GSP Airport Survey: Help Lower Airfare! (Greenville, Spartanburg: car rental, 2009, rental)

[ckeegan]

I did some searching to make sure this hasn't been posted already, and I couldn't find it, so I'm posting it.

Anyway, GSP is conducting a survey on their website to help them lower fares by assessing travel habits of travelers that may use, or would like to use GSP.

Here is a link to the survey. Maybe Southwest will get a copy of the results!

http://www.surveysoftware.net/hostri/airtravel.htm

[millers1987]

Thanks for posting this. It's not just local business the airport is losing. I am currently making arrangements for some family members to fly down here from Indiana and it's so much cheaper for them to fly into Charlotte. Of course, this means that I have to drive up to Charlotte to pick them up and take them back so it would be wonderful if they could afford to fly into GSP. My husband and I just moved here recently and expect many visits from friends and family in the future. It would be nice if the local airport could get their business.

[ckeegan]

Originally Posted by millers1987

Thanks for posting this. It's not just local business the airport is losing. I am currently making arrangements for some family members to fly down here from Indiana and it's so much cheaper for them to fly into Charlotte. Of course, this means that I have to drive up to Charlotte to pick them up and take them back so it would be wonderful if they could afford to fly into GSP. My husband and I just moved here recently and expect many visits from friends and family in the future. It would be nice if the local airport could get their business.

I think the impact of one true low-cost carrier at GSP, would trickle down to lower prices across the board.

There is truly no reason why GSP's fares are so high, other than lack of competition, which obviously impacts the demand for departures and arrivals at GSP. Fix the competition, and everything else will fall into place.

Personally, I'm crossing my fingers for Southwest, and GSP has been on their radar for some time.

[g-man430]

Most of the flights in and out of GSP are completely full so the airlines are able to charge higher prices. Most of the passengers are business travelers. A true low-cost carrier would help lower prices. When I went to Omaha to visit relatives it was cheaper for me to fly out of GSP than Atlanta or Charlotte but when I went to San Francisco it was $800 more.

[dlk33]

I checked prices at GSP for flights in or out, to/from where we live now for our upcoming vacation/search for place to retire to trip & found it cheaper in Charlotte, yet even cheaper in Nashville. It would have been much simpler for us to fly into GSP & out of Nashville(we're planning a visit to Bowling Green, Ky & Cookeville, Tn.in the same trip). On the other hand, our biggest glitch was the car rental idea of renting at one airport location & returning to another. The car rental places much prefer you rent/return at the same airport & their fees reflect that! So, we're having to rent a car in Nashville, drive to Cookeville, then Greenville, back to Bowling Green, then the Nashville airport to fly out. That option cost us less then flying into Nashville, out of Charlotte with the additional cost of car rental, pick up one place return to the other. We just have to do more driving this way, but it's costing us less money. I guess there are trade offs in most everything anymore

[gvsteve]

In my experience, it's usually $300 more for my wife and I to fly out of and into GSP instead of CLT.

Hopefully, some day my time will be worth $100 an hour, but until then I'll drive the 1.5 hours each way to GSP and save the $300.

[gaflsc]

Originally Posted by gvsteve

but until then I'll drive the 1.5 hours each way to GSP and save the $300.

You mean CLT?

[gvsteve]

Originally Posted by gaflsc

You mean CLT?

Yeah, thanks. Fixed.

[ckeegan]

Eventhough I already filled out the survey, which didn't require an e-mail address, I just received the following e-mail to my personal account (as opposed to work e-mail) yesterday morning:

Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:37:09 -0500
From: lowerfare@gspairport.com
Subject: HELP GSP AIRPORT LOWER FARES

Please help Greenville Spartanburg International Airport in our efforts to lower fares out of GSP. Visit www.lowerfaresurvey.com and participate in a quick (2 minute) on-line survey. Your answers could be the key to lower fares out of your hometown airport.

Thank you

Needless to say, it looks like GSP is really pushing this. How they got my hotmail address is beyond me.

[g-man430]

Originally Posted by ckeegan

Needless to say, it looks like GSP is really pushing this. How they got my hotmail address is beyond me.

It's the government. They're watching us right now.