Airfare/Travel Questions

[chrisd]

Delta Airlines flight 1104 goes from Honolulu to Salt Lake City, and flight 1105 flies the reverse. If I book a non-stop round trip from HNL to SLC from January 11 to January 18, the price is $936

 

If I book a trip from Honolulu to Las Vegas on Delta on the same dates, and the departing flight is 1104 to SLC, and the return flight is 1105 from SLC, the price is $393!

 

Assuming I wanted to go to SLC, what would happen if I booked the flight to Las Vegas, had only carry-on luggage, and got off at SLC? Could I get on flight 1105 on the 18th, or would my ticket be voided or would I experience some other trouble because I didn't board the connecting flight to Vegas on the 11th?

 

Is there any logic to this pricing?

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Nope. You would have done a voluntary separation by not boarding the continuation to Las Vegas. Plus, you would have had to board 1105 in Las Vegas for your ticket to be valid.

 

There is no logic to the pricing. It depends on too many factors.

[notacop]

"Is there any logic to this pricing?"

 

Of course there is but the Airlines are not sharing it with you. If they did they'd have to kill themselves.

[David]

Just buy what's called a "back to back" ticket and use the first half of each.

[chrisd]

Just buy what's called a "back to back" ticket and use the first half of each.

 

I had to look that one up here.

 

So I could buy two tickets and as you say, use the first half of each one. I'd save $150. That's a great idea.

 

Another option is to go on through to Vegas, then book a round trip from Vegas to SLC for $145. A little more flying, but I'll save $399.

 

So it's significantly cheaper to fly from HNL to SLC to LAS to SLC to LAS to SLC to HNL than it is to fly from HNL to SLC to HNL. Crazy.

[bayoubengal]

I've been a Delta pilot for 12 years and can tell you there is no logic to airfares that you or I can understand. The marketing department has it down to a science but I have come to accept that I will never know. So they just show me my appreciation on the 1st and the 15th...

[chrisd]

I guess the craziest one I've seen is Honolulu to Sydney, Australia. This summer Hawaiian and Qantas were around $1,700 and American and United were around $1,500. Hawaiian and Qantas are non-stop and the others go through Los Angeles. Round trip non-stop is 10,160 miles. Through Los Angeles it's 20,100 miles. 10,000 more miles flown for $200 less. Something ain't right.

[pbbeck]

I just paid $699 to fly LAX-SYD over Thanksgiving on United. Actual flight miles were 7,487. It's costing me more than that just to fly to BOS for Christmas.

[bmw_rider]

Delta would cancel your remaining itinerary entirely. Why not just book a separate to/from flight from Vegas to SLC? Certainly can find one that is less than $600+, and likely very near to original schedule?

 

Most airlines have figured out the 'back to back', and charge you the difference before boarding the second back.

[DaveTheAffable]

Is there any logic to this pricing?

 

Well, people are always talking about the "wealth of knowledge" on the site. Many years ago I did some programming work for the airlines. It's all about "RPM", or Revenue Passenger Miles.

 

And it's complex. "If a flight goes from NYC to Denver to Los Angeles, they lose money on the NYC to LAX leg if someone buys a Denver to LAX leg. But that might be ok if during that time of the year, people in Denver are going to LAX to connect to a flight going to Hawaii...." and on, and on.

 

And then, "How many flights should we hold in reserve for the last minute business traveller? Why sell 10 seats for $399 2 weeks in advance, if we know from experience we can sell all 10 seats 2 days before the flight for $599?"

 

It is VERY complex. But, if there weren't calculations like this done, you'd have no discount fares going anywhere.

[David]

Most airlines have figured out the 'back to back', and charge you the difference before boarding the second back.

 

Nope. I'm a professional traveler, if there is such a thing, and I do it all the time.

[chrisolson]

Most airlines have figured out the 'back to back', and charge you the difference before boarding the second back.

 

Nope. I'm a professional traveler, if there is such a thing, and I do it all the time.

 

Difference between knowledge and enforcement

 

Delta

[CarrotNC]

The craziness continues:

American Airlines roundtrip RDU-LHR = $1403

Iberia codeshare with AA = $764

 

Details show it's the same aircraft leaving/landing at the same time as the AA flights, leaving me to believe it truly is the same flights. But nearly half price?!?

 

Granted, I'm looking five months ahead of travel dates, but still, that's nuts!

[VinnyR11]

If you're willing to skip non-stop, Kayak.com has a few flights with one stop in the $500 range.

 

Some have long layovers and wouldn't be a good choice, but there a couple that add about 3 hours total (including the extra flight) for $560 on Delta for the dates you are looking for.

[Mike]

Gary--

 

I'll reveal some bias here--my wife is a travel agent. But, here's the deal: they have more experience saving people money on airfares than anyone, and they have automated systems that track airfares after a reservation has been made, so if a better fare comes along, you're rebooked at the lower rate. They also can serve as an advocate when things go belly-up, getting you on backup flights and salvaging travel plans. My wife deals with wealthy clients, but it's still astonishing to me how often she can arrive at a travel solution that saves her clients thousands in airfare. It's equally astonishing how many people call her for help when their web-booked travel plans go up in smoke. Of course, in those instances, it's hard for her to do anything since she doesn't have access to the traveler's reservation record.

 

The big travel websites, like Travelocity and Expedia, give you a better chance of saving money than dealing directly with the airlines', but they are still crude and adhere to airline policies that can cost you a lot of money. The airlines utilize yield management software that constantly changes the cost to travel between city pairs; my wife tells me that it's not unusual for there to be a couple hundred fares generated for seats on a single flight, greatly complicating the task of getting the best deal.

 

Given the sophistication of how airlines endeavor to reach into your wallet, it amazes me that they still manage to lose a lot of money.

[CarrotNC]

Mike, thanks for the note. And after the great experience of using a travel agent for multiple flight origins (couple friends traveling) to Oktoberfest a few years ago, I'm sold on their services for oddball trips.

 

This upcoming trip is for the Isle of Man races next year so we're locked into the dates and will definitely use an agent for the exact reasons you've laid out -- the risks of any changes blowing apart the travel plans just aren't worth avoiding the few bucks an agent charges. The agents bring so much to the table!

 

I just like to check out the price ranges and see what's happening myself. And frequently shake my head, and sometimes laugh out loud at people who run the ticketing on airlines.