Has the mergers in the airlines lead to the mess we have?

[sponica]

@Darcy03231 you're still stuck in the same traffic though. I took a crack of dawn bus to get to south station, and traffic had already built up. Seriously a 5 AM bus and there was TRAFFIC. If there was some magic way to get rid of the traffic....until then I'll pay the cost premium to avoid it.

 

[Darcy03231]

@Darcy03231 you're still stuck in the same traffic though. I took a crack of dawn bus to get to south station, and traffic had already built up. Seriously a 5 AM bus and there was TRAFFIC. If there was some magic way to get rid of the traffic....until then I'll pay the cost premium to avoid it.

I think we've only hit bad traffic once (due to an accident), but we try to plan our flight times so that we're not traveling during commuting hours. Dh commuted to Boston for over 30 years and knows the times to avoid. A couple of times when we've had super early morning flights we take the bus down the night before and stay overnight in Boston (or do the reverse if we're getting in really late at night) since we live about 2 hours from Logan.

 

[KPeterso]

I have found great prices the last few years. I am paying $384 roundtrip LAX to MCO in September in Delta Comfort. I paid about the same last year. It was $320 round trip in March in regular economy on Delta. I do need next March airfare to start coming down a bit! For direct flights LAX to MCO, I can choose from Delta, United, American, and I think one other (Jet Blue maybe?). Southwest has stops and is always way more expensive than the 3 legacy airlines. I am definitely paying less the last few years for Comfort (or Economy Plus or whatever other airlines call it) than I was 5-6 years ago. I do have to pay for the longer Uber ride from my home to LAX than SNA (live 5 minutes from there), but the direct flights and difference in price is still worth it!

 

[artesian]

This may come off looking like an attack, but I don't mean it to be. But, if you haven't flown in four years, how can you make statements like the following:



Maybe I'm reading to much into your post. But, it sounds like you're letting media reports influence your opinion of companies that you don't use.

Remember, the loudest voices are rarely represent the majority. I think it's worth noting that US airlines transport over 2.4 million passengers every day. You don't hear about all the people who get to their destinations safely and on-time because it's so common. The media only reports on the tiny number of "bad" experiences.

In terms of pricing, it is true that it does cost more on average that it 10 years ago. But, when you adjust for inflation, the cost to travel by air is lower than it was when comparing back to 1990.

In this chart, the bottom line is the average price paid for the "all-in" rate that includes fees like baggage. The top line is the inflation-adjusted price using 2018 as the basis.

View attachment 421846

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a fan of the airlines. But, as other people have noted, there's so much more driving what's happening in the transportation sector than mergers.

Data Sources:
Total Passengers: http://airlines.org/industry/#safety
Round-Trip Prices: http://airlines.org/dataset/annual-round-trip-fares-and-fees-domestic/

I still business travel all the time. Leisure no way. Media is no way influencing my feelings.

Didn't take it as an attack but i could have stated I am a once a month type flyer. If the company is paying I'm not complaining about fairs.

 

[keishashadow]

I think it has caused higher prices, less competition. Here in Pittsburgh, USAir was our main airline for years, then they dropped the hub. Southwest came in with low prices, it was great! I remember $58 each way. Then US dropped the non-stop Orlando route and then SW prices started going up. Spirit sometimes has low prices but only one flight a day. Frontier and Allegiant are also available but not flying everyday, which makes me nervous.

I made the mistake of booking December 1 to 7, not thinking that December 1 is the Sunday after Thanksgiving and a big travel day. SW is $360 one way. Spirit is the same, not even including their fees!

Spirit has dropped by half for several days Thanksgiving week out of PIT but not the actual weekend.

Rate was slightly more than i paid for SWA (day of release) for flight on that Friday.

Sitting on 2 RT in area of $600 on SWA. Last few years the same trip did drop substantially by the time we traveled, but not too sure this year will follow suit.

 

[fractalpotato]

And I hate getting to Logan, because what should only take 45 minutes takes anywhere from an hour to 2.5 hours depending on traffic/construction/accidents/weather/the four horsemen of the apocalypse

All of my worst domestics flying experiences involved Logan. I hate that airport. I switched to rail to get to/from Boston from NY because of that airport.

That said, the JetBlue flights I've seen out of there have always been competitively priced, including to MCO.

Matt