United Airlines price hike?

[marylander1940]

2017

 

IAD - ATL 177

 

IAD - MCI 220

 

IAD - STL 200

 

IAD - MSP 260

 

2018

 

IAD - ATL 240

 

IAD - MCI 300-330

 

IAD - STL 260

 

IAD - MSP 300

 

2019

 

IAD - ATL 300

 

IAD - MCI 385

 

IAD - STL 360

 

IAD - MSP 360

[+ sniper]

Price of oil has been going up sharply the last two years, that's part of it.

[marylander1940]

Price of oil has been going up sharply the last two years, that's part of it.

 

Yes but it’s a huge increase year after year. I guess it’s because there are less airlines now. Nobody competes anymore

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

And you thought deregulation was going to be a good thing. LOL.

 

Oil goes up. Fares go up. Jet fuel is a pain in the ass.

 

Bottom line, we should be paying more to go from coast-to-coast. And we wonder why service, employee morale and equipment are so crappy.

[+ Pensant]

Price of oil has been going up sharply the last two years, that's part of it.

Now it’s collapsing again. When the business cycle corrects, prices will come down.

[maninsoma]

Are those average fares for the entire year, or simply point-in-time reflections? I find that fares to the places I visit most frequently change significantly quite frequently. Right now, the cost of a roundtrip flight between San Francisco and Palm Springs is about the lowest it's been since I started visiting there several years ago (about $140). A flight between SF and Puerto Vallarta is also close to the lowest it's been since I started visiting there more than a decade ago, under $300 for a restricted coach seat and about $350 for a regular coach seat. For a few years not that long ago, the fare was typically at least $400 to $450.

[+ g56whiz]

And you thought deregulation was going to be a good thing. LOL.

 

Oil goes up. Fares go up. Jet fuel is a pain in the ass.

 

Bottom line, we should be paying more to go from coast-to-coast. And we wonder why service, employee morale and equipment are so crappy.

Agreed but the best managed airlines have well run hedging operations that buy (or perhaps sell) fuel at a fixed price for future delivery. Of course that doesn't keep them for using higher fuel costs as the reason for hiking fares.

[marylander1940]

Are those average fares for the entire year, or simply point-in-time reflections? I find that fares to the places I visit most frequently change significantly quite frequently. Right now, the cost of a roundtrip flight between San Francisco and Palm Springs is about the lowest it's been since I started visiting there several years ago (about $140). A flight between SF and Puerto Vallarta is also close to the lowest it's been since I started visiting there more than a decade ago, under $300 for a restricted coach seat and about $350 for a regular coach seat. For a few years not that long ago, the fare was typically at least $400 to $450.

 

yes, so far those are the fare for next year.

 

before he was able to book good prices 3 to 4 weeks ahead, not anymore now that's the price if you buy 1, 2, 3 months.

 

lucky you about going to Puerto Vallarta!

Edited November 16, 2018 by marylander1940

[+ tassojunior]

Deregulation = Good. Fares halved afterwards.

Airline Oligopolies=Bad. Price-fixing prevalent.

 

There's some competition price-wise from Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant and even Alaska in some markets but generally the big guys resist. Example: at BWI Southwest tried a price war with Spirit matching their prices but gave up and went back to fares triple Spirit's.

 

Also airlines are moving to dynamic pricing like almost everything else. Some flights a seat's $500, some flights it's $50.

[spider]

yes, so far those are the fare for next year.

 

before he was able to book good prices 3 to 4 weeks ahead, not anymore now that's the price if you buy 1, 2, 3 months.

 

lucky you about going to Puerto Vallarta!

There are no fares for “next year” they fluctuate by the hour and depend on what fare buckets are available. Not cabin but the basis of the fare, if discounted coach is all gone you’ll see a price for full fare coach, but then they may release more discounted seats. Lather, rinse, repeat. Any fare comparison that’s a a moment in time is worthless.

[+ bigjoey]

I recently priced out a flight from Kansas City to California on Southwest. The prices were different on the same day depending on what time it left and by the day of the week. Clearly they are trying to move people away from popular times to less popular ones to smooth out their loads.