Originally Posted by BostonMark

That's my point - what you consider to be "raping" someone else might consider "a good deal" - what would you say if the fare were $400? 500? 600? 700? 800? etc... at each point as the price climbs people will fall off and say "not for me" until you get to zero people buying. This is a fare that I'm sure will see zero people buying - you can go through PIT for half the price - and there's no two ways about it - it's a ridiculous fare.

The problem isn't the airline raping their customers - if they were successfully raping their customers do you think they'd all be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy??? The problem is that there is a disconnect between what customers think is a reasonable fare and what the airlines think is a profitable fare. I won't argue that $1,600 is reasonable, but it is what they're asking. Maybe they've decided that the flight is profitable at current load and 1 more person will tip that balance unless they pay $1,600? You never know, but you always have a choice.