delta price increase

[dudspizza]

OMG! Anything under $200 from MSP is a steal! Average prices are around $250. If I needed to purchase a trip for 3 months from now and the price was $185, those tickets would have been purchased immediately.

Airfares tend to go up and sometimes down. A week and a half ago I had to buy tickets to Tampa. I was waiting for the OK from my boss to go, so I had to wait. Tix were $399 one way for 4 people. I got the ok about 12 hours later and when I logged on the best I could get was $520 for the same tickets. I bought them and had to live with it. The price just kept going up, so I was happy with what I got.

To say it again, under $200 is a great deal to MCO from MSP. Best price I have ever paid was $134.99 using a buy 2 get one free deal on Sun Country..... most have been around $200 if I really watch closely... but a little higher lately.

Duds

 

[carol-lamb]

That is frankly an unrealistic expectation to fly $151 cross country on a mainline carrier. There are still a few bargains, but carriers are losing billions and billions of dollars in America, and fares have to rise at some point.

Anything under $300 round trip is still a bargain fare.

I flew Northwest from Detroit to Orlando in June of 2009 for $122 round trip, in September of 2009 for $139 round trip and just this past December for $159 round trip. Those prices included taxes and fees. In the five or six years before that I probably flew to Orlando at least twice a year (all on Northwest) and I know I never paid more than $200 round trip.

 

[dudspizza]

I flew Northwest from Detroit to Orlando in June of 2009 for $122 round trip, in September of 2009 for $139 round trip and just this past December for $159 round trip. Those prices included taxes and fees. In the five or six years before that I probably flew to Orlando at least twice a year (all on Northwest) and I know I never paid more than $200 round trip.

Detroit isn't MSP....... My goodness, if I could actually get the prices you are quoting and they were out of MSP, I would go to Disney many times a year!

Duds

 

[carol-lamb]

I will miss northwest as well. I loved having nonstop flight to MCO from Minneapolis, Delta likes to have a stop in Atlanta. We live by the airport here which was the Northwest headquarters, it was sad to see them paint the hanger w/ delta logo.

Yeah - I noticed that about Delta when checking flights out of Detroit. Most of their cheaper flights had a stop in Atlanta. Their non stop flights are still the Northwest flights. I keep wondering if there are going to get rid of those non stop flights as I am so spoiled flying Northwest because they have so many daily non stop flights out of Detroit.

My daughter's boyfriend's dad is a pilot for Delta and he is based out of Atlanta. That is one heck of a commute from Detroit every week!! He is hoping to be based out of Detroit soon - I think he needs a little more seniority even though he has been flying for them for about 18 years.

 

[carol-lamb]

Detroit isn't MSP....... My goodness, if I could actually get the prices you are quoting and they were out of MSP, I would go to Disney many times a year!

Duds

Yeah - but I just paid $349 for my upcoming trip in April!! To me that is crazy expensive after what I paid for my last three trips!! It will be interesting to see how things change when Northwest is totally phased out. I went to WDW four times last year and part of that was because of the great air fare. I doubt four trips in one year will happen again, but hopefully I will get at least a spring or summer trip and my beloved Christmas trip in each year.

 

[bavaria]

I flew Northwest from Detroit to Orlando in June of 2009 for $122 round trip, in September of 2009 for $139 round trip and just this past December for $159 round trip. Those prices included taxes and fees. In the five or six years before that I probably flew to Orlando at least twice a year (all on Northwest) and I know I never paid more than $200 round trip.

and do you honestly believe that they were viable fares, and that the airline made any profit from you?

No, and no, are the answers.

The US carriers cut capacity drastically over the past two years, and cannot afford to transport a certain segment of the population any more. It is not personal, but they are losing money every time they transport someone at those prices, so it is better not to fly those seats than to fly them at a loss.

They simply do not want passengers anymore who expect those fares, because they cannot afford to have those passengers as customers.




Duds, light off!

 

[carol-lamb]

and do you honestly believe that they were viable fares, and that the airline made any profit from you?

No, and no, are the answers.

The US carriers cut capacity drastically over the past two years, and cannot afford to transport a certain segment of the population any more. It is not personal, but they are losing money every time they transport someone at those prices, so it is better not to fly those seats than to fly them at a loss.

They simply do not want passengers anymore who expect those fares, because they cannot afford to have those passengers as customers.

Duds, light off!

The only reason I "expect" those fares now is because those are the fares they set for the last few years. I understand what you are saying about the airlines losing money, etc., but I didn't set those prices - they did - and now it is going to take time getting used to these new higher prices. This past Sunday Delta had a flight out of Detroit to Orlando for $1,795. Who in their right mind would pay that for a two hour flight? Then the very next day it went down to $545. Now today it's back up to a little over $1,000. Who can afford that and why is it so volatile? As a consumer, it is very frustrating.

 

[bavaria]

Many people on every flight pay fares like that. We have no choice. We don't plan our holidays weeks or months or years in advance like many here. Our work requires us to be able to fly somewhere at a moment's notice. We pay higher fares due to last minute purchase, and to have flexibility to change or cancel.

The reality is that the airline values us more, and our fares subsidize the fares of others.

Almost everyone on this thread agrees that 'under $300' is a bargain. I have said many times over the years that I don't understand how one can logically think that those low fares are viable.

I see it as enjoy it when you can, but be realistic and rational and logical, and don't expect those fares to continue.

 

[carol-lamb]

Many people on every flight pay fares like that. We have no choice. We don't plan our holidays weeks or months or years in advance like many here. Our work requires us to be able to fly somewhere at a moment's notice. We pay higher fares due to last minute purchase, and to have flexibility to change or cancel.

The reality is that the airline values us more, and our fares subsidize the fares of others.

Almost everyone on this thread agrees that 'under $300' is a bargain. I have said many times over the years that I don't understand how one can logically think that those low fares are viable.

I see it as enjoy it when you can, but be realistic and rational and logical, and don't expect those fares to continue.

Oh I think under $300 is a bargain, but tell me how many people on this thread would be willing to pay $1,700 per person for a two and a half hour flight from Detroit to Orlando for a family vacation. How could an average family possibly afford that? I could afford it, but in a million years I would never pay it. And flying for business is different than flying on a family vacation.
I think it's going to be time to gas up the family truckster and go back to traveling like I used to. "Road trip!"

 

[TillyMarigold]

I thank my lucky stars if I can fly *anywhere* under $300, let alone cross-country! (Oh, and the "anywhere" I can fly for under $300 is Phoenix, Denver, and occasionally LA or Salt Lake City.) From here, getting just about anywhere is usually at least $400-600. Southwest had flights to MCO for only $340 round trip and I'm thanking my lucky stars. Last trip we had buy-one-get-one-free flights and it was still nearly $600!

 

[bavaria]

But 20 and 30 years ago people DID pay that, in 2010 dollars. People DO pay it now.

The general theme here seems to be that people don't realise that just a few years ago taking a flying holiday was a luxury and for most something which happened a few times in a lifetime.

Now this site is populated by mostly younger Americans who don't seem to remember or know about that, and who expect or seem to think that they are entitled to these fares which are not viable.

I DO pay fares like that for my holiday; I DO pay flexible and refundable and upgradeable fares. Many many people do. Go ask the posters on the UK and Canadian boards what they pay for flights.

 

[uva185]

Boo! I had been watching delta airfare for april $185 a tix. Then from this morning to this afternoon $239. I guess I will keep watching for an airfare sale. It doesn't make sense the flight we wanted had only 3 tickets sold to it.

Fares also have expiration dates. It is possible the fare you were watching expired. If you are you going to play the airfare game at least do some research on the fare you are watching instead of blindly hoping it will stay the same or go down.

 

[uva185]

Oh I think under $300 is a bargain, but tell me how many people on this thread would be willing to pay $1,700 per person for a two and a half hour flight from Detroit to Orlando for a family vacation. How could an average family possibly afford that? I could afford it, but in a million years I would never pay it. And flying for business is different than flying on a family vacation.
I think it's going to be time to gas up the family truckster and go back to traveling like I used to. "Road trip!"

I paid $900 for a 45 minute flight from Columbia to Orlando. I wanted to take a last minute weekend vacation (booked less than 24 hours out) and that was the price so I gladly paid it to avoid spending 12+ hours driving roundtrip for a weekend trip.

Fares like that are typically unrestricted and allow cancellations, changes, etc without penalty. There are plenty of travelers who either prefer unrestricted tickets due to unpredictable schedules or purchase tickets at the last minute and thus pay higher prices.

Honestly I wish airlines would normalize fares throughout the system to balance the cost. I used to frequently fly CAE-DCA and fares would usually cost $400+ for a 60 minute flight, and upwards of $800 - $1000 for a ticket purchased within 7 days. That is for the pleasure of riding on a regional jet or turbo prob. Yet at the same time the airlines sell sub $200 fares across the country!!

 

[bavaria]

Keep in mind too that reading here skews ones impressions. A very large number of posters expect fares under $200 or even $150 and have a skewed sense of what is a viable fare.

I often say that there is DISworld and REALworld. Sometimes I do forget that this website (thankfully) does not represent the greater world and the general public.

If you read other websites, you will have a more balanced view and realise that those low fares are not the norm amongst travellers in REALworld.

 

[carol-lamb]

But 20 and 30 years ago people DID pay that, in 2010 dollars. People DO pay it now.

The general theme here seems to be that people don't realise that just a few years ago taking a flying holiday was a luxury and for most something which happened a few times in a lifetime.

Now this site is populated by mostly younger Americans who don't seem to remember or know about that, and who expect or seem to think that they are entitled to these fares which are not viable.

I DO pay fares like that for my holiday; I DO pay flexible and refundable and upgradeable fares. Many many people do. Go ask the posters on the UK and Canadian boards what they pay for flights.

I do believe everything you are saying - I honestly do. First off though, I am not a younger American - I am 53 years old. But even nine years ago I was not paying real high fares. I remember taking my son to Florida when he was 7 years old (that was 20 years ago) and I don't remember exactly what we paid, but it had to have been affordable or else we wouldn't have flown. We didn't save up for a long time or anything like that, we just decided to fly that time. We drove to Florida for our yearly vacations for several years after that and I think we started flying to Florida back in 2001 and it has always been very reasonably priced - the most being about $200. So that has been for nine years. I think that explains why these higher fares are going to take some time (at least for me) to get used to. Again, I just want to reiterate that I just paid $345 per person for our trip in April and I am comfortable with that. I do need to add on the $46 extra it will cost me to check a bag both ways as I still have not yet figured out how to pack light.

One more thing - a previous poster mentioned being happy with a $300 cross country flight. I just wanted to add that I'm not flying cross country. I'm flying Detroit to Orlando - which is about a 2 to 2 1/2 hour flight. We were thinking about flying out to California this summer. I don't even have a clue what fares would be like as the last time I flew to California was way back in 1977!!

 

[carol-lamb]

Keep in mind too that reading here skews ones impressions. A very large number of posters expect fares under $200 or even $150 and have a skewed sense of what is a viable fare.

I often say that there is DISworld and REALworld. Sometimes I do forget that this website (thankfully) does not represent the greater world and the general public.

If you read other websites, you will have a more balanced view and realise that those low fares are not the norm amongst travellers in REALworld.

I am the general public. I'm not a Disney cartoon character. I went on line, plugged in my info and booked a fare that the airline quoted me. Please explain what I should have done - offered to pay a higher fare because I felt they weren't charging me enough?

I also just went and checked out the fare for the Delta flights I want to book for my son and the round trip price is $1,014.40 (Detroit to Orlando) and that is a non-refundable fare. They have a flight leaving the same day but two hours later out of Detroit (it's the same return flight home) and the fare is $445. I seriously don't get it - how can there be that much difference.

 

[carol-lamb]

I paid $900 for a 45 minute flight from Columbia to Orlando. I wanted to take a last minute weekend vacation (booked less than 24 hours out) and that was the price so I gladly paid it to avoid spending 12+ hours driving roundtrip for a weekend trip.

Fares like that are typically unrestricted and allow cancellations, changes, etc without penalty. There are plenty of travelers who either prefer unrestricted tickets due to unpredictable schedules or purchase tickets at the last minute and thus pay higher prices.

Honestly I wish airlines would normalize fares throughout the system to balance the cost. I used to frequently fly CAE-DCA and fares would usually cost $400+ for a 60 minute flight, and upwards of $800 - $1000 for a ticket purchased within 7 days. That is for the pleasure of riding on a regional jet or turbo prob. Yet at the same time the airlines sell sub $200 fares across the country!!

I'm not booking less than 24 hours out. I'm booking 2 1/2 months out. I also posted above that I just checked the flight and the price tonight is $1,014.40 and it is non-refundable.

 

[uva185]

I'm not booking less than 24 hours out. I'm booking 2 1/2 months out. I also posted above that I just checked the flight and the price tonight is $1,014.40 and it is non-refundable.

Just out of curiosity what dates are you looking at. If it is a high demand day near your school system's spring break that could account for the high price. It is not Delta is charging more for that flight per say -- its that the lower priced seats have already been sold.

Post what flights you are looking at and I take a look at the fare / inventory info.

 

[carol-lamb]

Just out of curiosity what dates are you looking at. If it is a high demand day near your school system's spring break that could account for the high price. It is not Delta is charging more for that flight per say -- its that the lower priced seats have already been sold.

Post what flights you are looking at and I take a look at the fare / inventory info.

I am definitely booking at a high demand time of year - Easter break. I just booked three flights last week leaving on March 31st and I paid $345 round trip. I am now trying to book a flight for my son who is leaving one day later on April 1st. I just checked the fare this morning and it went up again - now it is at $1,044.40 and is non-refundable. The flight that leaves two hours later at 7:50 (and is the same return flight home as the one I mentioned above for $1,044) is still at $475. Let's see - I could fly out at 5:40 pm for $1,040 or I could wait until 7:50 pm and save $569. I'm just simply stating that from a consumer's standpoint, it's frustrating. My original intent when posting on this thread was just that - how frustrating it can be at times to make airline reservations, not to get in a debate on airline viability.

 

[bavaria]

But it IS logical. You are flying to a family destination over a high demand holiday. There are most likely very few seats left. The airline hopes that someone like me or uva185 or crashbb or many others will come along and pay that fare.

It is supply and demand. If they sell all the seats at less than $200 they will lose even more money than they are losing now.