Rhyme or reason to airline prices???
#1
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Join Date: Aug 2003
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Rhyme or reason to airline prices???
I've been looking at airfares from BHM to MAD for a trip next March/April. Delta's "deeply discounted coach" fare has been $630 since I first started looking in June. Suddenly it has jumped to $750. Is there any reason to suspect that this is related to the price of oil and since gas prices spiked a few weeks ago and have now started easing back down that airfares might also come down? Or, do prices only go up?
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Join Date: Jan 2003
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If you don't mind changing planes in Dallas and Miami, Orbitz shows an American fare of $479 (I plugged in leaving in March, returning in April).
Even better on Orbitz, Delta is showing only $486 stopping in Atlanta.
Even better on Orbitz, Delta is showing only $486 stopping in Atlanta.
#5
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Prices are based on the amount of competition an airline has on each route (or as the airlines describe it, "the market") and computers continually monitor the number of seats sold on each flight..continually re-pricing the remaining unsold seats to get the flight as far beyond the "break even" point as possible.
That said, prices can flutuate almost until the time the airplane door is closed...there is no guarantee that the price of a flight paid for long in advance won't drop (or increase). In other words, a total crap shoot.
Best strategy is to fly out of airports that have lots of competition on the route you want but, as you already know, that isn't always possible.
I would never peg my hopes for a flight price on the cost of gasoline since these may be totally unrelated to the price of jet fuel (JP4). Good luck.
That said, prices can flutuate almost until the time the airplane door is closed...there is no guarantee that the price of a flight paid for long in advance won't drop (or increase). In other words, a total crap shoot.
Best strategy is to fly out of airports that have lots of competition on the route you want but, as you already know, that isn't always possible.
I would never peg my hopes for a flight price on the cost of gasoline since these may be totally unrelated to the price of jet fuel (JP4). Good luck.