Pricing Out of CLT has gotten out of hand
 

CLT is a captive hub and that's typical of pricing where an airline owns the local market. The business traveler, even in Y probably doesn't want to fly to CLT to fly to CDG no matter how much cheaper. Even lots of leisure paxs won't want to backtrack.

Non-stops from a hub will always be really high. Since CLT is 90% AA traffic, expect AA to profit off of their fortress hub.

Lufthansa offers a round trip itinerary with Premium economy for the long leg for $900 if you are willing to connect through Munich. (CLT-MUC-CDG)

I know I know - I just smh. Used to work in yield for AC decades ago, usually its a bit more discrete and not of this magnitude. Even a small drive away to RDU/GSO cuts it in half, feel for the leisure paxs, makes it more challenging to get good deals like from NY. Thanks

Thanks for the LH tip - not bad at all for prem. Will end up my usual CLT-NYC ow for $79 and R/T NYC-CDG $360 with a return connect in CLT since customs in CLT. I walk slow.

The scenario you are seeing is more about AA having a fare sale from certain cities and/or how competitive the NYC-Europe market is, it really has nothing to do with CLT originating airfare.

Looking at your dates, I see the ~$400 fares to CDG from a number of large markets...NYC, WAS, PHL, DFW, MIA, etc. However searching the smaller secondary cities like CLT, BNA, RDU, GSO etc. everything is $1500 plus. Such is life.

True - I've picked up some $500 CLT-CDG on occasion but very rarely on AA, mostly DL/AF. Just griping about living in a non-competitive market, hard to just pickup and go without breaking the bank. Thanks JJ

Pricing out of CLT has been out of hand for a long time. At least GSO offers a nearly painless airport experience. With I-85 only having 5 or 6 miles of construction left it's a pretty fast trip up the interstate.

It's not always a fortress hub premium. NYC and HOU are certainly competitive markets. The DOT's Consumer Airfare Report for 2q18 puts CLT's fare premium above Houston's but below NYC's. See Table 7. Of course they're looking at more than just one destination.

https://www.transportation.gov/sites...port2018q2.pdf

Got to remember, NYC is a hugely competitive market for many, many cities in Europe. I did a trip to Germany this past year and flying out of JFK (including buying a separate itinerary from BWI to JFK) was substantially cheaper than flying out of any of the WAS airports - by about $700.00.

So, its not just a CLT issue.

Anyhow take the NYC-CLT-CDG flight, enjoy the extra EQMs and the extra hour of sleep.

Fares are very high when originating/ending at CLT yet if you connect through there they are dirt cheap as AA now tries to push most connections on the East Coast/Midwest through CLT lol.

I was in a similar situation needing to fly LAX-CLT. The nonstop was around $700 while connecting was only $250-ish.
I found some non-hub AA connection options (IAH, BNA, etc) that were pretty cheap.

Like others have said, its been that way for years. When CLT used to be my home base, I always bought separate tickets to JFK for TATL flights. Simple lack of competition. As a business, AA has no incentive to lower prices.