I flew for the first time in five years this past May, from Seattle to Chicago. The air fare was approximately $752 RT on United, but that was for Economy Plus – for more legroom. The base round trip ticket price from SEA to ORD was $417. The extra legroom cost me $120 per leg (of the trip, but I suppose you could say anatomically for the whole trip as well). Since I don’t fly as often any longer, I usually pay extra for legroom on cross-country trips. The total airfare in May 2023 was $752.

Here’s a simple chart showing the change in cost of average air fares over the past 30 years, or so. Though it looks like they are more expensive, air fares in the U.S. are often close to half of what they were in 1993 in terms of inflation-adjusted dollars.

DATA SOURCE:

Average Domestic Airline Itinerary Fares By Origin City for Q2 1993, Ranked by Total Number of Domestic Passengers in 2022