Sunday, September 5, 2010
After Bargains of Recession, Air Fare Soars
During the recession, air fare went down substantially. People stopped taking as many vacations or just flying as much in general and so prices had to go down. However, in recent months, air fare has increased a lot and is now close to what it was pre-recession. This doesn't include the other charges airlines have implemented though, including meals that used to be in the cost of the flight are now for purchase additionally. Other things that have an outside cost are "sleep sets," flying standby, changing your flight, and for checking your bags. Checking bags is one of the biggest issues that many fliers have now, since it can cost $25 just for one bag. For leisure travelers, costs went up 20 to 30 percent, and for business fliers, only 12 percent in the first half of the year. The low fares put pressure on the airlines, and they've been trying to cut back on the amount of seats they offer, even though they have been offering just less, but more packed, flights lately. The price increase should encourage more people to plan their trips ahead of time so they can book flights before they go up even more.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In my opinion the hidden surcharges that airplane carriers have begun charging customers are a marketing tactic for them to be able to drop their prices as to make it seem that flights are more affordable. This seems to be a plan that backfired in their faces because there have been far less people rejoicing over the lower airfare costs and far more people complaining about the fact that airlines charge steep fees for checked luggage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with J. Shaner that this is probably a marketing tactic for airlines but I would like to add that this is the result of a traditional supply demand structure. When the recession hit, the supply of airlines exceeded the demand (people did not have the luxury to travel as they once did) and so the prices/airfares decreased. And that stimulated the demand greatly. However, due to rising energy costs, airlines had to find a way to cover their costs and thus added hidden charges. Also, as the demand has risen, the demand is coming to close to exceeding/being equal to the supply, thus leading to an increase in price levels.
ReplyDelete