CHICAGO — Holiday flights are more expensive this year thanks
to ever-increasing surcharges on top of rising ticket costs and baggage fees.
The nation’s largest airlines already have boosted the
holiday-travel surcharges they first announced in September. Plus, they’ve
added another 31 dates next year — for a total of 41 days — when the extra fees
will be in effect.
“Airlines like these surcharges because it lets them
tinker with their prices,” said Rick Seaney, chief executive of
FareCompare.com. “It’s really hard for airlines to raise base airfares
because people quit buying tickets.”
It’s also cheaper and easier for airlines to tack on fees
rather than raise prices because fare changes must be reported to an industry
clearinghouse — and that costs money.
For holiday travel, travelers can expect to pay a $20
surcharge — that’s doubled since September — for travel on 10 days in December.
Most of those dates are before and right after Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
There are other costs, too. Baggage fees are higher on some
airlines, as are flight-change fees. Plus, airfares have spiked as the holidays
approach, though many fares will rise and fall based on the day of the week you
fly as well as the day of the week you buy.
While many fares are still 2 percent to 4 percent less than
what they were a year ago, the gap is closing quickly, said Tom Parsons, chief
executive of BestFares.com. Since late summer, Parsons estimates that fares are
up 50 percent on average and substantially higher than that on some routes. A
roundtrip, nonstop flight he booked from Dallas to Tampa, for example, cost
$268 in August. A month later, that same itinerary cost $238. Today, it’s $768.
A roundtrip, nonstop flight from Chicago to Los Angeles from
Dec. 23 to Dec. 27 would have cost $385 if purchased on Nov. 17, said George
Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog.com. On Friday, that same trip was $425, 10
percent higher in only three days.
“A $10 surcharge is such a drop in the bucket compared
to what they’re charging over the normal fares,” Hobica said. Fees add
“insult to injury but it’s not the injury.”
Next year, expect more fees. For example, travel on Feb. 8
will cost an extra $50 for people leaving from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale or West
Palm Beach airports on United Airlines, American Airlines, Continental
Airlines, Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines. Why? Because that’s the Monday
after the Super Bowl, which is in Miami next year. That’s typically one of the
heaviest flying days of the year.
Plus, those five airlines have added $10 surcharges on all
flights over Easter weekend, April 1 to April 4. On April 5, a Monday,
passengers can expect to shell out $30 extra. US Airways is skipping the
special-dates surcharge in favor of adding an extra 5 percent for all flights
beginning May 8 through September.
And here’s another problem holiday travelers are facing:
changing flight schedules. BestFares’ Parsons said that airlines must change
schedules to accommodate travelers when so many planes have been taken out of
the system.
“Now is the time to get on the horn or go to the Web
site and see if your flight numbers on your itinerary match what’s on their
site,” Parsons said. “Otherwise you could end up at the airport an
hour after the plane has taken off.”
That’s not to say there aren’t any deals left or won’t show
up. “Do not give up hope,” Hobica said. “We’ve seen it before. A
few days before the holiday, fares drop in some markets.” An empty seat is
lost revenue that can never be recovered.
The laws of supply and demand are kicking in for airlines
this year compared to last year, when the economy was tanking and consumers
were mostly staying grounded. With so many empty seats last year the industry
was scrambling to fill flights with deep discounts.
This year, there are fewer planes in the air. The number of
domestic flights was 4 percent lower in October than in September — that’s
31,691 fewer flights. That led to a 5 percent drop in seats, or 3.5 million
fewer seats, according to OAG Aviation, an industry global data and information
business.
That’s on top of as much as 10 percent capacity pulled out
of the air in 2008.
As anyone who has flown recently can attest, many flights
are packed and often overbooked. But because business travel hasn’t returned
strongly, airlines are relying on price-sensitive leisure travelers. As a
result, these full flights aren’t making as much money as they used to.
“It’s crazy behavior,” said FareCompare’s Seaney.
“The bottom line is the airlines really need those business travelers to
get back before things get back to normalcy.”
Via MClatchy-Tribune News Service.
