U.S. Travel Agency Air Ticket Sales Increase in March

ARC Reports Roundtrip Ticket Prices for First Quarter 2017 Up 7.5 Percent

Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) reported today that the average U.S. roundtrip ticket price* for March 2017 was $498, up a few dollars from $487 in February and $464 in January. Average ticket prices are consistent with this time period in 2016: $498 in March, $489 in February and $473 in January.

The consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by U.S.-based travel agencies increased 6.4 percent in March as compared to 2016, totaling $8.8 billion vs. $8.3. Total fares also increased 8 percent to $7 billion compared to $6.5 billion in 2016. The number of passenger trips* settled by ARC for U.S. travel agencies also saw an increase of nearly 8 percent to more than 26,516,000 compared to nearly 24,610,000 in March 2016.

Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD)^** sales comprised nearly $9.3 million, a 239 percent increase over 2016. EMD transactions increased 376 percent to nearly 159,000 in March 2017 vs. nearly 33,400 in 2016.

More detailed information is available at https://www.arccorp.com/data.jsp.

*Ticket Sales

Results are based on monthly sales data ending March 31, 2017, from 12,587 U.S. retail and corporate travel agency locations, satellite ticket printing offices and online travel agencies.
Results do not include sales of tickets purchased directly from airlines.
Average ticket price (in USD) for a roundtrip ticket settled through ARC for an itinerary that included only U.S. domestic travel.
Passenger trips include the total number of passengers taking a trip from one airport to another using either direct or connecting flights. Newly issued trips are added and refunded trips are deducted to provide a net view of traveling passengers. Only transactions for travel are included (no MCOs, EMDs, etc.).
Total sales are equal to the total amount paid for a ticket, which includes taxes and fees.

**Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMD)