Summer fares soar out of SFO
May 11th, 2010
I’ve been predicting a busy, expensive summer when it comes to air travel for a few months now. That’s because airline capacity is down, but demand is increasing as the economy continues to strengthen. When you combine those two factors, the result is higher prices. Which is exactly where the airlines want us to be.
So now that it’s time for me to start booking my summer trips, it looks like those predictions of high prices are coming home to roost.
Here’s a sampling of what I’m looking at…and what you’ll find, too. Ouch!
$500 to New York City. I need to be in New York in early June to meet with a large international airline. I need to take a morning departure from here to arrive in New York in the evening. The cheapest midweek nonstop fare I can find is $513 on American. There are a few one-stops or red-eyes in the $400 range, but I’m not willing to do that for $100 in savings.
$520 to Boston. I’m taking a work/vacation trip to Massachusetts straddling the July 4 holiday weekend, which means peak prices, so there’s no getting around high fares– in this case $520 round trip on United. Again, I can get a slightly cheaper fare for a one-stop or red eye, but I’m not willing to take that much time out of my holiday to save less than $100.
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$380 to Atlanta. I own a rental house in Atlanta that I like to go check on each summer. The cheapest nonstop coach fare on AirTran in June is running $377. Delta wants $409. Not horrible, but I’ve paid as little as $220 on this route in recent years.
$450 to Houston. In August, the National Business Travel Association is having its annual convention in Houston. I try to hit this one up each year because it’s so important to my business. But that $450 fare is making me think twice. This might be a case where I’d be willing to take a one-stop flight on Frontier or Southwest where the lowest fare is running about $340.
$1500 to Europe. Since I’m going to Massachusetts for my summer vacation, I won’t be hitting Greece in August. But I still like to THINK about going to Greece in August (despite the recent unrest). But not this year. With airlines reducing frequencies across the Atlantic, and demand increasing, fares are soaring. The least expensive one-stop flight from SFO to Athens in mid-August is now $1520. It’s like that all over Europe this summer. London nonstops are already about $1200 round trip. Frankfurt nonstops are $1500 in August. If you find anything under $1000, book it now!
(Note: I did a quick scan of fares on Kayak.com on Tues. May 11. Fares will undoubtedly change…but I doubt they will decrease much!)
Where are YOU going this summer? Have you checked fares yet? Please leave a comment below and let us know what sort of fares you’re looking at.
I think Continental its a better airline than UNITED. I have seen in United a lot of inconsistency in their brand name in Central and Latin America, and have left their traffic to TACA which is not a good airline.
Passengers in Guatemala prefer American flag airlines than TACA due to its bad service. On the contrary CONTINENTAL AIRLINES its easy to pronounce anywhere in the world and easier to remember.
UNITED have lacked of a good advertising program to attract customers. For instance it would be better to have a flight Chicago to Guatemala city than to fly the central american airline.
I think CONTINENTAL HAVE TO BE careful to not damage their reputation… and United has to change the way they do business and probably CONTINENTAL has that strength.
It probably would be better to name the airlines UNITED CONTINENTAL WORLD AIRLINE.
I HOPE ALL GOES WELL AND REMEMBER TO FLY DIRECT TO GUATEMALA CITY.. AND NOT THRU TACA AIRLINES.
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I jumped on my $1250 fare to London as soon as I could!