<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mdtony:
You are incorrect, sir. Airfares have gone DOWN since deregulation and the invention of frequent flier programs. There was something on the Savvy Traveler about that and I believe the Wall Street Journal covered that as well.</font>
I agree that fares have gone down since deregulation and the invention of FF programs in the early 80s. But I was referring to fares of the last few to several years, since that is the timeframe that I think would be applicable to the latest devaluation of miles.
I imagine that most of the deflation in fares occurred in the years following deregulation, ie the eighties. From the 90s to today, there has been a small upward trend in the fares that I have been watching.
I don't think you can blame the recent devaluation of miles on the overall trend of fares reaching all the way back to deregulation, way way before even the 20K to 25K domestic award hike.