Leisure Keeps Travel Agencies Growing as US Ticket Sales Hit $9.6B

US travel agencies sold $9.6 billion in air tickets in February 2026, up 11 percent from the same month last year, according to Airlines Reporting Corp (ARC).

Total passenger trips settled through ARC rose 8 percent to 25.9 million. That included 16 million domestic trips, up 9 percent, and 9.9 million international trips, up 7 percent. ARC released the data on March 19, 2026.

Growth stayed strong after a record January

February followed a very strong January, when ARC reported more than $10 billion in monthly agency air ticket sales. ARC had also said that full-year 2025 sales reached $100.4 billion, the highest annual total in its records. So February was not a one-off jump. It was another sign that agency air sales have remained strong in early 2026.

Sales and passenger trips were lower than in January on a month-to-month basis, but the year-over-year trend stayed positive. That is the more important point. It shows that agencies were still selling more air travel than they were a year earlier.

Leisure led the increase while corporate travel stayed stable

The growth was strongest in leisure. ARC said leisure-focused agencies recorded 6 percent year-over-year passenger trip growth, while online travel agencies grew 3 percent. Corporate agency sales were flat.

The leisure travelers remained the main driver of agency air sales in February. Business travel did not weaken, but it also did not expand at the same pace. That fits the broader business travel picture, where companies are still traveling, but often with closer attention to cost and risk.

Higher ticket prices also supported the result

Passenger volume was not the only reason sales increased. Ticket prices were also higher than a year earlier. ARC said the average ticket price rose 7 percent to $601. Average economy class ticket prices increased to $539, while average premium class tickets reached $1,423. Both were also up 7 percent year over year.

NDC Growth Continued

The ARC report showed NDC transactions rising to 21 percent of all ARC-settled transactions in February. As airlines and travel sellers keep moving toward newer retailing and distribution models, it makes sense to look at the wider challenges agencies and other resellers still face when adapting to NDC, from integration complexity to servicing and workflow issues.

Photo by Andreas M on Unsplash