Delta - so expensive!

[snowwite]

maybe this will help you feel better....Presidents week from Hartford to Orlando, 2 & 1/2 hour trip, $1024 per person ...

Holy cow! We paid that last year to go to Scotland!

 

[kathy884]

I feel your pain on Delta prices. My 87 year old dad who till January lived just a five hour drive away from me in his own home, just moved into an Assisted Living apartment in Idaho Falls, ID (near where my brother lives in January). I am planning to go see dad from July 4-6, really want to see his new place. And although I talk to dad five days a week on the phone on morning dog walks, I plan to visit him in person once or twice a year too and take along DH, DS and DS's spouse too on any trips there they would like to go with me on.

I first booked flights from St. Louis to Salt Lake City with Southwest points, but then I looked at the bus schedules from Salt Lake to Idaho Falls. The buses only run every two hours or so and I saw that the bus ride is four hours each way. Yuck! And Salt Lake was not a direct flight either, involved a connection. Although the price was right, it was just way too inconvenient, especially for a short trip. And if you miss the bus you are planning on due to a flight delay, don't have flights that work well with the bus schedule, you are in bad shape, might have to do a car rental, etc.

So anyway, I bit the bullet and decided instead to fly right into Idaho Falls from St. Louis (connection in Salt Lake City on Delta)., but gosh are tickets pricey, $775 for my round trip ticket. Ouch! The only other carrier that goes there was United and their prices were almost $300 more than Delta for that trip.

Now from St. Louis to Tampa and back from Orlando to St. Louis in February I got what I thought were great prices on Southwest $120 one way to Tampa for a convenient direct flight and $150 for a direct flight back from Orlando (non holiday period and midweek flights and no Delta). We have multiple carriers competing on those routes too which helps.

 

[EACarlson]

So anyway, I bit the bullet and decided instead to fly right into Idaho Falls from St. Louis (connection in Salt Lake City on Delta)., but gosh are tickets pricey, $775 for my round trip ticket. Ouch! The only other carrier that goes there was United and their prices were almost $300 more than Delta for that trip.

To compare apples to apples here, what was the Delta price from STL to SLC compared to the SW? And was it a non-stop flight? SLC being a Delta hub may have a non stop for a similar price to what SW is charging for a connection in Denver.
If I fly out of my little airport 20 minutes from home I can fly Delta, American or United to MCO with a connection for about $120 more than it costs me to fly on SW out of an airport about 90 minutes away. But I like the flight times much better in and out of the larger airport on SW. A flight to a little outstation is always going to be more expensive than flying in and out of larger airports.

 

[kathy884]

o compare apples to apples here, what was the Delta price from STL to SLC compared to the SW? And was it a non-stop flight? SLC being a Delta hub may have a non stop for a similar price to what SW is charging for a connection in Denver.
If I fly out of my little airport 20 minutes from home I can fly Delta, American or United to MCO with a connection for about $120 more than it costs me to fly on SW out of an airport about 90 minutes away. But I like the flight times much better in and out of the larger airport on SW. A flight to a little outstation is always going to be more expensive than flying in and out of larger airports.

Good point. I could fly round trip to Salt Lake City directly on Delta for $536 round trip basic economy direct. The Southwest flight there with the connection in Denver would be $400, and I have Southwest points that I could do that with no cash outlay (opportunity cost though -- and to date I have had no trouble utilizing Southwest points as they are the largest carrier out of my home airport and super flexible as I can use them for anyone). At the point where I am in my life, the direct flight would be worth the extra $136 in savings to me. The Delta flight times are preferable to me too. On this trip I will just be bringing my backpack so won't have the extra $35 each way too to check a bag on Delta or I'd have to figure the Delta cost to be another $70 more too.

And even though I cringe at the $776 price all the way to Idaho Falls, I am basically paying $120 each way to fly to Idaho Falls which means I can avoid extra time waiting for buses, taking two four hour bus rides, or renting a car and two different three hour drives. It gives me the amount of time I want to be in Idaho Falls for visiting my dad without allocating additional vacation days (I'll have more days to devote to going to Idaho next year). And my brother has an extra car that I can use to do whatever I want when I am there too, and I'll be staying with his family (they have plenty of room to accommodate me too). The extra convenience is worth it too me, but I still say to myself OMG -- boy am I paying a lot for those flights. And then on trips there where I bring another three people it really starts adding up. Again, though, it is a priority for me to visit my dad and I will allocate the monies to do these trips that are outside of my normal vacation budget and bring the others too whenever they are able to come along and want to come along.

We love the mountains, and if my dad is still around, I am thinking about in future years on summer trips combining a visit with dad for a few days and then doing some vacationing at Grand Teton National Park for a few days (beautiful place two hours away) and why not take advantage of already having flown in pretty close to there.

Yellowstone is a similar distance away, but I've already done a lot of vacationing there over the years and it can get really crowded there in the summer too, so I am more interested in the National Park that I haven't spent as much time at.

 

[LAS2AMS]

It’s secret that airfares have swelled. Airlines generally charge premiums for nonstop flights — for example, it’s common for Delta to charge more in its hub markets but United and American to have better pricing. And it’s common for Delta to offer lower pricing out of American and United’s hub markets. This isn’t a hard rule but a pretty good generalization.

Restricting yourself to “I only fly Delta” is silly. Show Delta how you feel by voting with your wallet and flying a competitor.

I’ve never understood why people complain about Southwest, Spirit, etc. Consider Spirit: as long as you know what you’re getting and what it costs (including fees) and make an informed decision based on such… for most people, they’ll be on the plane for just two to four hours. People try to beat Spirit’s fees, lose, then complain. Or justify their decision ‘I paid $200 more because I got FF points. I earned 437 points, just 30,000 more to go and I’ll have a free ticket.” Welcome to 2024!

 

[SL6827]

Not much, but you can get Delta gift cards at 5% off with a Target Red card if you have one.

 

[PrincessNelly]

I'm trying to book airfare for my June trip and I just can't believe how expensive Delta is right now! A 2-hour flight from Cincinnati to Orlando is around $600! I have a companion ticket that I must use, so they've got me. The discount airlines are around $400, so Delta is still better with the free ticket.

Just wanted to vent more than anything. But, I take it everyone else on these boards trying to book summer travel is seeing the same thing?

I'm having the same issue, we normally pay about $150-$200pp. Our flights from Philly are $400-$500 pp unless we take awful flight times & even then, its about $325pp. insane!

 

[LizzyS]

I think, unfortunately, that flying just ain't what it used to be. I used to fly Delta regularly to get into Knoxville, TN (home area for me), but they didn't have 2 seats for me last month when my grandmother died to get me home the next day, so I flew American and they have won me over for the time being.

 

[Kestryl]

I think, unfortunately, that flying just ain't what it used to be. I used to fly Delta regularly to get into Knoxville, TN (home area for me), but they didn't have 2 seats for me last month when my grandmother died to get me home the next day, so I flew American and they have won me over for the time being.

Knoxville is my home airport and Delta has gone downhill there. They used to run 3+ flights between Knoxville and Detroit every day. Now it's one. I used to fly that route a few times every year; now I just drive. It's not worth it.

 

[EllieJedi]

I live near Minneapolis which is a Delta hub, but also not as big of an airport as Atlanta so our prices with Delta can be all over the map sometimes. I was going to fly to Orlando towards the end of May but after seeing the prices, and looking at the Delta flight deals page over the weekend I’m going to Ireland instead. The nonstop flight to MCO was going to be $439 but the nonstop to Dublin was $693.

 

[SL6827]

I live near Minneapolis which is a Delta hub, but also not as big of an airport as Atlanta so our prices with Delta can be all over the map sometimes. I was going to fly to Orlando towards the end of May but after seeing the prices, and looking at the Delta flight deals page over the weekend I’m going to Ireland instead. The nonstop flight to MCO was going to be $439 but the nonstop to Dublin was $693.

Wow. I live two hours north of Atlanta, so if we fly, I can usually get a ticket for around $150. But that's at like 2 am on a Tuesday morning.

 

[EACarlson]

I'm having the same issue, we normally pay about $150-$200pp. Our flights from Philly are $400-$500 pp unless we take awful flight times & even then, its about $325pp. insane!

Everything airline is going to go up. The pilots just got new deals, fuel prices are up again and inflation. See below where an ATL-MCO flight is $150, PHL is more than twice as far, should be twice as expensive right?

Wow. I live two hours north of Atlanta, so if we fly, I can usually get a ticket for around $150. But that's at like 2 am on a Tuesday morning.

Big difference between a 30 minute flight ATL-MCO and 3.5 hours MSP-MCO. I have a friend in MSP that will only fly Delta to MCO, he usually ends up between $350 and $400 for the twice a year we go for work.

 

[SL6827]

Everything airline is going to go up. The pilots just got new deals, fuel prices are up again and inflation. See below where an ATL-MCO flight is $150, PHL is more than twice as far, should be twice as expensive right?

Big difference between a 30 minute flight ATL-MCO and 3.5 hours MSP-MCO. I have a friend in MSP that will only fly Delta to MCO, he usually ends up between $350 and $400 for the twice a year we go for work.

Now if we flew out of Chattanooga, it would be 350.00. Unreal.

 

[PrincessNelly]

Everything airline is going to go up. The pilots just got new deals, fuel prices are up again and inflation. See below where an ATL-MCO flight is $150, PHL is more than twice as far, should be twice as expensive right?

Big difference between a 30 minute flight ATL-MCO and 3.5 hours MSP-MCO. I have a friend in MSP that will only fly Delta to MCO, he usually ends up between $350 and $400 for the twice a year we go for work.

I guess. But its still an insane jump. $150pp on average last year vs $400pp this year.

 

[EACarlson]

I guess. But its still an insane jump. $150pp on average last year vs $400pp this year.

Would it shock you to learn the average RT flight PHL-MCO 10 years ago was $376? Not that big of a difference in 10 years.
Average price based on DOT statistics for 2Q2014.

 

[PrincessNelly]

Would it shock you to learn the average RT flight PHL-MCO 10 years ago was $376? Not that big of a difference in 10 years.
Average price based on DOT statistics for 2Q2014.

Yes and no.

Yes, because I keep all my flight receipts and we travel the same times of year to Orlando. So it's quite a large difference compared to what we've paid historically. I've paid as little as $16 for a RT in Sept 2017 before (but that's definitely not common. As mentioned before $150pp including baggage is more common for us)

But no, because averages are just that. Travel at busier times is more expensive. So it makes sense that average is higher than what we've paid travelling Sept thru Early Feb (avoiding all holidays). Also, Philly airport has only 4 airlines that fly direct to Orlando on average. (And that's including Southwest who has drastically cut down their direct flights from Philly in recent years)

 

[Darcy03231]

Since we fly out of Boston there's a lot of competition and we almost always fly Delta. It's usually either the least expensive option, or close to it. I also haven't had any trouble using my companion certificate.

Overall, I've found airfare is up across the board.

 

[gottalovepluto]

… I also haven't had any trouble using my companion certificate…

You are a unique soul on the internet. A vast majority have a miserable time using that particular DL cert, including veteran cc bonus chasers…

 

[kylenne]

Even September is higher—when we moved our trip from May, JetBlue went up. $371 pp crazy for JFK-MCO in shoulder season and is comparable to Delta’s pricing for the exact same flight. Delta is usually the more expensive of the 2. We are booked on points so it’s not awful, but I am waiting for their fall travel sale to cancel and rebook.

 

[LizzyS]

Knoxville is my home airport and Delta has gone downhill there. They used to run 3+ flights between Knoxville and Detroit every day. Now it's one. I used to fly that route a few times every year; now I just drive. It's not worth it.

So sad because Delta used to be my go-to.