weaverswonders6

Does anyone here know the reasoning behind fares being so much higher from ATL compared to BOS, NY, MIA, Chicago, etc...? I see deal alerts where I can fly Delta from Mia to Brussels or Rome for $463 roundtrip connecting through ATL. However, if I search ATL to Rome for same period (cutting out the leaving from MIA part) it's nearly $1k. I feel like when I moved to ATL almost a decade ago, deals were frequent and we were a great hub to fly from. Now, not so much.

CAETravlr

I am sure some people on here know more about the technicalities of airline revenue management than I do, but I believe that the short version is that fares are based on city pairs. So, there is more competition for DL out of the other cities that you mention for Rome than there is out of ATL.

CRAZYBUBBA

Bingo!

weaverswonders6

So this is basically a result of DL's hub being ATL? I was under the impression they were really expanding their reach/influence in NY too, but flights from NY are ridiculously cheap. It's just annoying to have to fly to MIA, just to fly MIA to ATL to europe when I could just leave straight from ATL. I guess it just means more miles.

KDCAflyer

All three major airlines have hubs in NYC, plus there's a lot of competition from foreign airlines.

At ATL, Delta rules.

kop84

You will almost certainly find similar pricing on AA/UA out of their hubs...with the one caveat being that most AA/UA hubs have secondary airports nearby that keep prices a bit lower to a lot of markets...think DAL, HOU, MDW, OAK, BWI, etc. While DL may not have the most impressive cities as fortress hubs, they truly "own" ATL, MSP, DTW, and SLC...and with little realistic alternatives within a 90 minute drive, DL gets more of a premium on a lot of city pairs from their hubs.

xliioper

Always amusing to see the ATL folks complaining about fares. Do you really believe this is somehow unique to ATL? Here's a comparison of DTW and ATL cheapest non-stop July RT fares on DL to Europe this summer. Note summer is peak travel season to Europe and fares from pretty much any origin is going to be higher this time of year than other times.

DTW-CDG $1476 (U fare)
ATL-CDG $1296 (U fare)

DTW-LHR $1568 (E fare)
ATL-LHR $1488 (T fare)

DTW-AMS $1441 (E fare)
ATL-AMS $1261 (U fare)

Also note that a couple of the DTW fares are BE fares vs. Main Cabin out of ATL.

TravelingNomads

Are you using hacktheflight and secretflying? I have it set up to autorefresh and to alert me. We were able to get tickets to Mexico for @250 from ATL (United) and leave this weekend. We also picked up a trip to Rome over Thanksgiving for @ $350 (British Airways). I've seen a couple come through for Cuba and Spain as well.

TravelingNomads

For example, right now you can fly ATL to Haiti (PAP) business class over July 4th (and other dates of course) for $375 Roundtrip.

vincentharris

Dont bother expecting "cheap" flights out of ATL, when a crappy "low cost" airline from Texas decided to come in, and buy up a great airline swearing up and down they wouldnt cut service/cities/etc. and the local media (especially Clark Howard) swore this would be a great deal this is what you get.....

DL has NO competition in ATL (They dont consider the crappy low cost airline from Texas competition) so they could care less if you fly them or not. Welcome to the super hub of ATL!!!

The ONLY chance ATL has is for B6 to thrive in ATL, and start expanding. DL will have to consider them competition as they have the same operating model (2 class service, advance seat selection, etc.)

Yes I am still bitter about WN buying FL because while my business was a little bit heavier to DL I thought FL was a fantastic option to fly. I also knew the sky was falling when everyone thought WN would be "amazing for ATL"

gooselee

This. It's not so much that ATL is DL's largest hub. It's that ATL is DL's largest hub and they have very little competition on many of their nonstop routes from ATL. Even where other airlines fly the same route, DL may still be able to charge a premium due to their timing and frequency (ATL-LGA is a great example of this).


OP's question was about DL fares. That seemed to imply that they knew DL was cheaper out of other cities, and that OAL are cheaper out of ATL or other DL hubs...

And I'll issue the standard warning about "hacker" fares that involve hidden-city ticketing, for all the usual issues, etc. Anyone using those just needs to be aware of exactly what they're doing and getting into.

gooselee

I know a couple PMFL FAs who feel the same.

I used to split my time pretty evenly between DL and FL - I truly found them to be competitive in product and schedule, which allowed me to buy just based on price.

I don't necessarily mind WN from time to time when I just consider the product itself (though I usually don't get to the airport or gate early for domestic flights, so I always end up in a middle seat with them). I do find the WN attitude and blind following a bit annoying.

I swear, if I see another FB post along the lines of "Taking my first airplane ride evar excited to be on SW airlyne is the BEST airlyne. & cheep too, saved 20 bux over horrible unitedeltamericon. look 4 recs for things 2 do on my 3 connecting layovers?"....

dcadwell

Love this and 100% agree.

KDCAflyer

Wow that's accurate. Perhaps the best thing I've read all day.

HDQDD

Supply and demand. Non-stop flights almost always have a higher price than connecting itins for the simple reason that it saves many hours of traveling, which people are willing to pay a premium for. There are plenty of other airlines that serve ATL-FCO (but require a connection), I would probably check one of those.