Saturday, June 11, 2011

Airline economics

For flying from Charlottesville, VA to Dallas-Forth Worth the cheapest round trip I have found has a listed price of $268 (with taxes it's $310). I can get this two ways, according to Kayak. I can either fly Delta Airlines and connect through Atlanta, or I can fly United Airlines and connect through Dulles (Washington, D.C.). Now here's the kicker: if I fly directly to DFW from Dulles, the round trip now costs $100 more. So I'm actually paying less money to take more flights, and not only that, I'm paying less money to take the same flight as I otherwise would have, simply by starting in a different location.

The only explanation seems to be competition: the price United is offering is set by the price Delta has offered. It would be even cheaper to fly to DFW directly from Atlanta, but of course that's not cheaper for me, since I can't drive that far. On the other hand, if you live in D.C. and need to fly to DFW, and if you have any friends near Charlottesville, you might consider hitching a ride down here only so you can fly back to D.C. before going to DFW: you'll be saving money in the process!

By the way, if anyone is free to give me a ride to the Charlottesville airport on July 28...I'd appreciate it.

No comments:

Post a Comment

I love to hear feedback!