Students looking to fly home for Thanksgiving break may encounter higher-than-expected prices this year.
Citing travel booking site Travelocity’s analysis of flight costs for Nov. 17 to 27, USA Today reported on Tuesday that costs have increased due to fluctuating fuel prices and reduced seating availability. The price for the average domestic round trip will be $386, taxes included, which marks an increase of almost 9 percent from this period last year.
The senior editor at Travelocity, Courtney Scott, said in the USA Today article that airlines sometimes include surcharges of $20 to $40 one way during peak travel times, but people buying tickets for the holiday may be able to save money if they adjust their travel schedules to fly on lighter travel days.
Graduate student Courtney Book, who is flying home to Caribou, Maine, did just that, opting to leave the Thursday before Thanksgiving break and to return the following Monday. Book said it is cheaper to fly Tuesday through Thursday than to travel Friday through Monday because on Friday people fly out for the weekend and on Monday people fly out for business trips.
“If you go toward the middle of the week, it’s cheaper,” Book said. “That’s the way (the airlines) work.”
Book’s ticket still cost about $800, and she bought her ticket in August. She said this cost is comparable to what she has paid in previous years, however, because her destination is fairly remote.
Airlines are trying to generate more revenue by charging a basic price for a seat and offering fee-based options for things like more spacious seating, early boarding and meals, an article in Time magazine said.
These price increases and additional fees come at a time when the airline industry is in a state of change, including bankruptcy and mergers.
American Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last November, meaning that the company is reorganizing to keep its business running and plans to repay its creditors over time. Meanwhile, US Airways reported a record third-quarter profit of $192 million on Wednesday, more than double what it made during this same period in 2011, and is seeking to merge with American, but the carrier wants to wait to consider merging until after it has left bankruptcy, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Likewise, Delta Air Lines, which merged with Northwest a few years ago, nearly doubled its profit from what it made this time last year, reporting a $1.05 billion profit for the third quarter on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.
The AP also reported that during the third quarter, fuel costs dropped 23 percent and operating costs dropped 4 percent. These savings will apparently not be passed on to consumers, though, as Scott said people waiting too long to purchase a round-trip ticket could end up paying about $600.
Book said she would like it if airlines would make price accommodations for college students.
“It’s really expensive,” Book said. “It’d be nice if airlines would work with the students who are trying to travel long distances to go home for the holidays.”
