Summer domestic airfares are sky-high

Suffering from airfare sticker shock? Join the club. Domestic fares are out of sight, especially for summer travel.

At this time last year, airlines were pushing one another out of the way to announce fare sales, especially to Europe. So far in 2010, the few sales that have taken place have been short-lived and heavily restricted to specific travel dates and days. Summer travel sales are nearly nonexistent.

According to Joel Grus of Bing Travel, several factors are responsible for the run-up.

"Prices were very low last summer, which makes the increases look high," he explained. "Airlines have been cutting capacity, so there are fewer seats. And demand seems stronger. More people are vying for those seats."

Bing Travel's initial forecast for 2010 summer travel concluded that, nationwide, domestic airfares have gone up 22 percent over 2009, and fares to Europe have risen by 29 percent. Grus doesn't anticipate any softening of fares in the near future, adding they could go higher if oil prices rise.