So I am looking to fly PNS-ATL-DUS and return at the end of March in Y. Pretty much all searches are coming back with $1300 or so fares. I extended my search including more cities in Florida and found a MIA-ATL-DUS flight which prices at about half that at $684. Both fares use DL 24 from ATL - DUS, so if I price out DL 24 alone, it comes back with $1275. How can it cost almost twice as much utilizing just one segment of a flight?
Fare competition. MIA is an AA hub, so DL is pricing out much cheaper than probably anything exMIA on AA. Take a gander over at the Mileage Run forum and watch how a lot of really good fares are either to or from another airline's hub.
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Seriously are asking this question? The economics of air travel are well documented. Comparing PNS and MIA...wow...the only thing they have in common is that they are in the same state. There are dozens and dozens of airports to compare before coming to PNS and MIA. All of it is about free market economics and the cost of providing the service has little to do with the price to consumers.
Geez Indufan, one is not allowed to ask a question here? If you would have read my post correctly, you would have seen that I am not asking the question why the MIA fare is different than the PNS fare. My question was why a ATL-DUS fare costs twice as much than a MIA-ATL-DUS fare utilizing the same DL 24 flight. And since I live in PNS and this being a Delta forum, there really aren't "dozens and dozens" of other options unless you count obscure routings through timbaktu.
Geez Indufan, one is not allowed to ask a question here? If you would have read my post correctly, you would have seen that I am not asking the question why the MIA fare is different than the PNS fare. My question was why a ATL-DUS fare costs twice as much than a MIA-ATL-DUS fare utilizing the same DL 24 flight. And since I live in PNS and this being a Delta forum, there really aren't "dozens and dozens" of other options unless you count obscure routings through timbaktu.
Hub flights are usually more expensive, for international flights. Also smaller airports with limited competition get raked over the coals.
Someone who has even minimal reading of the DL forum in 5+ years would be well aware of DL and other airlines pricing strategies.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stormgrey11
Geez Indufan, one is not allowed to ask a question here? If you would have read my post correctly, you would have seen that I am not asking the question why the MIA fare is different than the PNS fare. My question was why a ATL-DUS fare costs twice as much than a MIA-ATL-DUS fare utilizing the same DL 24 flight. And since I live in PNS and this being a Delta forum, there really aren't "dozens and dozens" of other options unless you count obscure routings through timbaktu.
I read your post quite correctly, I just couldn't imagine someone with your credentials not knowing that connecting prices are sometimes lower than non stop prices. They do it because the market supports it. If that was the question, then what did MIA even have to do with it.
You DO have options that do not require obscure routing. Delta and others serve PNS, VPS, MOB, GPT, and MGM.
Whether a fare is high or low is in the eye of the beholder. DL believes that it can sell the seat as priced. If OP can do better, he should.
I would be wary of separate tickets these days. No love if there's a misconnect and with DL ending baggage interlining on separate PNR's, there are hidden costs and delays involved.
MIA is a long drive from PNS (9.5-10 hours). If you're travelling alone after gas/hotel/tolls/parking if you value your time at much of anything it's going to be cheaper to take a positioning flight or suck it up and pay the fare out of PNS. I see positioning flights available for mid-300s. You can even do a one-way positioning for half that if you can find a way to get from ATL back to PNS on the ground.
for international flights Spring Break has little or nothing to do with it. it is more the hub Factor that was mentioned above or Easter or a combination of both.
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But spring break could affect inventory availability on Florida-ATL and VV segments. This could force either a higher through fare or cause a broken fare.
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