Home > Still Traveling > Archives > 2006 > March > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USPaying more to fly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What do you think about airfares going up to cover rising costs?
On the one hand, I feel the higher prices are justified — the airlines need the cash to cover unbelievably high fuel costs. On the other, I’m not getting a big raise to cover the huge rise in the cost of gasoline for my car and my budget is stretched, too. A trip to Memphis to visit family last year cost me under $150 roundtrip on sale; this year, it’s going to be more like $170 or more on sale.
And I’m worried that if prices go too high, many leisure travelers will decide to stay home, and ultimately hurting the airlines’ bottom line. What do you think? Are you willing to pay an extra $10, $20, $50 or more for a destination or will rising prices force you to assess whether to drive or stay home?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: About the airlines
Comments
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By krad
March 10, 2006 10:27 AM | Link to this
I agree that the fuel costs provide justification for some price adjustments. But I keep hearing about plans to charge more for luggage, srucharge for midsection seats with more leg room, $1.50 for a soda, etc. What nonsense! If I can’t bring my stuff with me on my trip without paying extra, that is like a restaurant charging me for a plate..or an extra glass when I order water. The standard 1 carryon 1 checked with the price of a ticket, is just fine.Notwithstanding business travel, it is going to p** off travelers if they start getting nickeled and dimed in this manner - ON TOP OF added fuel costs. They were begging people to resume travel a few years ago.
By Amanda Miller
March 10, 2006 11:22 AM | Link to this
Hi Krad
You have a very good point on the extra charges. It’s hard to believe that only a few years ago, you got a free meal with your free Cola, even if it wasn’t that great a meal. Now you get charged if your luggage is a few pounds over the limit.
Amadna
By E. Lewis
March 10, 2006 11:25 AM | Link to this
Driving isn’t much of an alternative, so I just don’t travel as much.
By flyUpay
March 10, 2006 12:07 PM | Link to this
Like everything else, prices for all goods and services, the cost to fly continues to go up while wages increases have stagnated. I don’t think that the airlines should be subsidized by the public, nor should they receive special treatment from government. They shoul apply some of this “supply and demand” that we are always hearing about. If it cost the airlines $1000 for a round trip ticket from Atlanta to New York then thats what the flyers should pay, and if you can’t afford it then don’t go, or find an alternative. Then the airlines would be forced to “adapt or die out” as all others businesses.
By Lisa Stauffer
March 10, 2006 1:03 PM | Link to this
If the airline raises prices $10 or $20 or even $50, it will probably still be less of a factor in our travel than the other costs. For instance, with this NYC trip we’re planning — we got airfares for about $250 each (I’m paying two, one for me and one for my daughter). The shows and meals will cost lots more than that, as plays seem to start at $85 for the “cheap” seats. But the hotel will be the bulk of our costs ($250/night for two). So if the airfare had been, say $300 or even $350, it still would not have been the monetary factor that made or broke this trip.
However, this NYC trip is an exception for us. Unless we’re traveling overseas, we usually drive and stay/eat as inexpensively as we can. This allows our family of 4 to travel much more often than most of the people we know.
By Amanda Miller
March 13, 2006 12:39 PM | Link to this
Lisa’s comment is a good one — hotels have fully recovered after the slump following Sept. 11, and they’re near full occupancy and getting top dollar for their rooms. It’s hard to complain about a $250 roundtrip airfare when you’re willing (or forced) to pay that for one night in a hotel. It starts to look like a bargain. On the other hand, if it’s a location you can drive to for under 8 hours, justifying the $250 airfare becomes a problem for me.
By RWH
March 31, 2006 12:33 PM | Link to this
Many Airlines are having a difficult time. High fuel cost actually is the problem; couple with medical/retirement benefits. Like everything else, what do they do and what we have accepted is…paying high cost to travel. Airlines must stand on their own-free-operatonal guidelines; not actually punishing the traveler. Putting things in a nice way; the more expensive it is to fly; people will drive or take other means of transportations. Air is not the only way to travel and to me; it is a lot of hassle getting to and from. But, noone see things in this perspective!
By malinda
April 13, 2006 11:13 AM | Link to this
So drive to California and see how long it takes you, how much it costs your, what kind of delays you have and listen to your own screaming kids for 3 days. So people don’t complain when you are only paying $100 to go to California and your flight is delayed because the pilots they now hire are substandard because anyone smart enough to be a good pilot is now in another career. Don’t be mad when your plane is broken because the Mexicans doing the overalls (who get paid $3 and hour) didn’t put the right parts on it. Don’t get mad when you don’t have food or pillows or leg room. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. WHEN YOU BOUGHT THAT RIDE IN THE UGO/OR PINTO BECAUSE IT WAS CHEAP, DID YOU REALLY THINK IT WOULD PERFORM AND BE AS SAFE AS A VOLVO? SO GET USED TO SAYING MOOOOO BECAUSE YOU ARE NOW LOOKED AT AS CATTLE