Airplane ticket prices are starting to climb to levels much higher than they were last summer.

Air fare expert Rick Seaney, from FareCompare.com, took a look at prices of two of the most popular routes from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

If a traveler bought a ticket last week for a nonstop flight to Las Vegas in June, they paid 63 percent more than last year.

The same flight a year ago was, on average, $240.

This year, it is $390.

A nonstop ticket to Orlando is $275, up 53 percent from last year's price of $180.

"It's really tough comparison to last year because we had such great prices," Rick Seaney said. "Ten-year lows really."

Airlines have also cut back on the number of flights. Many passengers now have to fill a smaller number of seats, which pushes prices up.

On top of that, the addition of baggage charges makes tickets more expensive.

All major airlines except Southwest charge $25 each way for extra baggage.

Many airlines are also adding more surcharges of $10 to $20 on busy travel days.

According to Seaney, one way to save is to shop early.

"Everybody who's out there [buying tickets] a couple weeks before your trip and think you're going to get a good deal, forget about it this year," Seaney said.

Another way to save is by taking flights with connections.

While that nonstop ticket to Orlando costs $275, a flight with one connection costs $180. That is only a 6 percent increase from the same flight last year, which cost $170.

The best deals may be found by shopping for tickets on Tuesdays.

"What's happening is the airlines are doing these three-day sales every week that start Tuesday morning and end Thursday," Seaney said.

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