customers in the third quarter.

> the market has accepted these price points
## Black Friday deals are mostly bundled packages
DaShawna Carpenter, owner of Skyy Travel Mavens, says most Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are attached to packages rather than flights alone, making it hard to see what the flight itself costs.

> Black Friday is definitely becoming weaker
## Travel Tuesday offers the best deals of the three
Carpenter says Travel Tuesday tends to offer the best deals of the three days but cautions that most are bundled.
## Book before Halloween for the best prices
Hopper advised booking holiday flights and hotels before Halloween and expects prices to keep rising as the dates approach.
## Key takeaway

Holiday airfares are at their highest in a decade due to elevated jet fuel costs, making Black Friday deals less valuable than they appear.