Will it ever end?
Don’t hold your breath folks, according to travel analysts, finding affordable summer airfare will be tougher than ever this year.
The news is bad and it’s getting worse as six of North America’s largest carriers announced (yet again) that they plan to raise prices for flights on many domestic routes where there’s no non-stop stop competition from low-fare carriers. That means if you are looking to fly non-stop from Chicago to Honolulu or Detroit to Providence your chances of finding decent airfares on American, United, Delta, Northwest, Continental or US Airways are slim to none.
According to travel experts, the cheapest tickets available on many domestic routes in July are 100% to 300% higher than a year ago. Unless, of course, you are traveling that Detroit-Providence route I mentioned earlier. That particular trip is currently selling for $595 round trip, or 365% more than the same ticket was selling for last June. (Last summer you could fly that same route for $128.)
And that’s not the only route that has been affected by the skyrocketing cost of fuel. According to airfare watchdog groups, the lowest-priced round-trip fare for non-stop service between Houston and Pittsburgh is $460, up 132% from $198 a year ago. Travelers flying between Philadelphia and San Diego are now paying $780 for a non-stop flight. That’s up 228% from $239 last June.
Yesterday the Air Transport Association released new data, which revealed that in April, U.S. domestic passengers paid an average of 13.34 cents to fly one mile. Compare that to a year ago when the average price was 12.66 cents.
Experts warn that the historic rates for airfares won’t decrease anytime soon. So for those of you who decided to do away with your plans to jet off to someplace fabulous this summer in hopes that airfares will dip in time for a winter jaunt to a tropical locale–things are not looking so bright.
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