Travel Leaders Corporate: Business Travel Ticket Costs Down 1.6 Percent

Travel Leaders Corporate's sample of nearly 260,000 business travel bookings throughout the United States for the first quarter of 2012 found that clients traveling for international business paid approximately 1.6 percent less for the average airline ticket as compared to the first quarter of 2011. While international business travelers spent slightly less per mile, they traveled more miles in the first quarter of 2012.

"While the average cost of an international airline ticket declined year-over-year, we also found a decrease of 7.3 percent on the average cost per airline segment booked," said Travel Leaders Corporate President David Holyoke.  "This certainly bucks conventional wisdom, which would suggest that ticket prices may have increased due to rising jet fuel and other mitigating factors.  However, with a somewhat softening demand in the market and economic uncertainty in Europe resulting in more affordable airfares, we've pleasantly surprised our clients with added value as they're traveling international for business."

Data revealed that while the cost of airfare to Europe, in most cases, decreased among Travel Leaders Corporate clients, airfare to some of the most frequently booked travel destinations in Asia increased.

In analyzing data from a sample of nearly two million business travel bookings, Travel Leaders Corporate's clients spent slightly more on the average domestic airline ticket in the first quarter of 2012 as compared to the first quarter of 2011, reflective of industry and economic trends.

The top five most frequently booked domestic routes among clients in the first quarter of the year were:
1. $163.32 New York (La Guardia) to Chicago (O'Hare)       
2. $131.08 Minneapolis/St. Paul to Chicago (O'Hare)                
3. $221.51 Boston to New York (La Guardia)
4. $214.43 Washington D.C. (Reag Nat'l) to Chicago (O'Hare)
5. $152.35 Boston to Chicago (O'Hare)             

Travel Leaders Corporate is a division of Travel Leaders Group, which ranks as the #1 Corporate Travel Management Company by Business Travel News.