High Summer Prices
 

I'm curious. The price of airline tickets seems extremely high this summer. I doubt this can all be explained by gas prices. Since I don't travel a lot, during the summer, I don't know if this is because of the season or other causes.

I have taken flights for around $200 (other times of the year) that are pricing at $500-$1000, during the summer, and I have checked this over wide range of departure and return dates.

I'm also looking for flights to Tokyo this summer (on NWA), and flights that I could find for $676-$900 are now coming up from $1600-$3000. Could this be because of the Olympics or something to do with the NWA/Delta merger. I've looked +/- 3 days, for various days out as far as Sept and can't find the cheap tickets any longer. I don't think I have ever paid for a ticket to Tokyo that was over $1000, and I have traveled there often in June and July. Most of the time, I've been able to find seats for $600-$900 (during these months).

How are this years summer prices compared to past?

Planes are pretty full, and summer is high time for travel. Airlines are playing around with pricing to see what they can get. As gas prices rise, then it makes driving more expensive, thus making the fly v. drive equilibrium price higher. Some routes have seen reduced capacity from some carriers, as well.

Fares are higher where airlines think they can make more money by so doing. Whether they are right or not is another question, but that's the goal.

I'm going from IAD-YUL-YVR-KIX-YVR-IAD this June for $912 on AC. Bought that about 2 weeks ago. Prices are back up again, but seem pretty normal for the summer.

It's both. The season will change and you'll see prices come down. But, not back to where they were. With jet fuel at the current price, no one's making big bucks flying your a$$ anywhere for $200.

Air fares are always about supply and demand. The yield management systems are constantly adjusting the fares, and the number of seats available at each fare, in an attempt to maximize revenue. If bookings are strong, relative to the supply of seats, the available fares go higher and higher. The industry has been successfull recently, in no small part due to a number of airlines failing, at reducing capacity which means lower capacity and higher fares. Airlines such as UAL and AAL have also anounced flight reductions further reducing capacity.

Indeed, on many routes, especially the long hauls, it's as much about manipulating supply/demand through capacity cuts as it is about fuel. Airlines will test the higher prices on bookings well in advance and do sales only 3-6 weeks out if they have to (they may not have to).

IMO summer's a good time to do a nice, long trip to "cheap" countries in SE Asia. In those places it's considered fall ("summer" is March through May) or the weather is actually on your side (Indonesia), and some pockets like the east coasts of Thailand or Malaysia are at their best. Many places are on low-season pricing, as well.

It's crazy. I'm looking at a return trip SFO-BOS mid July and it's priced at $800 return. Should I wait or is it likely to go further up?

I think you should shop around. I did a month-long ITA search for 6-8 day trips in July and see RT fares from $357-$438 every day (for 3-4 night trips I see fares $377-$474).

I have specific dates of travel and my return trip is in August. Also prefer non-stop as I have a toddler with me. So a lot less flexibility which probably means I have to pay the higher price. I might hold up a bit longer though.

I saw UA nonstops for $440-ish.
What are your travel dates?

18 July returning 16 Aug.

Nonstops on UA for those exact dates for $439 all-in. (Jet Blue Nonstops are @$509, AA @$549)

San Francisco, CA to Boston, MA: 2697 miles 5 hrs 31 min
United Airlines United Airlines Flight UA180 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class
(food for purchase, movie)
Departs San Francisco, CA (SFO) Fri, July 18 11:20p 5 hrs 31 min
Arrives Boston, MA (BOS) Sat, July 19 7:51a
1 adult in booking code W, covered by fare (A1) below
Note: The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Boston (BOS) is overnight.

Boston, MA to San Francisco, CA: 2697 miles 6 hrs 27 min
United Airlines United Airlines Flight UA171 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class
(food for purchase, movie)
Departs Boston, MA (BOS) Sat, Aug 16 6:02a 6 hrs 27 min
Arrives San Francisco, CA (SFO) 9:29a
1 adult in booking code W, covered by fare (A2) below

Fare (A1): UA SFOBOS WEA142UN fare (rules) $194.42
Tax: US Transportation Tax $14.58
Fare (A2): UA BOSSFO WEA142UN fare (rules) $194.42
Tax: US Transportation Tax $14.58
Tax: US Passenger Facility Charge $9.00
Tax: US Flight Segment Tax $7.00
Tax: US September 11th Security Fee $5.00
Total for 1 adult passenger: $439.00

Too high. Use Sidestep or Kayak, consider buying two cheap one-ways, and check every day. I just bought SEA-SLC-BOS-JFK-SEA for my family for $320 a head in mid-August. The airlines are releasing a few more cheap-bucket seats.