Airline sticker shock from San Antonio Texas to Dallas - I dont understand (Houston: home, transfer)

[txbullsfan]

I am looking at flights to come out Dallas Texas from San Antonio Texas.

How does a flight from San Antonio to Dallas cost more then a flight from San Antonio to Chicago (my hometown)?

San Antonio Texas --> Chicago - $200
San Antonio Texas --> Dallas - $300

I tried this month and next. It is about the same price difference.

Chicago O'hare - 3rd busiest US Airport
Dallas Fort Worth - 4th busiest US Airport
So its not a case of Dallas being a really small airport comparatively

Miles from San Antonio --> Chicago = 1,200 miles
Miles from San Antonio --> Dallas = 270 miles
Chicago is over 4 times the distance compared to Dallas. That is a lot more fuel burned for the airlines.

I must say, I am shocked that flying to Dallas costs so much. It probably would only cost $50 to drive there and back.

What gives?

[calgirlinnc]

Originally Posted by txbullsfan

I am looking at flights to come out Dallas Texas from San Antonio Texas.

How does a flight from San Antonio to Dallas cost more then a flight from San Antonio to Chicago (my hometown)?

San Antonio Texas --> Chicago - $200
San Antonio Texas --> Dallas - $300

I tried this month and next. It is about the same price difference.

Chicago O'hare - 3rd busiest US Airport
Dallas Fort Worth - 4th busiest US Airport
So its not a case of Dallas being a really small airport comparatively

Miles from San Antonio --> Chicago = 1,200 miles
Miles from San Antonio --> Dallas = 270 miles
Chicago is over 4 times the distance compared to Dallas. That is a lot more fuel burned for the airlines.

I must say, I am shocked that flying to Dallas costs so much. It probably would only cost $50 to drive there and back.

What gives?

The flight costs more because most people would make that drive. More people are flying between Dallas and Chicago, hence more flights, more planes, more providers on that route...hence a lower price.

The demand or lack thereof on certain routes (and not just distance) affects pricing.

[TurtleCreek80]

Most people flying between Dallas and SA (or Austin or Houston) are business travelers. Airlines can always charge more for business than leisure. Most people would just drive to those cities vs fly. It is maybe 1 hour longer once you factor in driving to/from both airports and wait time at the airport.

[beaniemac]

being that I am from chicago and still own a home there, I'm very glad about the reasonable flights available from love field to midway airport. my guess is there isn't much ticket demand between san antonio to dallas thus the higher prices.

[ClaraC]

I just checked online and I found many fares between San Antonio to Dallas for $133.

Did you just do a search "Flights from San Antonio to Dallas" as your search criteria? Try that, it's about $133.

[ChristieP]

Are you looking at American or Southwest?

[Prumio]

On Southwest, fares from SAT > DAL (= Dallas Love Field) are as low as $74 each way in August...On their home page, start by clicking the little yellow calendar labelled "Flexible Dates" underneath the Depart/Arrive fields. Pick a day & click the "Nonstop" button. Note that quite a few of the search engines do not show SWA's flight and you can only purchase directly from the airline. Also, 2 checked bags included in the price of the flight, if that matters.

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by txbullsfan

I am looking at flights to come out Dallas Texas from San Antonio Texas.

How does a flight from San Antonio to Dallas cost more then a flight from San Antonio to Chicago (my hometown)?

San Antonio Texas --> Chicago - $200
San Antonio Texas --> Dallas - $300

I tried this month and next. It is about the same price difference.

Chicago O'hare - 3rd busiest US Airport
Dallas Fort Worth - 4th busiest US Airport
So its not a case of Dallas being a really small airport comparatively

Miles from San Antonio --> Chicago = 1,200 miles
Miles from San Antonio --> Dallas = 270 miles
Chicago is over 4 times the distance compared to Dallas. That is a lot more fuel burned for the airlines.

I must say, I am shocked that flying to Dallas costs so much. It probably would only cost $50 to drive there and back.

What gives?

DFW airport (I'm leaving out Love Field for now) is a hub (THE hub) for American Airlines, but is not a hub for any other carrier. I suspect the only airline flying from SAT to DFW is American. So, not much price competition.

By contrast, ORD (O'Hare) is a hub for both American and United. This means American has scads of flights between the two airports, and United has some and can compete (to some extent) with American.

As others have noted, Southwest flies out of Love Field (DAL), and has flights from SAT to DAL that are less expensive.

Last, again as noted above, many people will choose to drive from San Antonio to the Metroplex because it's not THAT far of a drive and the time spent driving point to point will likely be the same or less than flying (from starting point in San Antonio to the airport, time going from entrance to gate and waiting to board, then flying, then going from the airplane to actually exiting the terminal, then by ground transportation to final DFW end point).

Airfares are often dictated far more by hubs and competing airlines than by distance. Flights to small cities can often be costly compared to flights between major cities.

[KerrTown]

San Antonio is a non-hub city. So you would have to transfer at a hub it your final destination itself was not a hub of an airline. Luckily in your example, Dallas and Chicago, are hubs of American. At least San Antonio can support choices and is a sizable market. Small cities/towns only have few choices of destinations and airlines and a limited schedule. Peoria, IL, Springfield, MO, and Baton Rouge, LA are good examples.

But fuel is not wasted since planes fly multiple segments every day. If the plane started the day in San Antonio (for some reason), it would go to Dallas, fly to another city, then another one before going back (with paying passengers of course) to a hangar in one of the airlines hubs for the night, such as Chicago. It would be assigned another schedule for the next day and the routine would be repeated every day.

My Aeromexico flight was a direct (but not non-stop) flight to Villahermosa, Tabasco via Mexico City. So the plane went from Houston, landed in Mexico City, got cleaned and serviced for the next flight, domestic passengers and check-in baggages loaded (some came back for the Villahermosa flight but needed to leave this plane and clear Mexican immigration and customs), takeoff and land in Villahermosa.

[HP48G]

airline pricing depends more on supply and demand than distance.

from San Antonio there's more competition to Chicago area airports (theres like 3 or 4 carriers serving this market nonstop) than to Dallas area airports (southwest and AA flooding this market with hourly flights)