Booking earlier, wait-and-see mode: Travellers trying to get ahead of high costs

Travel agent Sarah Moore talks about the latest challenges affecting airline travel including fuel surcharges and any-reason cancellation insurance.

Aidan D’Souza usually starts planning international trips at least six months ahead of time. But now, he says that’s not early enough to lock in lower prices.

For his upcoming trip in January, D’Souza started monitoring flight prices to Japan last month.

“We started this a bit earlier because we’re not too sure what could happen later on with ticket prices,” he said.

“They could go higher, things could change,” he said. “That’s why we started a bit earlier than six months, just to give us more time to plan for that.”

Surging energy prices driven by conflict in the Middle East have meant airlines are dolling out more for jet fuel while motorists are seeing huge price spikes at the pump. It also means travellers, whether they’re embarking on a road trip or a flight to a far-flung destination, have to open their wallets even wider.

Travel agency experts say travellers are trying to work around the higher prices in a variety of ways, with some booking much earlier than normal while others take their chances and wait in hopes that prices will come down.

WestJet, Air Canada and Porter Airlines have introduced fuel surcharges for certain flight bookings in recent weeks. That’s on top of already higher airfares, which began climbing soon after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

Some Canadians are looking to lock in their trips sooner as a way to secure prices and availability, rather than waiting and hoping for a deal, said Amra Durakovic, head of communications for Flight Centre Travel Group.

“(Fuel) prices are still adjusting,” she said, but added that it appears rising prices haven’t deterred travel demand so far.

D’Souza and his friends are already ahead of the curve.

“I was talking to my friends, and we were like, ‘We’ve got to secure this before it goes even higher,’” he said.

He managed to book his tickets to Japan at a “reasonable” price this week, though the journey includes a daylong layover in another country.

“Prices fluctuated depending on when my friends and I were checking flight options and routes to Japan,” he said. “At some points they were steady, and at other times they were higher.”

Jason Sarracini, CEO of travel agency OST.travel, said flights that don’t go through the Middle East are still “pretty stable,” with fewer disruptions compared with routes that do, such as flights bound for the Philippines, Thailand or other Southeast Asian countries.

Sarracini said he hasn’t noticed a rush among most of his customers to book trips well in advance. Nor have they rushed to cancel their plans, save for some international travel.

“What we’re really seeing is hesitation,” he said. “It’s creating doubt in the consumer’s mind.”

He said a lot of people are taking a wait-and-see approach.

“Worst-case scenario, we stay home and we don’t travel or we visit our own country this year,” he said of travellers’ mindsets.

Higher travel costs are also playing out alongside the ongoing boycott of travel to the U.S., further convincing many Canadians to vacation close to home — or where they feel safe, he said.

“Safety and costs sort of go hand in hand right now, given everything that’s happening in the world,” he said.

Durakovic agreed. She said travellers are focused on value and strategy, such as less-expensive destinations and flexibility on travel timing — with safety in mind. Sun destinations, Europe and domestic travel are top-of-mind for Canadians, she said.

For an avid traveller like D’Souza, the uncertainty is less of a factor when it comes to another trip planned for Europe in a few months. While his flights between London and Toronto are booked, his travel to Dublin isn’t set in stone, he said.

“I am going to hold back a little longer to book that, just because it might change, depending on the situation that’s happening in the Middle East,” he said.

Sarracini said airlines can only increase fares so much before consumer demand falls. He suspects prices are likely to stabilize in the coming weeks as most airlines lock in their fuel contracts.

“The increase in surcharges or increases in fares from the airlines will stabilize, given everything we know today,” he said.

Sarracini added it would give consumers “a really good sense of what’s out there and be able to make a call in the next couple of months.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2026.

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press