Eras tour: Big impact Taylor Swift had on domestic flights

Taylor Swift has come and gone – but the mega star has proved just how much of an impact she’s had on Aussie flight prices.

Now that Taylor Swift shows are officially over — so are the crazy flight prices to and from Sydney and Melbourne.

The mega star proved just how much of an impact she’s had, particularly on travel with flight prices in Sydney expected to drop 18 per cent.

The 34-year-old [now] billionaire kicked off the Australian leg of her Eras Tour with three concerts in Melbourne followed by four in Sydney, with the final show having just wrapped up on Monday.

Unsurprisingly, she’s had a big influence on travel during her weeks-long stay with commercial flights and accommodation being at a premium, with some fans even opting for a private charter flight to get to her concerts as a result.

Taylor Swift proved just how much of an impact she had, particularly on travel. Picture: David Gray/ AFP

On Monday alone, there was a near 50 per cent increase in travel bookings, compared to the average bookings across every other day this month, according to Corporate Traveller, which is Flight Centre Travel Group’s flagship SME travel division.

“We saw travel bookings nearly double on [this] single day, compared to the average bookings across every other day this month,” Corporate Traveller global managing director Tom Walley told news.com.au.

“We’re putting this down to concertgoers heading home, business travellers returning to work-related travel as availability improves, and travellers looking to take advantage of swift-flation easing with airfares dropping.”

Flights between to and from Melbourne and Sydney saw a huge spike during the Aussie leg of her Eras tour – but now she’s gone, it’s expected to drop.

And now that Taylor has left the country, expect a huge drop in domestic airfares and accommodation costs.

“This week and next week we’re seeing prices drop on domestic fares into both Sydney and Melbourne, compared to the weeks of the concerts,” Mr Walley said.

“Flights into Sydney this week are already easing in cost, and by next week we’ll seen an 18 per cent drop, or $83 saving in domestic economy airfares into the city, compared to the week of the Sydney concerts.”

According to Flight Centre, next week will see an 18 per cent drop in flight prices to Sydney – or a saving of $83.

He said, Melbourne, while easing at a slightly slower pace, is also experiencing an average five per cent, or $20 drop on inbound domestic economy fares this week.

He said this is compared to the week of the Melbourne concerts nearly a fortnight ago.

“We clearly saw airlines and hotels reach peak capacity in Sydney and Melbourne while the Eras Tour was running, and now that this has wrapped up and capacity is coming back online, pricing is starting to reflect this,” Mr Walley added.

“There’s no bad blood between corporate travellers and Miss Swift, but we’re pleased to be out of the woods now that the tour has wrapped up.”

The cheapest Melbourne city hotels in the four-star range sat at a minimum of $600 per night over the concert dates, according to Flight Centre Travel Group global leisure CEO James Kavanagh.

He said it was similar for Sydney on February 23 with the cheapest one-way ticket from Brisbane $421 [at the time].

Fans were also going to great lengths to make sure they didn’t miss her shows.

Mr Kavanagh told news.com.au concertgoers were opting for private charters.

“While it may seem extreme, we’re not surprised to see people opting for private flights through our charter aircraft company AVMIN and we’ve had bookings for both Taylor’s Sydney and Melbourne shows,” Mr Kavanagh said before Taylor’s first Sydney show on February 23.

“Depending on the origin and destination, it can cost between $12,000 and $20,000 for a same-day return charter and with aircraft catering to between five and 10 passengers the shared cost can be less than the cost of commercial flights and accommodation on concert days.”