Why are flight tickets so expensive right now? Increased oil prices seems like it’d be the obvious answer. That’s mostly right. Airlines used to do some financial magic to help keep airfare down as oil prices increased, a strategy called “fuel hedging.” But they stopped. And now fliers are on the hook for a lot of the difference.  On today’s show, the lost art of fuel hedging. How it worked, plus why airlines stopped doing it. Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: <a href="https://tix.to/pm-book-tour"target="_blank" >https://tix.to/pm-book-tour</a>.  Related episodes: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/13/nx-s1-5746095/a-lot-of-gas-trapped-oil-reserves-tapped-and-live-nation-gets-a-tiny-cap"target="_blank" >A lot of gas trapped, oil reserves tapped, and Live Nation gets a (tiny) cap</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/10/nx-s1-5742757/will-trumps-shipping-insurance-plan-work"target="_blank" >Will Trump’s shipping insurance plan work?</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/03/1146826911/listener-questions-airline-tickets-grocery-pricing-and-the-fed"target="_blank" >Listener Questions: Airline tickets, grocery pricing and the Fed</a>For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>. Fact-checking by <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez"target="_blank" >Sierra Juarez</a>. Music by <a href="https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/"target="_blank" >Drop Electric</a>. Find us: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney"target="_blank" >TikTok</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/"target="_blank" >Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney"target="_blank" >Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money"target="_blank" >Newsletter</a>. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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