Are people really paying these high airfare prices?

[Anonymous]

Trying to see family back home in the Caribbean, but being quoted over $800 - $1,000+ to fly during low season, summer. Never have these prices ever been this high. Just curious if anyone else is going through with paying such high airfare or is there a perception people are holding back?

[Anonymous]

If people were not buying the prices would drop.

[Anonymous]

Just bought tickets out to Seattle...several hundred less than last year.

[Anonymous]

Princes have been high since before covid.

[Anonymous]

We are. Going to see family in Europe next month. First time since the pandemic. We’re paying twice as much on airfare as we did back in 2019.

I wouldn’t pay that much in normal times, but I lost two elderly relatives there during the pandemic and another isn’t doing well recently. It’s a trade off. It’s not ideal, but we’re paying it.

[Anonymous]

Yes people do what they need to do. I have to travel in the summer to a country it’s become very expensive to get to. That’s the only time I can do and I need to see my elderly dad

[Anonymous]

I am looking at prices for next year's spring break and almost had a heart attack. It's crazy.

[Anonymous]

We can't really afford to pay that kind of premium so we don't, but there are ways around it. If you have family in the Caribbean, you should have a credit card that gives you miles on an airline with lots of flights to the airport near your family, and you should use that card to pay for everything (and pay it off every month). This is literally free money.

I can't imagine having family outside the US and not doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just bought tickets out to Seattle...several hundred less than last year.

I think last year people focused on domestic travel, afraid that the borders could close from Covid. This year people are doing the international trips they’ve missed out on the last three years.

[Anonymous]

We have Covid credits we are using

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If people were not buying the prices would drop.

Exactly.

If you look at airline reports, planes are incredibly full, 90%+ load factors across the board.

Reality is that the upper 20% or so of the US population saw significantly increased savings during the worst of the pandemic, and is now spending some of that. It's the main flying demographic.

[Anonymous]

I'm traveling in July to Canada and haven't traveled out o the country in 7 years. I expected it to be much more expensive than it is, and I'm flying business class for the first time ever. I'm using part of my Covid healthcare government bonuses to pay for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If people were not buying the prices would drop.

I don’t know how many people are “buying” tickets in the traditional methods. But I do know that there are a lot more rewards card options and a lot more people are using points/miles for travel than ever before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If people were not buying the prices would drop.

I don’t know how many people are “buying” tickets in the traditional methods. But I do know that there are a lot more rewards card options and a lot more people are using points/miles for travel than ever before.

Doesn't really matter from the airline perspective. They don't care if they sell you a cash ticket directly, or sell miles to a credit card company and then you use those to book the flight.

https://viewfromthewing.com/3-facts-delta-just-dropped-about-skymiles-and-their-american-express-partnership/

They actually like the credit card way better- because they share the interchange fee profit on all your purchases with the credit card company under the licensing deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just bought tickets out to Seattle...several hundred less than last year.

Ballpark price? I’m seeing $1k one-way!