Raphael Stevens

International airfare is falling this year over last, while domestic U.S. tickets are more expensive, according to Hopper.
Airlines have increased capacity to popular destinations like Japan from the U.S. in recent years.
Demand isn’t expected to have the big spikes that materialized in the years following the pandemic.

Tourists take photos in Shinsekai with Tsutenkaku tower in sight in Osaka, Japan, on December 12, 2024. 
Kichul Shin | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Planning an international trip this year? You could be in luck, if you’re willing to fly far.
Long-haul trips are cheaper than last year, according to data released this week from flight-tracking company Hopper.

For example, through mid-2025, flights between the U.S. and Asia are down 11% this year over last, averaging $1,087, with capacity up 6% from 2024. Europe flights are down 6% at $754, Hopper data shows.
Flights to Africa and the Middle East are flat compared with last year, while flights to South America are down 4% to $685, and Mexico and Central America flights from the U.S. are up 9% to $469.
Meanwhile, domestic U.S. ticket prices are on the rise, as airlines have become more cautious about capacity growth in the U.S. and face aircraft delivery delays from Boeing and Airbus.

Read more CNBC airline news

But the cheaper international trips come as airlines have increased capacity to popular destinations and as demand growth has leveled out compared with post-pandemic surges, when travelers raced to book trips abroad after travel restrictions were lifted. Fares were higher as airlines faced labor and aircraft shortages coming out of the pandemic.
As airlines have ramped up capacity, Europe fares late last year were the lowest in years.

“You’re definitely not at a point now where there’s pent-up demand left,” said Scott Keyes, founder of travel app Going, previously known as Scott’s Cheap Flights.

Favorable exchange rates for travelers using U.S. dollars in many countries, including hotspot Japan, have boosted demand. International visitors to Japan surged nearly 50% in the first 11 months of 2024 to close to 33.4 million people, according to Japanese government data.
Travel-search site Kayak said flights to Asia are the cheapest in at least three years, with interest from customers on the rise. Japanese cities Tokyo, Sapporo and Osaka are posting the biggest percentage increases in searches, Kayak noted.

Tourists sit in front of the Patong Beach sign by the seafront on the southern Thai island of Phuket on Nov. 29, 2024. 
Chanakarn Laosarakham | AFP | Getty Images

It also said airfares are lower across the Caribbean, with cheaper tickets to Dominica (down 21% over last year), and Barbados and St. Lucia, which are down 17% compared with last year, Kayak said.
Travelers flying this year are also more interested in business class, a trend carriers like Delta, which kicks off 2025 airline earnings on Friday, have capitalized on.
Kayak estimates that searches for those four-digit business class fares are up 19% over last year.

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Scout Motors has received more than 50,000 refundable reservation deposits for its first electric pickups and SUVs, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said.
Volkswagen, which revived the old American brand, said Scout is part of its plan to grow its market share in the U.S.
The vehicles are scheduled to arrive in 2027 and are expected to start under $60,000.

Scout Terra pickup truck and Scout Traveler SUV concepts

LAS VEGAS — Scout Motors has received more than 50,000 refundable reservation deposits for its first electric pickups and SUVs, according to Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume.
Volkswagen revived Scout, which was an American brand from 1961 to 1980, and revealed production-intent vehicles of its Terra pickup truck and Traveler SUV in October. The vehicles will be offered as all-electric models or extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs.

Scout has received fewer reservations than other automakers pulled in for all-electric vehicles in the early 2020s, when many were first being introduced. The reservations do not guarantee sales but can be a barometer of interest.
“The market response has been very, very positive,” Blume said Tuesday night during a private media event at the CES tech conference in Las Vegas. “The response was ‘This is heritage.’ … It is kind of a love story.”
In Scout’s case, customers have to submit a $100 refundable deposit to be among the first to place an order for a vehicle when it opens. The vehicles are scheduled to arrive in 2027.
The Scout brand is part of VW’s plan to grow its market share in the U.S. across its brands, which include Audi, Porsche and its namesake brand, among others. The German automaker’s U.S. share currently sits at about 4%, Blume said.
“Our ambition is much bigger to improve our market share, and we think we have some potential with all the new cars entering into the market,” Blume said, without disclosing a potential market share target.

Scout Traveler SUV concept 

Scout CEO Scott Keogh said during a separate interview at CES that the reservations have exceeded the company’s expectations. He said about 70% of the reservations have been for the Traveler SUV, in line with company expectations.
Keogh declined to disclose the breakdown between reservations for the all-electric and EREV models.
“We’re super happy with the numbers,” Keogh told CNBC. “There’s been good reaction to the EREV.”
EREVs are basically a type of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. They include EV motors and battery cells, as well as a traditional internal combustion engine to power the vehicle’s electric components when the battery loses its energy. The engine essentially acts as a generator to power the EV components when needed.
Keogh previously said Scout added EREVs to better protect the brand from any market volatility amid less-than-expected consumer demand for EVs.
He said the company is currently focusing on three main missions: increasing brand recognition, continuing engineering of the vehicle and completing a $2 billion factory in South Carolina.
Both the Traveler and Terra are expected to start under $60,000, according to Scout’s website. The EREV vehicles will feature more than 500 miles of range, according to the company, with up to 350 miles of range for the all-electric models.

Scout Terra pickup truck concept

At CES, Scout highlighted the connectivity and in-vehicle user experiences of its upcoming truck and SUV, which are designed to be outdoorsy recreational models similar to the likes of Jeep and EV startup Rivian. That includes available satellite connectivity for Scout vehicles in remote areas.
Scout is currently in the process of building a plant in South Carolina with an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles. Scout expects to use batteries — the most expensive part of an electric vehicle — from a VW joint venture battery cell manufacturer in Canada.
Scout also plans to use software and electrical architecture from a $5.8 billion joint venture deal between Rivian and VW in its vehicles.
VW acquired the Scout trademark and name following the global conglomerate’s $3.7 billion acquisition in 2021 of Navistar, a successor of Scout’s original owner, International Harvester. More

Disney said its streaming platforms have an estimated 157 million global monthly active users on its ad-supported tiers, including 112 million domestically.
This is the first time the company has given insight into how many of its viewers are watching ad-supported content on Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
Advertising has become a key driver of profitability for streaming services.

The atmosphere at the Disney Bundle Celebrating National Streaming Day at The Row in Los Angeles on May 19, 2022.
Presley Ann | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Disney said Wednesday it has an estimated 157 million global monthly active users watching ad-supported content across its streaming platforms — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
That number includes 112 million users domestically and is an average per month over the last six months.

While traditional TV outlets have a standard way of measuring ratings and viewership, there is still no industry standard methodology for measuring global streaming advertising audience size.
The company said that its Disney Advertising unit has “set out to define a globally consistent approach and methodology to estimate ad-supported audience numbers.” It’s providing the update and further insight into its ad-supported streaming business during the annual CES tech conference in Las Vegas, a go-to event for the advertising and media industry.
“Disney sits at the intersection of world class sports and entertainment content, with the most high-value audiences in ad-supported global streaming at scale,” said Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, in a news release. “We wanted to be the first to offer our industry greater transparency into the methodology used to estimate our engaged global ad-supported monthly active users.”
In explaining the methodology, the company said the metric is derived from active accounts across Disney’s three streaming services that have viewed ad-supported shows and movies continuously for more than 10 seconds. “Each active account is then multiplied by the number of estimated users per account … to estimate the total number of users,” it said. The estimated active users are added across the apps without de-duplication, meaning users who subscribe to more than one of the platforms could be counted more than once.

Growth in ad-supported tiers

Media companies have become particularly focused on generating profits from their streaming businesses, and advertising has become a key way to do that. While many platforms were initially subscription services without commercials, streaming platforms in recent years have introduced cheaper, ad-supported tiers for consumers.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has said that the company is trying to steer its customers toward its ad-supported tiers. The company has raised prices on commercial-free options since launching Disney+ with ads in late 2022.
Disney’s Hulu was one of the first streaming platforms to offer an ad-supported option. More recently, Disney+ introduced an ad-supported tier.
In November, Disney said it had 122.7 million Disney+ Core subscribers, which excludes Disney+ Hotstar in India and other countries in the region. Hulu had 52 million subscribers, while ESPN+ had 25.6 million paid subscribers.
The company historically hasn’t reported exactly how many subscribers on each platform pay for the ad-supported option, but executives in the earnings call in November said more than half of new U.S. Disney+ subscribers were choosing the cheaper, ad-supported tier, adding this “bodes well for the future.”
Disney noted during the call that average revenue per user for domestic Disney+ customers dropped from $7.74 to $7.70, due to a higher mix of customers on its cheaper, ad-supported tier and wholesale offerings. 
Executives also said in November that they were confident streaming would “be a significant growth area” for the company.
At the time, the company reported that its combined streaming business, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, posted operating income of $321 million for the September period compared with a loss of $387 million during the same period the year prior.
Disney will report its fiscal first-quarter earnings on Feb. 5 before the bell. More

Medicare drug plans can now cover Eli Lilly’s blockbuster obesity drug Zepbound for obstructive sleep apnea, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirmed to CNBC.
That opens the door for broader coverage of and access to Zepbound, which is not currently covered by Medicare and many other insurance plans for weight loss specifically.
Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity drugs if they are used for an additional medically accepted purpose approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

An injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, is displayed in New York City on Dec. 11, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Medicare drug plans can now cover Eli Lilly’s blockbuster obesity drug Zepbound for obstructive sleep apnea, CNBC confirmed on Wednesday. 
That opens the door for broader access to Zepbound, which is not currently covered by Medicare and many other insurance plans for weight loss. Demand for the injection has soared over the last year despite its roughly $1,000 per month price tag before insurance.

In a statement to CNBC, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said “current Medicare Part D and Medicaid coverage rules apply” to Zepbound following its landmark approval in December for the most common sleep-related breathing disorder.
Medicare Part D plans can only cover obesity drugs if they are used for an additional medically accepted purpose approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the CMS spokesperson said, referring to the agency’s guidance. The spokesperson added that Part D plans may consider using prior authorization — a process where a provider must first get approval from an insurer — for those drugs to ensure they are being used for that specific purpose. 
The FDA on Dec. 20 cleared Zepbound for patients with obesity and moderate-to-severe forms of obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, which refers to breathing interrupted during sleep due to narrowed or blocked airways. That made Zepbound the first drug treatment cleared for the estimated 20 million people with those forms of the disease, according to Eli Lilly.
Medicare Part D plans are similarly allowed to cover Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy for its other approved use: lowering cardiovascular risks. The diabetes counterparts of Wegovy and Zepbound — Ozempic and Mounjaro, respectively — are covered by Medicare and most insurance plans. 
Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more. To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.

Meanwhile, state Medicaid coverage for Zepbound and other obesity medications depends on what condition they are prescribed for and whether their manufacturer has signed a certain Medicaid drug rebate agreement, according to the spokesperson. 
Under that agreement with the secretary of Health and Human Services, manufacturers agree to provide rebates to states in exchange for Medicaid coverage of their drugs. States share the rebates with the federal government. 
A state Medicaid program must cover Zepbound if it is prescribed for OSA and Eli Lilly has signed the Medicaid drug rebate agreement, the spokesperson said. 
But if Zepbound is prescribed for weight loss, state Medicaid programs are not required to cover it. 
The Biden administration in November proposed a rule that would allow Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight loss drugs for patients with obesity. The rule would give millions of people access to weekly injectables, but it would cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade.
It is unclear if President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will pursue the rule. More