SFO-SBA non-stop fares
Aug 4, 2008, 6:50 pm
#1
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SFO-SBA non-stop fares
I've been watching the fare on the SFO-SBA route for a bit and see that it generally hovers around $400 +/- $25. Do people ever see it go much lower than that? I realize its cheaper to drive, but don't really have the time on this trip. Was also look at OXR thru LAX ($250).
Aug 4, 2008, 6:56 pm
#2
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I think Farecast is your friend - is that the one that tracks historical airfares?
Aug 4, 2008, 6:58 pm
#3
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The thing is in those markets they don't want people buying flights for the purpose of going to SBA (or SFO), they want people in SBA to fly to SFO then to <hopefully some international destination> so the point to point fares are kept high. Similar situations occur on SNA-SFO and before it was killed SNA-LAX (those were ~600).
Aug 4, 2008, 6:59 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2005
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I've been watching the fare on the SFO-SBA route for a bit and see that it generally hovers around $400 +/- $25. Do people ever see it go much lower than that? I realize its cheaper to drive, but don't really have the time on this trip. Was also look at OXR thru LAX ($250).
Otherwise, $400 sounds right. It could be more
Aug 4, 2008, 7:01 pm
#5
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Look at December - it's $877 (or higher for some dates).
$400 is a good fare for ths route. It very rarely gets lower than that.
$400 is a good fare for ths route. It very rarely gets lower than that.
Aug 4, 2008, 7:05 pm
#6
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I've often had to pay considerably more (albeit for last minute fares) -- $600-$800 RT isn't uncommon
Aug 4, 2008, 7:23 pm
#7
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Quick fyi, just since I opened this thread, some $198 fares have opened on this route for Labor Day...I'm booked!
Aug 4, 2008, 8:30 pm
#8
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The thing is in those markets they don't want people buying flights for the purpose of going to SBA (or SFO), they want people in SBA to fly to SFO then to <hopefully some international destination> so the point to point fares are kept high. Similar situations occur on SNA-SFO and before it was killed SNA-LAX (those were ~600).
Nothing much to see here, folks.
Aug 4, 2008, 8:34 pm
#9
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I wouldn't say it's that UA "doesn't want" people flying only SBA-SFO. Rather, because UA is the only game in town for nonstop O/D traffic, it's charging what the market will bear. (i.e. UA is behaving as a profit-maximizing firm, what it should be doing all along)
Nothing much to see here, folks.
Nothing much to see here, folks.
SBA-SFO is probably mostly for connecting traffic, much like ORD-MKE, ORD-SBN, IAD-RIC, etc.
Aug 4, 2008, 8:49 pm
#10
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I wouldn't say it's that UA "doesn't want" people flying only SBA-SFO. Rather, because UA is the only game in town for nonstop O/D traffic, it's charging what the market will bear. (i.e. UA is behaving as a profit-maximizing firm, what it should be doing all along)
Nothing much to see here, folks.
Nothing much to see here, folks.
Aug 4, 2008, 8:55 pm
#11
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The nice thing is that there's always plenty of award space available. And 9BC on the EMB-120 is like getting F for 25K...
Aug 4, 2008, 10:34 pm
#12
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Lets not forget how far that is. People often assume the two cities are close like the ones mentioned above. SBA-SFO is a solid 5 hour drive at 262 miles. Not to be confused with SBA-LAX which is 89 miles, and about 1.25 hours - but it probably fetches a similar fare as the one the OP mentions.
Aug 4, 2008, 11:27 pm
#13
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I've been watching the fare on the SFO-SBA route for a bit and see that it generally hovers around $400 +/- $25. Do people ever see it go much lower than that? I realize its cheaper to drive, but don't really have the time on this trip. Was also look at OXR thru LAX ($250).
Lets not forget how far that is. People often assume the two cities are close like the ones mentioned above. SBA-SFO is a solid 5 hour drive at 262 miles. Not to be confused with SBA-LAX which is 89 miles, and about 1.25 hours - but it probably fetches a similar fare as the one the OP mentions.
Safe travels
Aug 4, 2008, 11:30 pm
#14
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Lets not forget how far that is. People often assume the two cities are close like the ones mentioned above. SBA-SFO is a solid 5 hour drive at 262 miles. Not to be confused with SBA-LAX which is 89 miles, and about 1.25 hours - but it probably fetches a similar fare as the one the OP mentions.
Aug 4, 2008, 11:36 pm
#15
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The odd thing about it is that the intra-California UAX fares are sky high but other west coast UAX/Skywest fares (even those routes with little competition) don't see the same price inflation...for example, SEA-GEG, FAT-LAS (not sure why this route exists but hey, it's usually around $100one-way so it's a "bargin"), PDX-EUG, etc.