Shouldn't Airfare Be Going Down...?

[disneyscootergal]

Why is it that gas prices are down almost a dollar a gallon, but airfare is still going up? Anybody know?

 

[JaneJetson]

Why is it that gas prices are down almost a dollar a gallon, but airfare is still going up? Anybody know?

I don't know. Airfare from here to Anaheim hasn't changed for us in months.

 

[joseph821]

I don't know. Airfare from here to Anaheim hasn't changed for us in months.

Oil prices have plunged below $80 a barrel so fuel costs should be lower soon.
The chaos in the stock market has lowered oil and gas and will continue to do so. Expect $60 a barrel for oil by thanksgiving or sooner.

 

[disneyscootergal]

I don't know. Airfare from here to Anaheim hasn't changed for us in months.

Where is "here"? I'm in Montana. The 1st year we went to DL, it was about $125 per person to fly from Great Falls to SNA; now it's almost $600 per person. I've been checking regularly, and trying other airports. 2 weeks ago I found a $450 from Great Falls to Long Beach (got the idea from these boards). Just checked, and it's up to $558 now.

 

[CrazyDuck]

Airlines buy gasoline at a set contract price. Depending on when they set the contract and how long the duration of that contract is it could be months before they expire and are able to buy fuel again at the now lower rate!

 

[disneyscootergal]

Oil prices have plunged below $80 a barrel so fuel costs should be lower soon.
The chaos in the stock market has lowered oil and gas and will continue to do so. Expect $60 a barrel for oil by thanksgiving or sooner.

Oh, gosh, I sure hope so! Thanks for the ray of hope, Joseph!

 

[disneyscootergal]

Airlines buy gasoline at a set contract price. Depending on when they set the contract and how long the duration of that contract is it could be months before they expire and are able to buy fuel again at the now lower rate!

Well, my planned trip isn't until next July/August. I've been trying to figure out if buying early before prices go up was the way to go; perhaps it will work out best to wait for them to go down...? It's a crap shoot, isn't it?

 

[JaneJetson]

Where is "here"? I'm in Montana. The 1st year we went to DL, it was about $125 per person to fly from Great Falls to SNA; now it's almost $600 per person. I've been checking regularly, and trying other airports. 2 weeks ago I found a $450 from Great Falls to Long Beach (got the idea from these boards). Just checked, and it's up to $558 now.

Nebraska. I've only been flying to Anaheim since 2004. It was $223 then. And this January, the price is currently $222. Keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way. If not, I'm just going to use my airline miles to get some "free" tickets. At one point (2006, maybe?) it was in the $330 range.

By the way...LOVE your avatar.

 

[JaneJetson]

Well, my planned trip isn't until next July/August. I've been trying to figure out if buying early before prices go up was the way to go; perhaps it will work out best to wait for them to go down...? It's a crap shoot, isn't it?

Orbitz has a thing called Price Assurance. Basically if you book a flight and someone ends up booking the exact same flight for cheaper (on orbitz.com)...they'll refund you the difference up to $250. You may want to look into it. Read the terms and restrictions. Who knows...it might help.

http://www.orbitz.com/pagedef/content/legal/priceAssuranceTCs.jsp

 

[bonita_babe232]

The price of tickets is getting to be crazy.... Thats why i was thinking of driving, but after the gas and the extra day or 2 of driving ( gas, hotel, food) its not worth it as we won't be saving much....

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh Montana, that's hard. I tried to get out there for a family reunion this summer, and it was just too expensive. I'm suddenly not remembering where all I looked, but my uncle has a ranch near Ryegate so it was the airport near that. Too expensive and it still required driving. Driving in Montana in 2002 caused me severe panic and anxiety attacks, and although I LOVED driving all my driving life, I now don't, thanks to the drive from Tacoma to Montana (and back, but I do not have any memories of the drive back home). Shudder.

Too bad you don't have SW yet, b/c then you could buy now and get the lower price later.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I don't know how much current air prices will actually lower once fuel goes down. I see this hike from a slightly different angle - that it is a market that will keep higher charges because we "will have gotten used to them". Unfortunately, it is a very controlled market of goods and we are a trapped audience. We've constantly seen this over the years - look how much higher gas costs are today than 15 years ago. Car prices, too. Look at how much more we pay for food and eating at restaurants - and for lodging and our Disney vacations! I don't see them restoring the number of flights they have cut to what they consider "unprofitable locations" and they will charge more to make up for the fees they encounter in keeping gates at those smaller facilities.

I especially don't see the airlines removing the fees that they put in place for bags and such "due to the high cost of fuel".

I used to be a weekly business traveller and I agree with a lot of what Pete said when he had a good rant about the airlines on the Podcast. Since they own Dreams Unlimited Travel, they know what they are referring to.(You guys to listen to the podcast produced by the DIS owners, don't you? )

His comments are that the airlines have been looking for excuses to charge certain fees for years. The fuel prices basically gave them something tangible to work with. We all know that when one of the big carriers gets by with something, the rest of them will follow suit (cut commissions to TAs, service fees for actually calling and booking with their own reservationists, etc). None of those things has been done away with - why should we expect these prices to go down or be removed?

Thus, I don't see airline fares going down much at all.....

 

[Disney_Villain]

Airlines buy gasoline at a set contract price. Depending on when they set the contract and how long the duration of that contract is it could be months before they expire and are able to buy fuel again at the now lower rate!

You are right. Airlines buy fuel in futures contracts - which are agreements to buy oil at the futures price upon expiration of the contract. Also: If energy prices fall, the airlines will lose money in its futures position. There are no "savings" for the airlines at the moment.

You won't see airlines prices coming down any time soon. Our flights to Anaheim and to Orlando are now up to $800/person (as opposed to what we used to get a year ago, which was $550/person), so we aren't happy about it either.

 

[disneyscootergal]

You are right. Airlines buy fuel in futures contracts - which are agreements to buy oil at the futures price upon expiration of the contract. Also: If energy prices fall, the airlines will lose money in its futures position. There are no "savings" for the airlines at the moment.

You won't see airlines prices coming down any time soon. Our flights to Anaheim and to Orlando are now up to $800/person (as opposed to what we used to get a year ago, which was $550/person), so we aren't happy about it either.

Whoa! Yowch! I guess things can definitely get worse.

Too bad you don't have SW yet, b/c then you could buy now and get the lower price later.

Yeah, this would be great. Good old Montana, last to get everything. Okay, yeah, we've got that "last best place" going, but I'm always trying to convince my DH that we should move to CA. I'm a big city girl at heart!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

We're going in April and hoping airfare drops! I didn't know about the contracts part of it; that makes sense. Here's to hoping those contracts end soon and airfare drops!!

 

[disneyscootergal]

Nebraska. I've only been flying to Anaheim since 2004. It was $223 then. And this January, the price is currently $222. Keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way. If not, I'm just going to use my airline miles to get some "free" tickets. At one point (2006, maybe?) it was in the $330 range.

By the way...LOVE your avatar.

Thanks! I'm a huge "Office" fan, even though it is terribly politically incorrect!

 

[SarahDISer]

Take heart, my friends.

We need to budget approx $3000 per person for our flights from NZ.

It soon adds up for our family of four - ouch

Everytime DH and I start talking about having another baby we despair at the extra plane ticket we would need if we want to go anywhere

 

[JaneJetson]

Take heart, my friends.

We need to budget approx $3000 per person for our flights from NZ.

It soon adds up for our family of four - ouch

Everytime DH and I start talking about having another baby we despair at the extra plane ticket we would need if we want to go anywhere

It cost my husband and I around $1500 or $1600 for airfare for our honeymoon to the bahamas two years ago.

 

[rainyday77]

I found an excellent website called farecast.live.com
Within 3 months of departure it will give you a prediction as to whether flights will remain the same, go up, or go down. I plan to use it as we plan a trip to DL in Feb. Hope this helps .

 

[Katiebell]

Where is "here"? I'm in Montana. The 1st year we went to DL, it was about $125 per person to fly from Great Falls to SNA; now it's almost $600 per person. I've been checking regularly, and trying other airports. 2 weeks ago I found a $450 from Great Falls to Long Beach (got the idea from these boards). Just checked, and it's up to $558 now.

Have you tried pricing from Billings? My mom lives there, and it seems like airfare is sometimes a bit more reasonable since it's more of a hub. Or how far are you from Salt Lake? I know it's a pain to drive to another city, but sometimes the savings are worth it.