I have been flying DTW-PWM about once a month for the past five years. In the past year, the fares have been around $300-$330. Since January, the minimum fare has jumped to about $439 - and often $700-$800 (!).

I just noticed in the fare rules posted at Travelocity that there is a $60 fuel surcharge per segment. At $120 per RT flight, this pretty much explains the increased costs.

With no competition on direct flights from DTW to PWM, NWA can pretty much charge what they want.

I know it would be cheaper to fly to MHT, but since I take a 6AM return flight out of PWM, the extra 90-120 minutes to MHT would be a killer - no point to going to sleep at that point...

Know the fuel prices are killing the airlines, but I don't know how people can afford this...

Is everyone seeing this type of price increase on their flights?

Indeed -- this has received a lot of press this week since United and Continental have announced major cuts in service. A related story that discusses this may be of interest: Airlines raise nonstop fares sharply for summer

I am seeing amazing increases, not just compared to last year, compared to just last week. I was sitting on a few tickets in August/September , waiting to make sure my schedule worked out right, that were 198ai that are now 400-700 just 1 day later.

Hopefully everyone is seeing these type of price increases on every route. Otherwise, there will be no airlines left.

Yup and the double EQM bonanza at DL will create a ton of leisure plats who will not be able to/want to use the status next year.

This is going to be a very interesting couple of years. I actually believe that the FF programs will become MORE influential for the few Business travelers who must pay the big $$. There has been lot of speculation that FF programs would die a quick death but me thinks he opposite is true. The folks who are forced to shell out $1100 a week to work on the other side of the continent are going to be worth far more. Time will tell but the days of $3-400 transcons are way, way over.

So what is everyone's suggestion for booking tickets say through the end of the year?

I priced out a number of flights (again DTW-PWM) that I have planned at $439 - which is as low as I have been able to get lately. These would have been more like $300 last year.

Should I get them now before they go up, or should I gamble that they might go down?

The new NW fares just loaded this week. Its been going up and down. I monitor DTW-NYC,ORD,MCO&MUC and in may they were down really low, then went up after memorial day, now lower again but not as low as 2-3 weeks ago.

Fall prices generally become more competitive in the fall. Unless you sure you're getting a really good deal, I would wait.

However, this year might be more of a lottery than usual. With fuel prices high, the airlines will be less willing to be competitive. On the other hand, the higher prices might depress demand so much that they will be really desperate.

As a former manager of mine once said, "You pays your money and you takes your chances."

If it makes you feel any better (and it probably won't), NW is charging $238.50 all-in for round-trip CMH-PWM K fares (with good availability). You could book your flights multi-city as DTW-PWM-DTW-CMH and save yourself some green. But I wouldn't recommend doing this too frequently as NW just may cancel your FF account. Also, remember not to check any luggage on your return.

^ ^

Is there some way to track when these fares load?

I have been tracking them with the FareTracker on Travelocity, and also noticed that I can now fly LAN-PWM (via DTW) for less than I can fly DTW-PWM. Since I am in Lansing, this is a good deal for me. Fare is lower, saves me an hour drive, and parking is half price. Flight time is longer because of layovers, but I can deal with that for the cost savings.

I think I am going to pickup a ticket for September and October.

Thanks for all the good information!

farecompare offers a addon to firefox that will check fares for particular route(s) for you a few times. FC subscribes to a feed, so when fares change the little FC icon in the lower right corner of firefox gets a red dot and flashes an alert.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2040

Another similar tool is yapta, although I have not tried it.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5966

Amex Travel and others provide email alerts when fares drop.

The problem with all this info is that sometimes the availability for the fare class the offer books into is not available.

Don't you think the price of fuel will conveniently drop closer to the election but after Labor Day, so that "they" can soak people for the maximum for their summer travel? I say if you're traveling in fall, might as well wait to book until fall. Isn't it common for early purchases to be outrageously overpriced anyway? When I purchased my award tickets for 2 MSY-MEM-DTW-PWM (and back the same way) awhile back, nwa.com put a little note that the award was worth around $1,300! Yeah, right. Oil wasn't $139 a barrel back then. I know the award is definitely worth something, but I could have certainly found a better deal than that if I had to pay.


So I'd gamble on waiting if you're not flying until fall. YMMV.

I'm only booking award tickets and revenue tickets with imminently expiring vouchers at the moment.

We'll see what fall has in store for us.

>>>>>>I'm only booking award tickets and revenue tickets with imminently expiring vouchers at the moment.

I'm booked solid through the end of March 2009. Even if I wanted to get the 750 NWA eqm's that would get me to the next ExtraPerks level I can't find a workable weekend.

I could if I cancelled my Thanksgiving AA mileage redemption (MSN-LFT from Tgiving Friday to mid-afternoon kRaZy Tgiving Sunday), but I got it for 25K miles and the current price is in the $800's, so I think I'll keep it (just because I got it for these ancient 25K AA miles and the current price is in the $800's).

The new super-status experience will not be upgrades, but will be the swaggering pride of paying less than $800 or so for a flight, and a new social pecking order in coach based upon who has brought aboard the most elaborate and haute cuisine meal. On Orlando flights this will mean bringing out whole pizzas with white sauce seafood garlic toppings, and spending the entire flight enjoying it. On San Antonio flights this will mean a BBQ smorgasbord of smoked brisket from Coopers in Llano, Muellers in Taylor, Smittys in Lockhart, and City Market in Luling, plus accompanying ribs. On flights from Chicago I think it's hot dogs or something.