Holiday and More Airfares Going Up

(MoneyWatch)  Surprise! Holiday airfares are going up!

OK, so it's not a surprise. And that means that Tom Parsons from Bestfares.com is at it again, pointing out more holiday surcharges placed on airline tickets. Parsons, who's relatively new on the scene with a Web site that supposedly finds the lowest possible airfare, has quite a publicity machine going. Every two weeks or so, Parsons sends out a press release heavily featuring himself that's turned into a story by the Associated Press, Bloomberg and USA Today. (I add myself to those ranks, too.) Not a bad gig for a guy with a Web site.

According to the various stories, US Airways is adding a 5 percent surcharge on all flights on or after May 8, while Delta, Northwest and United will goose its $20 each-way charge to $30 in March and April, with a $50 fee for flights on Monday, Feb. 8 (the day after the Super Bowl?!?)

US Airways says it's a hedge against rising fuel costs (man, that's so 2008!) while United said it was done to match a fare increase by Southwest Airlines. However, the real reason is that with airlines cutting capacity, that means less seats on even fewer routes. Add that there are even less people in those seats than a year ago, it becomes clear that airlines are determined to make up that shortfall by any means/fee possible.

We'll see how much longer airlines can keep bleeding their cash cow before actually killing it.