It's never been harder to find junk fares
Apr 1, 2014, 8:49 pm
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,387
As far as int'l fares go, those deals are mostly history, unless you consider an $800 airfare to Asia to be good. We used to be able to buy these in the $300s and $400s. Off-season Europe often went for the $200s and $300s. Prices have basically doubled in the past few years.
having 3 major carriers in a nation the size of the USA is unacceptable, given our reliance on air travel. if they'd start investing in rail it might be a different story, but alas i digress. one could argue that Europe has somewhere around 8-12 major carriers and a much lighter reliance on air travel, along with a mature rail network -- their prices are still high, but its not an apples to apples comparison either.
- FF program devaluation (look at what happened to Avios, M&M or Flying Blue)
- Service cutbacks (look at what's happened to LH intra-Germany)
Also, find me somewhere in Europe that is as isolated as PHX-TUS (with no major urban centers in 200 miles), or SLC, or as empty as Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas, or a lot of the Texas Panhandle...
Last edited by eponymous_coward; Apr 1, 2014 at 9:01 pm
Apr 2, 2014, 6:07 am
#32
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BOS and ...
Programs: UA 2MM, AA 600k, DL 500k, Hyatt GP 1M, HH Gold, Rad. Gold, CP Gold, Miracle Fruit-su Club
Posts: 9,950
No. Credit cards dwarf all in the devaluation trend. Service cutbacks, the recent ones you are talking about, are much more down to consolidation and codesharing. And not sure what you mean in the flag carrier statement.
Apr 24, 2014, 9:54 pm
#33
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: PHL / NYC / PSA-BLQ
Programs: AA PPRO, Marriott/Hilton Gold, AMX-Plat, Global Entry
Posts: 3,109
What if you need to travel between those points on that day? Do you pay $420 to travel less than 500 miles, or cash in 25K points instead? I'll do the latter, while watching for 10K saver awards to pop up closer to travel time (probably an idle hope just after Easter though).
Apr 24, 2014, 10:38 pm
#34
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Programs: OWEmerald; STARGold; BonvoyPlat; IHGPlat/Amb; HiltonGold; A|ClubPat; AirMilesPlat
Posts: 38,186
Why? Who do you think pays for those low fares? In the end they have led to bankruptcy filings by all the legacy carriers where bondholders and others have taken major hits, employees reductions in pay. The folly had to come to an end and a more rational marketplace emerge. Companies can only survive when they are making a profit and airlines are no different. Until the 60s, airlines in the US stayed afloat because of their government mail and other contracts/subsidies. Once these were removed, airlines had to make money from their passengers and for the most part they've failed until this round of consolidation. The days of living in a fool's paradise are pretty much over. Learn to live the new normal.
