The biggest U.S. airlines finally are getting serious about reversing the steady decline in recent years of the average price of their fares, but the smart folks at American Express Global Business Travel – part of the world’s largest travel services company – say that’s not enough to keep fare prices from falling again in 2017.
AmEx, the parent of the world’s largest travel agency and a major player in corporate travel cost management through its American Express charge card business, said Wednesday that it expects the kind of fares purchased by business travelers for short haul travel with North America to decline, on average, by 2.5% to 5.5% next year. Average long haul fares for travel both within North America and to/from North America should fall between 0.2% and 4.6%, according to AmEx’s annual Global Travel Forecast, released Wednesday.
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