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I flew on Southwest several times from BWI to ABQ and back in 2009 for $200-$250, in 2010 it was more like $300-$350 and in 2011, $350-$400. :-( It appears the trend continues this year. :-(
You also have to carefully plan when you fly. Flying on Fri-Sun can be 2-3 times as much as flying Mon-Thurs. Time of day is also important, as very early and very late flights are always much cheaper than more common times. We recently flew east and were amazed to see $300 flight leaving at 6:00 a.m. and the same flight was $500 at noon (and $900 flying on a Saturday). Non-stops can also be more expensive than stopping once or twice. Also, the flight you see at one price can be substantially higher the next time you look. I saw them change while I was still on the web site looking for alternatives.
Since the airlines have all gone to ticket pricing and timing algorithms, buying a airline ticket has gotten seriously complicated.
I suspect the airlines constrained supply in order to drive prices up.
You suspect?
It has been a policy for quite some time to consolidate flights, retire aircraft and such things for quite a while.
This is indistinguishable from "constraining supply."
They are also doing all kinds of nickel-and-dime fees for baggage, etc.
The airline business is a really sheetee business.
Most airline companies have recently gone bankrupt.
What looks to the customer as being ripped-off is to the airline company, just scraping-by.
I would really like to see them just charge customers a per-pound fee and everyone with
all their jillions of carry-on stuff, checked bags and everything else just pay right there.
It costs them twice as much in fuel to fly a 250 lb person with 150 lbs of luggage as to
fly a 150 lb person with 50 lb of luggage.
My policy is to use an affinity credit card that accumulates miles and only fly when I can get
upgraded to first class where there is lots of room for my carry-on and comfortable seats
that I sit in sipping orange juice whilst I watch all you steerage passengers get on after me.
It costs them twice as much in fuel to fly a 250 lb person with 150 lbs of luggage as to
fly a 150 lb person with 50 lb of luggage.
Not quite true, actually. Assuming the 250lb person is just tall and not an ample, overflowing, tubby individual (unlike the heart-attacks-waiting-to-happen I sat between yesterday), they take up the same space and require the same support systems.
The passengers and cargo of a typical flight weigh about 1/3 of an empty plane, not including fuel. The limiting factor in most flights is space, not mass.
I think they should charge by the cubic foot. FAA regulations should require individuals who exceed the available capacity of a standard seat to purchase a larger seat, which is up to airlines to provide (surely they can make rows of three that convert to two). I find it amazing that safety regulations require my 5 ounce cellphone has to be stowed for takeoff but the second person occupying my seat isn't considered a safety hazard.
Your beach ball is a much bigger waste of space than my diving weights.
Your weights are still going to take more fuel to transport than someone's beach ball.
( I don't own a beach ball. )
I've actually checked a large ball as luggage before. Even though it was in a 22"x22"x22" box it weighed only like 2 pounds, and the box bounced just as well as its contents.
I recommend as a thought exercise you go to FedEx's website and put in the cost of getting two packages delivered to, oh, say, Hawaii, priority overnight. One is a 10"x10"x10" box that weighs 40 pounds, and one is a 20"x20"x20" box that weighs 2 pounds. They're both ridiculously expensive but the smaller box wins. Now why would they charge less for something that takes more fuel?
In the past, shipping costs have historically been calculated on the basis of gross weight. By charging only by weight, lightweight, low density packages become unprofitable for freight carriers due to the amount of space they take up in the truck/aircraft/ship in proportion to their actual weight. The concept of Dimensional Weight has been adopted by the transportation industry worldwide as a uniform means of establishing a minimum charge for the cubic space a package occupies. I was once asked about my baggage capacity on our light aircraft (Cessna 150H). I had it calculated in ping pong balls, which had no performance degradation. Same with balloons except when they popped, it made the pilot nervous.
I was told years ago by a friend who was an ATP for the major airlines that the company made more money on freight. I'm not got to question his judgement...
By looking at the airline industry over the past 40 years or so in the U.S., we have a lot of airlines who basically went out of business... From my experience and opinion, the U.S. has the best deals and selection of commercial flights (and probably private flights) of all other countries in the world...
... 22"x22"x22" box ... 10"x10"x10" box ...
why would they charge less for something that takes more fuel?
Oh! Oh! < jumping from one-foot-to-the-other ... jumping > Oh! I know!
It's because the smaller, heavier box takes up less than 1/10th of the space.
Therefore, the shipping company has an opportunity cost for the other 9.6
boxes that it could have shipped had it not taken on the bigger box as cargo.
When I was flying to Asia a lot, a Bus. Class ticket would typically cost about $10k
and a coach ticket would cost about $1.5k. You could fit 4 BC passengers in the
same space as 9 coach passengers. I would guess that the nine C passengers
each had pretty much the same amount of baggage.
I'm sure that there are lots of people working full time on algorithms balancing out
stuff like space, weight, fuel, etc. - just to keep people from getting away with
shipping beach balls too inexpensively.
For 4-5 years, the USPS has used Dimensional Weight for Priority and maybe other classes of mail in excess of 1 CuFt (1,728 CuIn). As I recall, the calculation is to determine the number of cubic inches in the package and divide by 194, which gives you the weight in lbs. to use for determining postage (if your package does not weigh more). For example, a 22" cube would require postage for at least 55 lbs.
. I would fly into of BWI in baltimore. I was shocked when I kept seeing tickets over 400 and 500 dollars. I'm now scared to death of commiting to this move if this how much tickets cost regularly. So please anyone, is this normal for flights to the east coast to b this expensive?! Is there a cheaper way to get there? Wats the best airport to fly out of? Cheapest airline? Does it matter wat day of the week or time of day? Please if u can shed some light on the flying situation I would certainly appreciate it.. Thankyou in advance. *
1) Fuel prices have increased substantially in the past few years. That has driven up the price quite a bit.
2) Airlines are now required to include government fees in the advertised fares which make them higher.
3) What is a greater concern to me are the hidden bag fees and thelike. That is why I nearly always fly Southwest Airlines. While it is not always teh lowest price, generally it is when you include the change fees and baggage fees of the legacy airlines.
4) In general, it is best if you can fly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Fares are generally lower on those dates.
5) Subscribe to Airfarewatchdog.com which sends you twice weekly e0-mails with the lowest fares. Also, they will also send deals for teh lowest prices on city pairs.
6) Most people really hurt themselves looking for the mythological "lowest fare". A friend of mine found a $235 RT between Chicago and Las Vegas. I said that was a great fare. He said that the last time to Las Vegas, he paid $199 and he was trying to find that fare. A few weeks later, he capitulated ... and paid $350 for the same ticket.
7) Always look at ALTERNATIVE AIRPORTS when possible. A few years back, I was looking for a Chicago-Las Vegas flight which was $225. Before, I booked it, I decided to look at flights out of Milwaukee. I ended up with a $98RT promo fare. WOW!
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