Comments on: Why Your Airplane Ticket is So Expensive

By: Clt

Clt — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 14:43:42 +0000

In reply to NomadicMatt. Airlines do go bankrupt because previously the airline industry wasn't a big profit industry. USAir used to keep meticulous track of money so they'd know if they're going into a chapter 7 or 11 bankruptcy soon. Now the airlines have stability. And the money to create the safest most reliable planes. But they still have to compete with Spirit and the like, who really don't care what your flying experience is like. Also American makes over 60% of their profit on the 13% of business travelers. That's where there making revenue, it's not coming from the economy tickets. It just costs a lot to be a semi comfortable safe stable reliable airline.

By: Joey

Joey — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 14:58:09 +0000

The best way to avoid these high costs is to combine flying and with other modes of transportation. It could save money, but it can get pretty complicated. There are some sites out there that do the planning for you like TravelWits.

By: vedat

vedat — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 16:55:36 +0000

Hi,

While fuel is one very big part of the total cost-side picture for carriers, it’s not the only one either..

Competition is another HUGE one as well..

But back to fuel.. for most carriers, unlike you and I who buy our gas (for cars) at the then-market price, many carriers ‘hedge’ that being they pay a third-party a premium for the “right” to be able to buy X amount of fuel at Y price… So, by doing so, they’ve locked in one of their largest cost elements.

The problem is IF furl drops, they’re still on the hook to buy that fuel at their previously agreed upon price… So, there’s a negative savings if you will. Naturally IF it rises in the future, those that hedged are golden and will be saving.

So, that’s the fuel side..

But.. also working against you for lower prices are 3 other things..

Competiton.. There’s simply fewer overall airlines running today (within the US) and fewer actual seats today… the other part of that is coming out of the GFC which most people say started in 2008 or so, there’s a fair bit of pent up demand for travel..

So, carriers are in a very good place… lower fuel, or if under hedge, the ability to buy hedges for later delivery at lower prices, combined with fewer competitors and more people wanting to travel.

Add it all up and the results are that carriers are in the driers seat and are able to exert more pricing power than they historically have been able to do so.. to be plain, there’s no NEED for them to drop fares because of lower fuel…. demand is strong an capacity is tight.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:18:28 +0000

If everyone is saying that taxes and fees are the only thing…..why is the same ticket “in reverse” from Italy to the states less then half the cost of the same Ticket the other way????? Try it. Do they not pay the same as us in taxes and fees? When they come into an airport/country do they not use the same things as the other person coming the other way? A ticket from Italy to the US is around $600 right now the other way it is around $1,300! $700 difference in cost (same airline (s)). When they also talk about all these fees…………does the other country not have these same agencies (fees). It surely looks like we are being discriminated again if we are from the US by the airline companies and by our own government. The fees bring in allot of money for a government for ever getting bigger and the airline take advantage of us Americans as well unlike the Europeans whom are not willing to spend the money and therefore are much lower. Maybe more American like me should reduce their travel and therefore the government and airlines will change their ways and treat everyone both ways equally. (If you live in the US try looking at the reverse flights by using European search engines like google.it, or google.fr, yahoo.it, et……and see how much your flight is the other way……….you are not going to be happy)………

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 21:30:18 +0000

The airlines have a monopoly that is untouchable. You cannot just expand airports, so essentially, you can’t add any new airlines. The only innovations over the next 15 years will be extracting MORE money out of consumers.. not bettering the experience and certainly not delivering a better value. It’s similar to the sweet deal that telcom companies had for a while – except in this case, the airlines business model is much more secure. As a business traveler, I’m often stuck paying $800+ for last minute round trip fares that also force me to sit in middle seats. Pay the most, get the worst experience…. it’s OK though. We offset the high fares that airlines hold us hostage for by charging our clients more. You are paying for astronomical airfares everyday whether you know it or not….

By: Eric Martin

Eric Martin — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 15:22:07 +0000

Good article. It’s also worth pointing out that cost of living rises every year so ticket prices will too. For instance. $1000 in today’s dollars was about $790 ten years ago.

To the notion of round-trip tickets to Europe for $500…I remember those, but it was in the late 1980s. $500 in 1988 is about $985 in today’s dollars.

By: Eva

Eva — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 18:05:45 +0000

It’s a real shame that they cut the amount of routes offered and hiked the prices up because people like me (lower/middle class) are traveling way less for leisure. The bigger the gap gets between upper and middle/ lower class, the harder it is for the everyday American to travel. Less travel means less vacations, means a more stressed population, not to mention ignorant to what the rest of the world or even the rest of the country is really like. And then consider what it does to the economy in regards to tourism. The higher prices go up, the more isolated I feel in my part of the country. And for business travel, the more technology that becomes available for webinars and group discussion face to face over your computer screen, the less business travel there is going to be. I think the airlines need to rethink their strategy.

By: mac

mac — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 00:55:37 +0000

Some years back a newspaper had cost of airfares compared to wages. It was cheaper then ever to fly and the aircraft didn’t take a day to go from Vancouver to say Toronto. That also was before free bees, air miles whatever. I would say not much has changed except even with today’s prices for an airline ticket. Look at the wages many are making. If they can afford the high priced homes, the cost of heat and light, telephone and internet may as well say everyday living. Air travel is still the best bang for the buck and not a priority.

By: Jo

Jo — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 04:58:34 +0000

I’ve decided that if I have to travel to somewhere locally I’ll take the car, period.

Quite often I found out it’s cheaper (or same price) to drive to the state I need to go to, than to fly there. One or two adult tickets would actually pay for the needed gas to go where I need to go and I can also take my children with me at no extra charge.

I personally don’t mind driving and I get to see nature. It’s a longer drive yes, but we don’t care. Why would I want to expose my family to the abuses of TSA, super uncomfortable cramped seats, terrible service from employes who don’t want to work there, and then experience the incompetence of brand new pilots who are not taught how to properly fly an aircraft when computers fail! No way! I can get a lot better service driving in our comfy Merc Marauder and enjoy the seas of traffic part ways.

Of course this how I like to do things. I’m not saying you should do it, you may not be able to afford the time etc. However for those of us who can, we do ask the airlines the following question: give us a very good reason why we should choose your service over our own? Right now we don’t see any reason why we should fly with any of them, at least locally.

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 01:28:49 +0000

Matt,

There’s something that always puzzles me, it’s the price difference between originating your flight from the US, compared to originating from Europe.

For example, take a flight from SFO to CFG, anytime in the summer. It’s going to be 60% on average more expensive than the same flight, same dates, same airline, but in the other direction (CDG to SFO). I just don’t get why. If I’m flying on the same dates, why would I pay almost double than someone from Europe?