去年圣诞节，埃伦·明克马（Ehren Minkema）从得克萨斯州奥斯汀飞往明尼阿波利斯时，支付了424美元的往返机票费用。
When Ehren Minkema flew from Austin, Texas, to Minneapolis for Christmas last year, he paid $424 round trip.
大约一周前，明克马为今年的行程购买了一张几乎完全相同的机票。新价格是722美元。
About a week ago, Minkema bought a nearly identical itinerary for this year’s trip. The new price: $722.
现年35岁、住在奥斯汀的明克马说：“我不得不思考，为了预订回家的行程，我愿意做出什么样的牺牲。同时也知道，如果我再等下去，价格只会越来越贵。”旅游预订公司Hopper汇编的数据显示，今年假期的机票价格将是至少十年来的最高水平。到目前为止，今年感恩节旅行期间的国内平均往返机票价格比去年贵了31%，而圣诞节机票价格则高出23%。
“I had to think about what sacrifices I am willing to make to book my trip home,” said Minkema, a 35-year-old who lives in Austin. “While also knowing that the longer I wait, prices will just continue to get more expensive.”Airfares this holiday season will be the highest they have been in at least a decade, according to data compiled by Hopper, a travel-booking company. So far, the average domestic round-trip ticket this Thanksgiving travel period is 31% more expensive than last year, while the price of a ticket for Christmas is 23% higher.
对于在一年中最繁忙的航空旅行窗口期之一运营的航空公司而言，利害攸关。自从伊朗战争开始扰乱中东的全球原油流动和产量以来，各航空公司不得不寻找增加收入的方法来应对不断上涨的能源成本。高管们表示，到目前为止，他们已经能够在不损害需求的情况下推高票价，并且他们预计价格不会让假期旅客望而却步。
The stakes are high for airlines in one of the year’s busiest air-travel windows. Carriers have had to find ways to boost revenue to deal with rising energy costs since the Iran War began to disrupt global crude oil flows and production in the Middle East. Executives have said so far, they have been able to push fares higher without damaging demand, and they don’t expect the prices to keep holiday travelers away.
航空燃料是航空公司的最大单项开支之一，他们预计今年为此支付的费用将比去年多出数百亿美元。阿格斯公司（Argus）的数据显示，航空燃料的平均月度现货价格约为每加仑4.50美元，自2月以来上涨了91%。
Jet fuel is one of the biggest single expenses for carriers and they expect to pay tens of billions of dollars more for it than last year. The average monthly spot price of jet fuel is around $4.50 a gallon, up 91% since February, according to data from Argus.
航空公司已将部分能源成本负担转嫁给旅客。根据美国劳工统计局（U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics）的数据，经季节性调整后，消费者物价指数中的机票分项在9月升至历史最高水平——比8月微升1.2%，比去年同月上涨22.4%。
Airlines have passed along some of the energy-cost burden to travelers. The airfare component of the consumer-price index rose to its highest level on record in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics—edging up 1.2% from August and 22.4% from the same month a year earlier.
摩根大通（JPMorgan Chase）的分析师称，最近，包括联合航空（United）和达美航空（Delta）在内的一些航空公司将国内航线单程票价提高了10美元。近年来，机票价格的涨幅没有其他商品和服务那么大，行业高管表示这仍然是一笔划算的买卖。
And recently, some carriers including United and Delta cranked up domestic fares by $10 each way, according to JPMorgan Chase analysts. Airfare hasn’t climbed as much as prices for other goods and services in recent years, and industry executives say it remains a good deal.
阿拉斯加航空（Alaska Airlines）总裁兼首席财务官肖恩·塔凯特（Shane Tackett）在上个月的一次投资者演讲中表示：“在所有其他条件相同的情况下，如果经济能够维持下去，我看不到任何需求不会持久的理由。”
“All else equal, if the economy is hanging on, I don’t see any reason demand is not going to be durable,” said Shane Tackett, president and chief financial officer for Alaska Airlines, at an investor presentation last month.
Hopper首席经济学家海莉·伯格（Hayley Berg）表示，像精神航空（Spirit）这样廉价航空公司的倒闭可能并不是这些价格上涨的主要因素。她说：“即使市场发生了变化，仍然存在激烈的竞争。”
The collapse of budget airlines like Spirit probably isn’t a big factor in these price increases, said Hayley Berg, Hopper’s lead economist. “There’s still a lot of competition even with changes in the market,” she said.
旅游搜索平台Kayak首席执行官皮尔·布勒（Peer Bueller）表示，消费者只需做一点计划和保持灵活性，就可以避开最昂贵的机票。例如，他们可以刻意安排购买机票的时间——在往年，提前三到五周预订感恩节航班是最便宜的。
Consumers can avoid the most expensive airfares with a little planning and flexibility, said Peer Bueller, CEO of Kayak, a travel-search platform. For example, they can be deliberate about when they buy their tickets—in previous years, it has been cheapest to book a Thanksgiving flight three to five weeks in advance.
抵达和出发的日期也很重要。Hopper发现，旅客只要避开感恩节旅行中的一个日期——11月29日（即节日后的周日，也是一年中最繁忙的旅行日之一），就能节省250多美元。
The date of arrival and departure matters, too. Flyers can save more than $250 on Thanksgiving travel by avoiding just one date, Hopper found: Nov. 29, the Sunday after the holiday and one of the busiest travel days of the year.
尽管如此，伯格说，许多人没有在最便宜的可能日子出行的自由。她说：“大多数美国人认为他们的假期旅行是必不可少的。”
Still, many people don’t have the freedom to fly on the cheapest possible day, Berg said. “Most Americans see their holiday travel as something essential,” she said.
航空公司正指望这一点。达美航空首席执行官埃德·巴斯蒂安（Ed Bastian）本月早些时候表示，占达美航空客户大多数的美国收入最高40%的家庭，比几年前更富有，并且愿意承担机票上涨的费用。
Airlines are counting on that. Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian said earlier this month the top 40% of U.S. households—which make up the majority of Delta’s customers—are wealthier than they were a few years ago, and willing to absorb an increase in fares.
巴斯蒂安在一次电话会议上对分析师说：“坦率地说，我们看到的阻力很小，我们的产品在消费者的购物篮中继续被视为价格合理……我认为这对未来是一个非常好的迹象。”
“Candidly, the limited amount of resistance that we see, the fact that our product continues to be seen in a consumer basket as reasonably affordable…I think that’s a very good sign for the future,” Bastian told analysts during a conference call.
明克马认为自己是“达美航空的忠实拥趸”，他通常乘坐达美航空从他居住的奥斯汀飞往他长大的明尼阿波利斯。他并不认为自己回家过圣诞节的航班价格合理。他正在考虑以后改乘西南航空（Southwest）。
Minkema, who considers himself a “Delta loyalist,” usually flies Delta from Austin, where he lives, to Minneapolis, where he grew up. He didn’t think his flight home for Christmas was affordable. He’s considering flying Southwest in the future.
目前，他正在重新评估自己的预算。他说：“这些天什么东西都好像更贵了。”去年，他给父亲买了一块Apple Watch作为圣诞礼物。他说：“也许我今年出席本身就需要成为足够的礼物了吧？”
For now, he’s re-evaluating his budget. “Everything seems to be costing more these days,” he said. Last year, he bought his father an Apple Watch for Christmas.
联系记者丽贝卡·卡登黑德（Rebecca Cadenhead），邮箱rebecca.cadenhead@wsj.com；联系记者艾莉森·赛德（Alison Sider），邮箱alison.sider@wsj.com
“Maybe my presence will need to be enough of a present this year?” he said.