Cost of Airfare on US! Boo!
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: CP on US and many more...
Posts: 26
Cost of Airfare on US! Boo!
Has anyone else noticed the extreme price hilkes on US? What's going on? It's not fuel as other carriers are not hiking prices. It's cheaper to fly international on other carriers then to travel domestic on US in some cases.
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: PHL, NYC
Programs: AA PLT, DL SLV, UA SLV, MR LTT, HH DIA
Posts: 10,035
Could you provide some examples?
#3
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Are you referring to price increases or is this about the smaller # of deep discount seats available as capacity cuts force more people into higher fare buckets?
#4
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Phoenix
Programs: AA-Gold, Hilton-Gold, Hyatt - Platinum
Posts: 227
I've noticed on some routes the airfares change almost daily. On weekends, sometimes even Friday, the airfare goes up, then on Tuesday the fare comes back down again. I thought maybe it was lesiure travelers that tend to book on weekends driving the trend. Check the fare on Tuesday and see if its still higher than normal.
#5
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: West Palm Beach
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 789
Yes I've noticed on fares to just about anywhere from Florida. Within 2-3 weeks they tend to equalize with the competition, but advance purchases are much higher.
Example of a few of my recent searches: FLL-SEA early June, Friday departure Sunday return, NON-redeye: UA = 373, US = 712.
Same criteria different weekend in June, FLL-LAX - UA 363, Spirit 168, US 533.
I've flown UA more in the past year. It's not so bad in coach. I have been able to score some decent UA codeshare fares on US metal - so check that out too.
Example of a few of my recent searches: FLL-SEA early June, Friday departure Sunday return, NON-redeye: UA = 373, US = 712.
Same criteria different weekend in June, FLL-LAX - UA 363, Spirit 168, US 533.
I've flown UA more in the past year. It's not so bad in coach. I have been able to score some decent UA codeshare fares on US metal - so check that out too.
#6
Join Date: Dec 2009
Programs: US Airways - Platinum
Posts: 69
I am paying about 15% more this year versus last year on the same routes, I would guess that this is mostly due to fuel prices being higher this year. I travel monthly from PHL to FAT, usually through PHX.
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
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Posts: 30,959
Don't buy them.
Bing cheaper to fly A destination than B destination is nearly meaningless. Airfares are only loosely correlated to distance.
Bing cheaper to fly A destination than B destination is nearly meaningless. Airfares are only loosely correlated to distance.
#8
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,501
Airlines are unfortunately showing some discipline on supply. High fuel costs have probably forced their hand...in previous post-recessionary periods, they'd rapidly add seats and compete aggressively for share of market. This time, everybody's being a little more conservative. So as the economy grows and overall demand grows, the leisure travelers are gradually squeezed off the plane. The airlines don't need to sell those $99 transcons to fill seats anymore.
In the domestic U.S. market, I think the shift in Southwest's corporate strategy has affected all other airlines as well. Following the past two U.S. recessions, WN was in hardcore growth mode - adding cities, adding flights, aggressively competing on price. Their rate of growth coming out of the '08-'09 recession was far slower, plus they'd established themselves as a national player with pricing power of their own. (Check their fares these days...they frequently command a premium over the legacies.)
Anyway, I don't notice higher fares specifically on US. Across the board, the cheap leisure fares are mostly gone. The walk-up fares are up sharply because WN has risen their Anytime fares so much, allowing legacies to follow them in a ton of markets. The midrange fares I tend to use for business travel actually haven't been too bad...maybe I've been lucky.
In the domestic U.S. market, I think the shift in Southwest's corporate strategy has affected all other airlines as well. Following the past two U.S. recessions, WN was in hardcore growth mode - adding cities, adding flights, aggressively competing on price. Their rate of growth coming out of the '08-'09 recession was far slower, plus they'd established themselves as a national player with pricing power of their own. (Check their fares these days...they frequently command a premium over the legacies.)
Anyway, I don't notice higher fares specifically on US. Across the board, the cheap leisure fares are mostly gone. The walk-up fares are up sharply because WN has risen their Anytime fares so much, allowing legacies to follow them in a ton of markets. The midrange fares I tend to use for business travel actually haven't been too bad...maybe I've been lucky.
#9
Join Date: May 2007
Location: NC
Programs: Marriott LT Plat, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 2,881
I've noticed on some routes the airfares change almost daily. On weekends, sometimes even Friday, the airfare goes up, then on Tuesday the fare comes back down again. I thought maybe it was lesiure travelers that tend to book on weekends driving the trend. Check the fare on Tuesday and see if its still higher than normal.
As I no longer do this, I am unsure if it is still the case...
What always amazes me is the cost out of CLT...especially CLT to PHL!
#11
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: PHL / SFO
Programs: free agent
Posts: 797
Personally, I'm glad VX is there to keep prices on that route down - I was paying min $450 r/t PHL to LAX last year.
#13
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: USA
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 523
So painful seeing the higher fares.
Once in a while, i'll see a decent fare (transcon eastbound departing midday saturday, but getting a decent fare back has always been tricky). However, i've had to adjust my expectations higher.
There are some decent first class domestic fares. Just poking around and saw PHL-LAS for $300ish each way. When coach is going for $200ish each way, it's pretty tempting just to pay for first.
Once in a while, i'll see a decent fare (transcon eastbound departing midday saturday, but getting a decent fare back has always been tricky). However, i've had to adjust my expectations higher.
There are some decent first class domestic fares. Just poking around and saw PHL-LAS for $300ish each way. When coach is going for $200ish each way, it's pretty tempting just to pay for first.
#14
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 56
CLT <=> SEA has jumped in price as well, not sure if that correlates to a seasonal change or not, but the flights used to be about $370 RT but if you don't do saturday over they're now over $700 RT! Going to Sat => Thursday drops the price into $4xx or so but it's still painful because they have a monopoly on that route (and the flights are always full -- as a Gold I've had 0/8 upgrades this year whereas as a silver last year I'd get the upgrades about 20% of the time).
#15
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Alabama
Programs: Not care as much as before...
Posts: 329
also have similar feelings recently. last year, us airways are lower than others. this year, the other way around.
from SFO
from SFO