Low Air Fares Getting Rare
Just it time for the busy summer travel season, air fares are going up, and turning conventional travel wisdom upside-down.
"They're already up a little bit over 10 percent so far, and could be up another 5, 6 percent come summertime," says Vera Gibbons of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.
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So what can people do to lock in the lowest fares possible?
"They're not really out there," Gibbons responded. "The best advice I can say is to book early. It's not a procrastinator's market like it used to be. It used to be that planes were going out half-full and people could bank on a last-minute deal. That's not the case today. (Those $99 cross-country flights) are disappearing as we speak."
Something else that might help is heading for a destination that's not necessarily "hot" in summer.
And, urges Gibbons, watch those add-ons: "Many of the legacy (older) carriers, because of increased fuel costs and because of the increased competition from the discount carriers, have started to charge passengers for the services we once took for granted, which were always free. Stuff like assigned seating."
Among the newer charges, and typical amounts:
"They're going to charge you for just about anything they can," Gibbons advised. "… Some of these costs are unavoidable. The pillow and blanket cost, for instance. Some airlines are actually going to start charging for little things like pretzels.
"This is a relatively new trend, an emerging trend. If you haven't traveled in awhile and you're planning on traveling this summer, you could be in for a rude awakening.
"You really have to watch that. Last year, we spent half a billion dollars on excess baggage fees alone."
If you incurred all of the add-ons Gibbons mentioned, it would add $164 to your fare.
"That's a significant amount of money," Gibbons said. "But the bag stuff is the critical one. I would try to keep it to a limit. One bag, two bags, max. And really know the weight requirements and all that."
The lighter, the better, she said: "If the bag is over 50 pounds, you're going to be charged at least $25. If you have a third bag, it's about $80. So those fees do add up."
Ironically, customers are happiest with the discount airlines, according to a recent survey, which put JetBlue on top, followed by AirTran, Independence Air (which is now out of business), Southwest and United.
Gibbons says discount airlines are less likely to charge for pillows, curbside check-in and other services.
"This is the 16th annual airline quality survey," Gibbons said. "JetBlue was No. 1 for the third year running. … Southwest has the lowest number of customer complaints overall.
"What this tells us, essentially, is the discount carriers are more responsive to customer expectations than the legacies, the big ones, the Americans, the Continentals and US Airways of the world."