05/2007 - Airline tickets getting crazy - Is this affecting your plans?

[greydread]

To all the illiterate Mothafuckas chiming in .... This thread is not about the price of gasoline. It's about the price of airfares and jet fuel prices are only one of the determining factors in this. DCA-SDQ was $425 in April when gas was at $4.19/gal. yet DCA-SDQ was $525 last Month while gas was $3.65/gal. so what does that tell us about the effect of changing gas prices on airfares? It tells us it don't mean JACK SHIT! Airlines purchase their fuel on long term contracts which is a purely speculative measure. Then they set the prices of their tickets. If gasoline was $2/gal. tomorrow it wouldn't affect ticket prices for 3 Months so please keep the thread on track and stop trying to make it about who is best at speculating gasoline prices in near term. It doesn't mean shit to an airline.

[miggy99]

Did you not check out the realease of 60B barrels of oil from the SPRO?

Government intervention in normal market activities has delayed the inevitable but only temporarily as the piper must and will always get paid. I didn't see that one coming nor did any of us and it is a temporary solution to a growing problem at best.

That being said, WTF does this have to do with "Seniority"? Why are you so fucked up with the concept? Seniority here doesn't mean anything more than a perceived level of trust based on past performance but it's like a security clearance. One DUI and it's lifted.

This board is about Bitches. Nor FOR them.

Oh yae that made it drop 70 cents at the pump. Yea whatever tough to Admit when someone else is right. And it sounds like your the bitch not me.

[greydread]

Oh yae that made it drop 70 cents at the pump. Yea whatever tough to Admit when someone else is right. And it sounds like your the bitch not me.

So you don't think the government flooding the oil market with reserves meant for critical supply during a time of national emergency affected the price of oil and it's affect on gasoline at the pump? Maybe you foresaw this action. Hell, maybe you even called the meeting. At the end of the day it doesn't have shit to do with the PRICE OF AIRFARE which is the subject of this thread.

Why oh why do little girls wander into discussions being held between Men and try to turn the discussion into something about THEM? That's the definition of BITCH. It's not about you being "right" about some point which is totally irrelevant to the topic at hand. It's about the price of flying. Now if you could pull some strings and get the gov't to hold the airlines' feet to the fire by regulating their speculative procurement policies, those of us who actually care about the subject of the thread would be highly appreciative.

When you travel, is it generally in a short, yellow bus?

[MyTio]

Airfares Are Chasing Oil Prices Higher
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The price of jet fuel, which is now $2.96 a gallon, has soared by more than 50 percent since last summer’s lows of $1.89 a gallon. An employee pumped fuel into an airplane in Oakland, Calif.

By JAD MOUAWAD

Published: February 23, 2011


Airline passengers should prepare themselves for sticker shock this year.

Go to your Portfolio »


As the carriers have tried to keep up with rapidly rising oil prices, they have already increased their fares four times since the start of the year, compared with only three increases for all of 2010. The airlines have also raised some of their fees, imposed summer peak-time surcharges and added hefty fuel surcharges on international flights.
Even traditional low-cost carriers that have long undercut their rivals are joining in. Southwest Airlines, for example, which usually resists industrywide fare increases, participated in several rounds, including one this week.
While the rising ticket prices have matched the steady increase in fuel costs in recent months, the turmoil in the Middle East has sent oil prices sharply higher. That surge now threatens to derail the airline industry’s fragile recovery and may lead to even more surcharges. At today’s prices, fuel accounts for about 40 percent of the industry’s costs, up from about 30 percent just last year.
As a result of the uncertainty in the oil markets, airline stocks extended their losses on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s steep declines. Airline stocks are down 11 percent just this week.
The airlines have few options to deal with their rising costs. Most carriers were already hedging some of their fuel purchases to protect against sudden price increases. They can also look for more fuel-efficient planes, but that requires billions of dollars in investments and takes years. In the meantime, they have little choice but to pass on costs to travelers.
So far, thanks to growing demand from both business and leisure passengers, the airlines have not had any trouble selling seats. Because they have not added much new capacity as the economy has picked up, their planes are still flying full, especially during peak hours. And as airlines continue to find customers for their most expensive fares, analysts said, they are reducing the number of their cheapest seats — and even those are not so cheap anymore.
“Airlines are raising their fares because, right now, they think they can,” said Jeff Straebler, a strategist at RBS. “People will actually buy the tickets at those fares.”
In January, the cheapest round-trip fare from any of the top 50 airports in the country averaged $367 — 10 percent higher that the average of $333 for the same time last year, according to FareCompare.com, a consumer airline research Web site.
Rick Seaney, FareCompare’s chief executive, said each increase in the last three months had averaged $5 to $12 for the least expensive tickets.
The increases have been far steeper at the front of the plane, in business and first class, as well as for last-minute travelers. American Airlines, United, Continental and US Airways all raised their fares by $20 to $60 on Monday for first- and business-class tickets, and seven-day advance. Last week, Delta Air Lines increased its fares for these high-end tickets by $40 to $120 for a round-trip ticket, according to fare watchers.
On top of that, some airlines are also increasing their fees. US Airways recently raised its fees for a variety of overweight and oversize bags — those weighing 75 to 100 pounds — to as much as $175 a bag, from $100. It also raised the cost of a third checked bag, to $125 from $100.
“We’ve had a lot of airfare hike activity compared with the last two years,” Mr. Seaney said.
In recent weeks, the carriers have also bumped up their base ticket prices for travel during the summer by as much as $250, in Virgin Airlines’ case. In addition, the airlines have introduced “peak travel” surcharges of $20 to $60 round-trip on some summer departure dates.
Airlines executives have long dreaded the return of higher fuel prices. In 2008, when oil soared above $147 a barrel in New York, the airlines were forced to ground thousands of planes, including some of the least fuel-efficient planes, in a desperate bid to stem their losses.
But the rise in fuel prices once again hangs over the industry’s profits. Last year, the top eight airlines earned $4 billion with total revenue of $122 billion, showing a meager profit margin of 3.3 percent.
Oil prices jumped more than $12 a barrel this week, rising above $98 a barrel in New York on Wednesday, after the violent uprising in Libya, a major oil producer. In London, Brent crude futures rose to $111.25 a barrel.
The price of jet fuel, which is now $2.99 a gallon, has soared 58 percent since last summer’s lows of $1.89 a gallon.
“Airlines are under a lot of pressure,” said Severin Borenstein, a professor of public policy at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. “Demand is recovering but rising fuel prices may short-circuit that.”
The Air Transport Association said last week that passenger revenue had grown 10 percent in January compared with the same time last year. That was the 13th consecutive month of revenue growth for the airlines.
“We have slightly fuller planes and stronger pricing,” said John Heimlich, the chief economist at the Air Transport Association. “There is no question we are enjoying the coattails of a stronger global economy after a very depressed period. We are making up for lost years.”
Some analysts pointed out that one reason traditional carriers could get away with increasing fares was that Southwest, the largest domestic airline, also saw the need to bolster its own fares.
“Southwest has been acting more like a legacy airline,” Mr. Seaney said.
Prices are inching toward their highest levels, reached in 2008. Still, flying remains relatively affordable, once ticket prices are adjusted for inflation. The average air fare in the third quarter of 2010 — the latest period for which government estimates are available — was 20 percent lower than in 2000 after inflation is taken into account, according to the government’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The airlines, meanwhile, have been resisting an Obama administration proposal to increase ticket fees to help finance airport projects. The president’s budget, released on Feb. 14, would raise the passenger facility charge to a maximum of $7 per flying segment, from the current $4.50, to offset a cut of $1.1 billion to airport grants.
Delta has argued that this increase means that a family of four will pay $112 in ticket fees, instead of $72, assuming they buy round-trip tickets with one stop.
A world of higher fuel prices and higher fees might substantially change the way passengers think of air travel — less a convenient mode of mass transportation and more a luxury, one analyst said.
“Flying is getting more expensive, there is no question about it,” said Robert Herbst, a former commercial pilot and independent airline analyst. “These rising energy costs have to be passed on to consumers. For some, this means flying will become less affordable.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: March 1, 2011

An article on Thursday about rising airfares misspelled the surname of a strategist at RBS who commented on the airlines’ fare pricing. He is Jeff Straebler, not Streabler.

[Mr. Smooth]

So you don't think the government flooding the oil market with reserves meant for critical supply during a time of national emergency affected the price of oil and it's affect on gasoline at the pump? Maybe you foresaw this action. Hell, maybe you even called the meeting. At the end of the day it doesn't have shit to do with the PRICE OF AIRFARE which is the subject of this thread.

Why oh why do little girls wander into discussions being held between Men and try to turn the discussion into something about THEM? That's the definition of BITCH. It's not about you being "right" about some point which is totally irrelevant to the topic at hand. It's about the price of flying. Now if you could pull some strings and get the gov't to hold the airlines' feet to the fire by regulating their speculative procurement policies, those of us who actually care about the subject of the thread would be highly appreciative.

When you travel, is it generally in a short, yellow bus?

Don't waste your breath 'dread. Miggy seems to have a habit of wanting to post provacative (some might say stupid) remarks on here to stir up shit. I'm sure Jimmy just smiles at all the back and forth.

Don't forget to include in the cost of travel all the bag fees. I read where the domestic airlines in 2010 garnered over 900 million dollars in revenue for these baggage fees. That shit ain't going away.

Do you guys notice that boarding a flight seems to take longer now because so many passengers are trying to stuff their hard shell oversized bags in the overhead compartments to save on those fees? One Delta flight I was on from SF to Atl. took 45 fucking minutes to get every ass in their seat because of that.

I'm glad I travel light.

[Sidney]

Beware of Spirit! They are doing their best not to repair or replace my damaged bag. Their latest demand is: for me to provide a copy of my bag purchase slip=yeah right! I will make every effort not to fly Spirit again!

[whynotme]

Beware of Spirit! They are doing their best not to repair or replace my damaged bag. Their latest demand is: for me to provide a copy of my bag purchase slip=yeah right! I will make every effort not to fly Spirit again!

that sucks
air canada missed my bag on a trip home and it arrived damaged and i got a 50$ cheque and a 25% off coupon good for 1 year which i used on a bkk flight

[questner]

Air Canada July 7, 2011 only - 10% of all flights anywhere all classes originating in Canada until August 31, 2011 (on codeshare - US only). Promo code SKYTRAX2011

[deep2001]

Yeah. This all keeps fucking with my plan to mount Mt. Bunda in Rio!

[funseeker]

Wtf is up with Spirit fares lately.. have they changed for good?
The fares to MDE for many dates have gone up significantly.

No more impulsive trips without paying the piper.
Going to MDE monday and nothing less than $322.00 + taxes each way.

So a RT in a big seat is $900.00+ now from ATL.

Haven't checked in a while so don't know if this is permanent or what..

[SeaWeed]

Wtf is up with Spirit fares lately.. have they changed for good?
The fares to MDE for many dates have gone up significantly.

No more impulsive trips without paying the piper.
Going to MDE monday and nothing less than $322.00 + taxes each way.

So a RT in a big seat is $900.00+ now from ATL.

Haven't checked in a while so don't know if this is permanent or what..

dunno but their fares are way up there now....plus all the extra fees makes it so not worth it

Spirit isn't flying down to Montego Bay, Jamaica everyday like they did for years and years...
their only flying in and out 2 days a week now in Jamaica.........
however JetBlue and AirTran have picked up the slack from Orlando, FL to MoBay.......
and you can't beat JetBlues pricing nor the nonstop flights.......
JetBlue averages around $276 R/T from Orlando to MoBay.....plus no charge for a bag......pretty awesome