phillyd2

Just booked a 2 day trip Oct 26-28 for $ 650! Remember that this is a 45 min flight! AGGGGG So much for simple fares - simply high!

Only good news is that I booked Seat 1F (based on advice from seatguru.com) on a E170 (first time).

chicagorich

Aaaargh---$650 for a rt on a regional jet...???...!!!

I predict that PIT-PHL will be one of the last routes to see any "GoFare" relief.

Unless Nations Air is resurrected. Then the fare ought to drop about $500.

..

JA610

This why I do not fly US Air. $650 to fly 45 min on an RJ you have got to be kidding me. I now drive and I can see Phl from the deck of my house. I just booked DL Phl Msy in First for $ 665.00 Round trip with No Advance purchase.

shinbal

Every time I hear US speak of a "simplified fare structure" and "being more like the LCC", I just think of PHL-PIT and BWI-PIT.

They're monopoly markets and US knows it. It's price gouging, but there's nothing to be done about it. FL started the PHL-PIT route a few years back, and US matched. It wound up that FL just sold a bunch of US tickets at cheap fares for them, but couldn't make the route profitable for themselves.

If WN were to open PIT, we'd all of a sudden see big yellow t-shirts, promotional hats, freebie ticket gives, billboards, and more talking about the "great low fares", and I'm sure that the PHL-PIT, BWI-PIT fares would drop. Until then, the markets remain one of those great "fortress flights" for them.

I'm all for free enterprise, but this is one of those cases where the fare is unncessarily high. Is it REALLY necessary to charge $750 for a midweek BWI-PIT? No. Charge a little less, maybe sell a few more tickets. But - it's their market, and their planes. What's good for the customer doesn't really matter when you don't have a LCC breathing down your neck. Then, all of that talk goes right out the window.

So, I guess I'm all for free enterprise when I get reasonable fares!

ClueByFour

PIT-PHL and PIT-CLT will be the last BlowFares (tm) standing.

PHL INTL TERMINAL

I'm sure it will be one of the last to go go-fare.

I flew PHL-PIT almost weekly for 2.5 years up until the spring. When I first started, and they were competing with AirTran, my flights were less than $100. By the time it was over, fares were about $600. The worst part about it was that when I didn't fly PHL-PIT, I usually flew PHL-PIT-another destination, and my fares were usally half the price. And most of those times I was flying on the same PHL-PIT flights...but connecting to another destination.

Maybe you are paying for the chance that you get to fly with Sen. Specter or Gov. Rendell.

On an election note...every time I saw Specter, he has flown in Coach. Rendell flew in Coach when he was Mayor and running for Gov. Once he was Gov...he flew up front. Just an interesting tidbit. I wonder if the state paid for the Gov to fly up front.

NeoOfTheCRS

PIT-BWI is cheap compared to DCA-PIT, which has been running $320 with a 14 day advance and a saturday night stay. At least there have been a lot of e-savers BWI-PIT. I am just doing IAD-PIT on UA starting at $96 compliments of our soon to be departed low-fare carrier IAIR.

Bagels

You’re complaining about high airfares, and now that Independence Air has “made” them reasonable, you’re supporting the airline(s) that’ve gouged you? Do you see the irony here?

Perhaps if more people took advatage of Indepence Air's low fare by flying them instead of another airline, they'd stick around...

jcooke

There will always be loyalists no matter what the price, just as there will always be thrifty-types who want the lowest fare. Most of us here on the US forum have loyalty to US, but also want to see reasonable fares.

-JC

jimcfsus

When Underwood (R) was governor of WV before Gov. Weasel, er, Wise won 4 years ago (he looks like a weasel and don't forget he boffed his aide and got caught, which is why he's not running again) , I flew a CRW-PIT flight up front with him and his wife. ( I was in 2D, they were in 1A and 1C... this was when CRW-PIT was mainline in a DC9 or F100). They are both super nice people. I often thought they got the upgrade and didn't pay for FC... I got the upgrade as a Silver (I don't think I was still Priority Gold) at that time, so obviously FC wasn't full.

The WV state police escorted them onto the plane (last to board) and the PA state police were at the jetway to escort them off first and took them to a VIP area (i.e. not the Club). I don't know where they were going that trip from PIT.

Bagels

I understand that. Nonetheless, I find it ironic to complain about high airfares and then continue to fly the airline that has gouged you for years. As loyal as I am to another program, I support the airlines that brought the walk-up airfare between my local airport and WAS from RT$800-$1200 (and it's only 350 miles!) to $130-$300 - especially considering I fly to WAS at least twice a month.

GotCalcio4

I think many of us feel the same way and are happy to see fares come down. But on a route like PHL-PIT, the point is that you don't have much of a choice, so you end up eating the $800 fare.

TomBascom

In most industries this practice would be referred to as "gouging" and would attract attention from the Attorney General...

NeoOfTheCRS

Yes, i am complaining about high-fares and I have very happily taken advantage of the IAIR-induced low-fares on United.

First of all, the ignorance of IAIR's business model is astounding. They have probably some of the highest costs in the industry, but are trying to act like a LCC. It's no wonder that they are on the brink of bankruptcy with barely 4 months of operating as a stand-alone carrier. They exist today simply because they were insulated from the competitive forces of the airline industry by over-charging UA and DL for their services. As ACA, when they were able to get an aircraft off the ground, they made a profit. Not a very high threshold for success.

Now they are faced with the realities of running a stand-alone airline and are failing miserably. Like a fish out of water, they are running out of time quickly as they flail around on an unforgiving landscape. I will enjoy the benefit of their fares, but do not expect them to last much past March or April. With the threat of a machinist strike, it just might be the last straw.

PHL INTL TERMINAL

I wonder if Rendell was upgraded on his flights or if the taxpayers paid for it. I also wonder if, when he was running, he declined the upgrade. Anyone know? He also had police escorts on and off the plane as Gov. Prior to that, he hung in the terminal. I sat up front once in front of him, and he seems like a nice guy. From what I remember, he was talking about the birds with the passenger next to him.