airlines and competition or the lack thereof

[disneyholic family]

As someone who works in the airline industry, let me try to help explain things.

The legacy carriers (aka that are full-service... AA, DL, UA, US), for the most part operate coach at a loss. First class and international travel (especially business/first) subsidize the entire airline's network.

Between union contracts (which, while everyone has shed them in bankruptcy, still aren't great) and fuel prices, the actual cost of a ticket to the airline is SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the ~$150 fares you are seeing on the JFK route.

As you noted, the reason it is cheap is because of competition, but obviously there can't be competition on every route. ESPECIALLY when talking about leisure destinations such as MCO.

EDIT: Just noticed you were talking about DTW-->JFK. Basically NYC can command any prices they want, because it's either leisure or time sensitive business. I would almost guarantee there are many people that commute DTW-->JFK in the morning and JFK -->DTW at night on a regular basis. The majority of the post still applies though.

One other thing is that, with the exception of holiday/special travel times, the major airlines do not operate the same way as cruises do with tiered pricing until there is 30/21/14/7/3 days left until the flight. Often you can catch a better deal two months out than six months out. I recently signed up to go on the ABD to California at the end of July, but I probably won't book my airfare for another month. However again, the rule doesn't necessarily apply to MCO, since it is a leisure market so the seats will be sold regardless.

If there's anything I can try to explain more in depth, I'd be glad to. But basically one-ways from airline hub<-->leisure market will be expensive, simply because they can... but also because that's what it actually costs.

One final thing I should note is that technically buying a RT that you don't intend to use is a violation of the CoC (Contract of Carriage). While you most likely will not have any adverse effects unless you do it regularly, they are within their rights to cancel all of your flights (and confiscate your frequent flier account, if applicable).

yes the reason that it's cheap on the other routes is because of competition.

the reason it's so expensive to fly in and out of detroit is because who the heck wants to go to detroit?????????????????
no one.
so only delta flies in and out, for the most part.

it used to be NWA that owned detroit, now it's delta (sucks to be a detroiter).

 

[Maleficent53]

Copied from previous post ----
She'll probably be able to use her FF miles to get a seat (in first class since she's stratospheric FF level), and i'll have to pay through the nose to sit in cattle class.....
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Perhaps your friend (with all her miles earned from FF travel) would set you up with a mileage ticket from her account. You could offer to compensate her a "fair" price - win for you and she get $$ in her pocket for spending cash!

I did this for my sisters on one of our last trips.....I got them mileage tickets from my account -- and they paid the hotel bill! WIN-WIN!

btw-I feel your pain as a Detroiter. I am in Minnesota and our airfares have skyrocketed since Delta took over. We have paid as little as $120 RT to our average high of just under $300 to get to MCO. Our last trip in February fares were over $400 each. Gosh, I miss NWA!

 

[disneyholic family]

Copied from previous post ----
She'll probably be able to use her FF miles to get a seat (in first class since she's stratospheric FF level), and i'll have to pay through the nose to sit in cattle class.....
--------

Perhaps your friend (with all her miles earned from FF travel) would set you up with a mileage ticket from her account. You could offer to compensate her a "fair" price - win for you and she get $$ in her pocket for spending cash!

I did this for my sisters on one of our last trips.....I got them mileage tickets from my account -- and they paid the hotel bill! WIN-WIN!

btw-I feel your pain as a Detroiter. I am in Minnesota and our airfares have skyrocketed since Delta took over. We have paid as little as $120 RT to our average high of just under $300 to get to MCO. Our last trip in February fares were over $400 each. Gosh, I miss NWA!

yes, minnesota, the other hub of NWA - in the same boat as detroit..

for true sticker shock, take a gander at the prices from detroit to minneapolis..

my brother in law has to fly that route for business.....
the price often goes up to $1,200 for ECONOMY!!!!
yes, you read that right, $1,200 round trip to fly from detroit to Minneapolis...

i wonder how much more a private jet could cost than that

 

[pgianna]

My flights from the UK to Orlando For next march/April are coming out at over $2000 per person at the moment.
More highway robbery

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[AndyPok1]

What I can't understand is that they can fly out of Columbus on Continental for $100 cheaper than Cleveland, BUT the flight out of Columbus,flys into Cleveland for a layover, then goes to MCO. It's just ridiculous, if they can drive to Columbus and get the flight for $100 cheaper, why can't they just get on the plane in Cleveland for the same price? It just doesn't make sense.

It actually does make sense... in the most illogical way possible.

Imagine airlines were MegaBuses. And they could take any path they want to get to their destination. Well then, cost would be derived from solely two factors. Actual expense that the company is occuring, and demand for that route. The less demand, the less expensive the route is.

Airlines actually operate by the same theory. According to some accountant/computer/alien's numbers, the demand for CMH-->MCO is less $100 less than CLE -->MCO. So that's what the price is.

However, because airlines are not buses and can't simply take the most direct route, they have to route you through CLE (or ORD or IAD or though unlikely possibly even IAH).

Every origin/destination pair is costed completely separate based on demand, no matter where (or how many) stops it takes to get there. I have often been able to add an extra stop instead of flying direct so save money. (And boost my frequent flier mile balance in the process!)

Basically, it's all free market economics. And economics... often just doesn't make sense!