Video | Fuel surcharge increase, long-term products like "airline ticket exchange vouchers" are hot-selling

Domestic flight fuel surcharge will be increased, how will this affect recent flight bookings?

I saw on social media that many netizens said “I bought all the tickets I could before the price hike,” and some have even purchased tickets for the entire year of 2026 in advance. Platform data also confirms this trend; currently, the booking volume for “May Day” holiday flights has increased by nearly 20% year-on-year. At the same time, during visits, the reporter also found that innovative products suitable for long-term planning, such as flight exchange vouchers and “Travel Anytime,” are attracting many young consumers with their flexible mechanisms of “buy anytime, refund upon expiration,” and their advantage of being unaffected by the fuel surcharge increase expectations.

Researcher Shi Ke from the Big Data Research Institute of an online travel platform: Based on the growth rate of early bookings, flights to Wenzhou, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Nanning, Hefei, Shanghai, Yining, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, and Xishuangbanna during the “May Day” period saw the fastest year-on-year increase, with growth rates exceeding 25%. The number of travelers locking in “Golden Week” tickets in advance has significantly increased, and it is expected that the number of travelers booking “May Day” and summer holiday tickets next week will continue to grow.

This Qingming holiday, combined with the implementation of spring breaks for primary and secondary schools in many places, has led to a noticeable increase in flight bookings. Data shows that as of April 1, the domestic flight booking volume in the Yangtze River Delta region for Qingming holiday exceeded 580k tickets, an increase of about 22% year-on-year. Among them, the popularity of traveling to Chengdu for flower viewing and outdoor activities has soared, with booking volumes doubling compared to the same period last year. Besides popular domestic flower viewing and outdoor destinations, many people are also choosing to travel abroad during this perfect springtime. As of March 27, the Yangtze River Delta region’s outbound and inbound flight bookings for Qingming holiday had exceeded 170k tickets, a year-on-year increase of about 15%.

Regarding consumers’ “ticket hoarding” phenomenon, industry insiders remind that if travel plans are not yet confirmed, it is not advisable to make preventive purchases, because if plans change, the refund fees may far exceed the savings, which would be counterproductive.

Professor Shen Han from the Department of Tourism at Fudan University: According to data from some online travel platforms, the order volume for domestic flights booked more than 30 days in advance has increased by over 30% year-on-year. Consumers are advised not to hoard or buy tickets blindly, to view the so-called low-price channels in the market rationally, to prevent being scammed, and it is best to purchase tickets through official channels of major online travel platforms or airlines.