Just an FYI-buy your tickets NOW

[greatam]

Thanks for sharing your insight, Greatam.

 

As we are a family of frequent travellers, I've forwarded your advice on.

 

You are welcome. Fuel/oil keeps my business moving. It is truly getting spooky out there.

DOE average for this week is $3.71 per gallon for diesel, up $.14 in a week (and this was DOE last week-before the super spike this week-new DOE on Monday). When you burn 150 gallons of fuel per day per truck, that is a chunk of change for 62 trucks. And DOE is an AVERAGE across the USA. The East Coast and California (where we concentrate our business) are bordering on $4.00 per gallon and above. At 5.5 MPG, it hurts big time.

 

Aviation is not in a better position. For my employees/customers trips to Europe for the Spring/Summer food shows, the prices have risen almost $200 in just a week. Buying all those tickets hurt like h***, but I am still banking on 30 years experience to head off what is most likely coming down the road.

[cmich068]

But ironically' date=' West Jet's fares have gone down (in one case, from $509 to $238). I booked the four of us from Ottawa to Tampa for $2600, taxes in. It was going to cost $2300 out of Syracuse, NY but then you add a 3 hour drive, hotel and baggage fees.

It pays to watch the fares closely and know a deal when you see one.

BTW, what's the city above Toronto??? Love the reference![/quote']

 

The City Above Toronto is Vaughan, but i've actually been living in Ottawa for about two years now :)

 

I've booked one-way FLL-YOW for $249 Nonstop on WestJet, but i'm waiting to book my flight down (flying from Toronto to Orlando about a week before is my plan, cheapest right now is $279 with a connection on Delta, not including bag fees.)

[Mom2B&Z]

We paid $238 each, one way. That's a great improvement over $509 YOW to TPA, which was the original price when the date was first released. It was lumped in with the Christmas pricing...we leave Dec 29. There's a transfer on the way down, but I can manage a transfer in Toronto when I'm saving $180x4!!!

We live outside Ottawa, about an hour from the airport :)

 

The City Above Toronto is Vaughan, but i've actually been living in Ottawa for about two years now :)

 

I've booked one-way FLL-YOW for $249 Nonstop on WestJet, but i'm waiting to book my flight down (flying from Toronto to Orlando about a week before is my plan, cheapest right now is $279 with a connection on Delta, not including bag fees.)

[Lois R]

Some of us cannot book our airfare now. JetBlue is starting a new

itinerary in May from here in Jacksonville DIRECT to San Juan:):D

but right now there are no new itineraries offered. So no way to

book:eek:...oh well.

[Bowie MeMe]

Yesterday booked American Airlines from MIA (Miami) to GYE (Guayaquil Ecuador) for $571 roundtrip taxes etc in. There was not a fuel surcharge as of Saturday. This trip is August 10. My flight down to Miami using AirTran at $108 each way. Usually I like to watch the price for awhile and see if it drifts down but this year I think the vacation season is going to be high. Hard to tell about the January 2012 trip to RIO and back probably from Lima Peru. Can not book yet as I have to get flight to Easter Island in and don't know what days they fly.

[bqkali]

Wish I had seen this sooner :eek: I've been debating between two flights for a trip in June (SFO-RIC) and didn't book anything since I was still planning the trip and didn't know if I wanted to fly back on Saturday or Sunday...would've just booked one and made it work ;) if I had been thinking about what would happen to flight prices. On Thursday of last week, I could have flown for $165pp (one-way) and now the price is $250. OOPS!!

[ger_77]

We're doing a Baltic cruise in late July so we bit the bullet in January and purchased our flights. I checked online yesterday and they've gone up $400 per person; that's travelling from mid-western Canada to Amsterdam. Glad we bought when we did!

 

Smooth Sailing! :):):)

[mara93]

I'm looking for flights to visit family in SJU in June & OMGGGGGGG ....

[MMDown Under]

"The United/Continental airlines’ grouping is to cut capacity in response to rising fuel prices.

 

"United Continental Holdings is to make a 1% cut in May followed by a 4% reduction in September.

 

Flight frequencies will be reduced, the start of new flights will be “indefinitely” postponed and less profitable routes will be dropped. “Concurrent with the capacity reductions, the company is also analysing the removal of certain less fuel-efficient aircraft from its fleet and will be taking other cost saving measures,” the group said.

 

Fourth quarter consolidated US domestic capacity is expected to drop by 5% and international capacity by 2% compared to the same period last year.

 

The measures are being taken on the back of a 1.1% drop in traffic across the two partner carriers in February over the equivalent month last year. The Star Alliance carriers currently operate around 5,675 flights a day to 372 airports on six continents."

 

Travel Weekly

[Fishon28]

Southwest just lowered their airfare for the first time in a few weeks today

 

I now have a $99 credit

[greatam]

"The United/Continental airlines’ grouping is to cut capacity in response to rising fuel prices.

 

"United Continental Holdings is to make a 1% cut in May followed by a 4% reduction in September.

 

Flight frequencies will be reduced, the start of new flights will be “indefinitely” postponed and less profitable routes will be dropped. “Concurrent with the capacity reductions, the company is also analysing the removal of certain less fuel-efficient aircraft from its fleet and will be taking other cost saving measures,” the group said.

 

Fourth quarter consolidated US domestic capacity is expected to drop by 5% and international capacity by 2% compared to the same period last year.

 

The measures are being taken on the back of a 1.1% drop in traffic across the two partner carriers in February over the equivalent month last year. The Star Alliance carriers currently operate around 5,675 flights a day to 372 airports on six continents."

 

Travel Weekly

 

Supply and demand will dictate price. Less seats, higher prices. And cutting capacity is just one way to compensate for the fuel prices.

 

http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/economics/fuel_monitor/Pages/index.aspx

 

7.6% in a week, 13.5% in a month, FIFTY PERCENT in a year. Somethings got to give and it will be an upward progression of higher fares.

 

D*** I am glad I spent the money for all those tickets. My LAX/JFK monthly flights (when I am in USA) have risen almost 17% since we booked a year's worth of tickets. Even if I have to cancel some of them because I am out of the USA and just get the residual value less change fees, I had my analysts do the math and I am still ahead of the game from January forward prices.

[cmich068]

UA/CO worries me, but if Southwest/AirTran goes through, it worries me more in terms of fare discipline...

 

UA/CO has very little overlap, it'll take them a while before any significant capacity reductions are made (first major change, most likely is that they'll officially de-hub CLE and push all that traffic through ORD/IAD/EWR instead)

 

Southwest and AirTran, OTOH, are the ones that have kept prices fairly low for so long. Their merger is going to be very healthy for the airline industry, but not good for consumers.