Where the Airline Bargains Really Are [and Aren't]

Feb. 14, 2006 — -- The airline industry has achieved a very dubious honor in the nearly 30 years of chaos since deregulation: We've managed to devalue the public's perception of the value of our product to nearly zero, even though it really does cost something to produce.

Now, come on and admit it, because I will, too. Don't you get just the least bit irritated when the airfare for that mini-vacation you saw advertised at $249 comes up at more than $1,000 on your computer screen a week later when you're ready to buy it? I mean, what the heck happened? Do they want to sell me a ticket to London (or Cabo or the Bahamas), or don't they? Maybe I'll just use frequent flyer miles and fly for nothing!

See what I mean? We have a national attitude now that runs something like this: How dare they charge $700 for tickets we could buy last week for $249, or with miles for nothing at all?

Truth is, that $249 fare was never realistic, and it probably cost the airline closer to $400 to provide that seat. If you're acutely aware of that, you can consistently find the real bargains by spotting them the instant they pop up, rather than being rudely surprised when the truly low fare you thought was normal takes a big hike back to reality.

The confusion factor in buying airline flights is more than understandable, in fact, it's become depressingly normal. While the technology of flying is 21st century, the pricing of airline tickets is right out of the 1870s Wild West: unprincipled, chaotic, illogical, and based on whatever the market (and sometimes just plain trickery) will allow.

That $249 price you saw? It probably applied to fewer than 200 seats spread over a three-week period, seats that were alarmingly empty in the reservations computer of that airline. When the people who administer the so-called "yield-management" programs for that airline were alerted, they got busy and created an instant bargain to fill those seats for any revenue they could bring in. You just didn't jump fast enough. But worse, it nudged you into believing that the usual price in that market for that type of flight was somewhere around $249.