# Airline Pricing Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-pricing-question/282160 "2004-12-29T22:23:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-pricing-question/282160/1 "2004-12-29T22:23:22Z")
In October of 2002 Mrs. HeyHomie and I flew from Springfield, Illinois (SPI) to Orlando, FL (MCO) with a connecting flight in St. Louis (STL). The cost of the tickets was $252.xx each, round trip. Today I’m seeing the same flight on [expedia.com](http://expedia.com) for $319.xx! :eek: I know fuel costs have gone up and all that, but a 37% increase? :dubious: Granted, it’s December, and airfares fluctuate and will likely continue to do so between now and June-ish (when I absolutely, positively CANNOT wait any more to buy my tix), but can I expect this fare to trend downward? Or is this going to be about right given the current state of the airline industry? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-pricing-question/282160/2 "2004-12-29T23:07:05Z")
Airline tickets vary for any number of reasons. I just bought a ticket from LA to Guatamala City for the price of your ticket. It all depends on a million factors we know nothing about. Sometimes online isn’t the best way to go- try calling the airlines directly and asking them what they’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-pricing-question/282160/3 "2004-12-29T23:21:19Z")
Who knows? It’s the airline industry! Heck, I only paid $299 to fly from Charlotte, NC to London via Dulles this past February. Just hang tight a bit - maybe someone will have a sale. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-pricing-question/282160/4 "2004-12-30T18:30:19Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > In October of 2002 Mrs. HeyHomie and I flew from Springfield, Illinois (SPI) to Orlando, FL (MCO) with a connecting flight in St. Louis (STL). The cost of the tickets was $252.xx each, round trip. > > Today I’m seeing the same flight on [expedia.com](http://expedia.com) for $319.xx! :eek: Has the number of airlines flying in and out of Springfield changed in the last 2 years? If someone dropped that route, the other carriers may well have raised ticket prices just because they can. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-pricing-question/282160/5 "2004-12-30T19:24:05Z")
Over the past four months, I’ve paid anywhere from $560 to $910 for a round-trip flight from SFO to MSP (Minneapolis) Same airline. Same days of the week. Same time of day. Same gates. Same cabin crew. Same lousy ham sandwich. There’s just no way for humans to understand airline pricing. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-pricing-question/282160/6 "2004-12-30T21:54:13Z")
I made recent inquiries about flights to New Orleans. On American, from St Louis it was a direct flight and cost $400. From Nashville to New Orleans it was $300 with one connection, through St Louis and exactly the same flights that cost $400 WTF?