Those credit card miles will get you to Europe, too. Just go with AA, or Delta, or one of the international carriers instead of Frontier or Southwest. You’ll probably have to plan longer in advance, but it’s possible, especially using partner airlines.
Also the years post recession. I recall being able to buy a one way ticket from the Midwest to California for about $130,and I could buy it a week before the flight at those prices. Now it is almost twice that if you buy the tickets months in advance.
Ya know, it’s all you cheap bastards that are the driving force behind air travel becoming more and more like a flying cattle car. If you would all just pay the full fare we could have decent size seats, decent food, and free entertainment again.
Omar Little:
I expect that the regular prices will rise in a gradual manner consistent with inflation, but also to see occasional airfare sales for much lower than the regular price, which was common back then. And they didn’t come from nickel-and-dimers like Spirit; for those cheap prices you could get two full-size pieces of luggage checked in, plus a sizable carry-on, plus the complimentary snacks and drinks. Nowadays, not only are those bargain fares all but gone, the fare you’re paying more for includes fewer such amenities.
I’ve read in a number of places that flying has gotten more expensive in the U.S. because airlines have cut back on the number of flights to minimize empty seats. And my personal experience matches up with that: most of the time I fly, it seems that I’m on a full flight. This used to be an exception, in both good and bad economic times.
It took me so long to write my reply to this that I had to go back and re read the OP, as well as check for new posts.
The best way I can think of to describe the cost of airline tickets is like one of those old fashioned switchboards. You have all these factors that determine the cost of the ticket- what day of week it is, what parts of the country or world you are traveling from or to, how many days in advance is your ticket booked. On and on and on. Each factor is represented by a letter code. So you might have a fare that is SX21EN. Each carrier codes their factors differently. The letter at the front represents the class of service. So that fare is in S class, on a weekday, 21 days in advance, in fall, nonrefundable.
Supposing they have 8 seats in S class, when they sell out of it, it will go up to the next fare on the ladder. If all the other factors remain the same, it might be something like VX21EN. V class might be $100 more than S.
The guy sitting on the other side of those two might have connected in from Denver, and have a completely different set of letters because of that factor. All travel booking software prices you at the lowest available fare your factors make you eligible for.
These fares are fixed. I don’t know how far in advance they are created or how, exactly, but they are fixed. After a long time of reading fares one can start to spot some patterns- but those patterns mostly correspond to the generally available tips and tricks. Book early, off peak, etc etc.
You can get cheaper flights sometimes when airlines have sales, or by booking at a discounted rate (like from a travel agent or tour company), which basically takes those same fare codes and applies a discount code to the end of them, thus forcing the pricing down in the software.
Bargain carriers and the credit card/frequent flyer membership bonuses are pretty much the best way to beat this system unless you are eligible for one of these discounts.
I have to go then, for various reasons. I know it’s peak season.
No, but I’m responding to people in this thread who are saying that flying is cheap. It isn’t always.
My answer - have a kid who works in the airline industry. My wife flew from the Bay Area to Vegas and back absolutely free - free checked bag also. Soon we get cheap Southwest flights and standby tickets on any Star Alliance airline for 10% of the normal charge.
We are going so many places after I retire next year. 
(s.e.g.)
Fly in low season. I always avoid high season/school holidays. And travel mid-week to mid-week. If I’m going away for a fortnight, I’ll fly out and in on Tuesdays.
My wife is a teacher. We can ONLY travel during school holidays. 
Well is it wrong to say that cutting down costs (excess flights are an extra cost ??? ) should LOWER the price ?
What I think … there is not enough competition to keep prices down , and service levels up…
I’ve found that it’s all about flexiblity. If you need to fly in and out of certain airports on certain dates, you will pay a pretty penny.
But if you want to fly out of “Some airport between JFK and Dulles” to “somewhere in China” at “some point in the fall” you can probably eventually find something under $1,000. You may have to do a wacky route, sleep on an airport floor, or even have an odd leg (like, I’ve had flights that got in to La Guardia with my next flight flying out of JFK…not a big deal with enough time.) And it may take a while to get the right ticket, but you can eventually find something cheapish. The most I’ve ever paid for an airline ticket was $1200 and that was between Californai and Zambia. It’s just about being able to take advantage when a deal pops up and not caring too much about where you fly in and out of.
Same here. We’ve just accepted that we have limited control over plane tickets and budget accordingly.
There was a time when my life was flexible enough to take advantage of deals like that. I once flew to Paris from San Francisco for $400 round trip. In February.
Alas, those days are gone. Now, because of my family situation, all travel has to be booked well ahead, and it’s almost always in high season.
This. My kid is an FO for one of the majors. I get free standby anywhere in the US (including Hawaii). Overseas flights cost me 50 bucks each.
After paying for all his flight training, and factoring in the number of times I’ve actually been able to use standby, my “free” flights are running about $8,000 apiece. 
Why is that? Email is replacing it?
When I first went to Europe in 1996 it cost me $2600 return per person. In 1999, I was shopping a lot smarter and got a return fare for $1300.
That has long gone of course, but still, I reckon on $2000 for the return fare. Cheaper than 1996. To have the joys of a 30 hour misery of constipation, boredom, airline food and endless security checks. Apart from that it is all good.
Actually, its sorta the opposite. *Price competition *is near perfect. Customers can and do comparison shop almost effortlessly across the entire range of suppliers.
And as long as price is the only thing 95+% of customers care about, you’re going to get a system which competes solely on price. Which has the natural and inevitable effect of driving out quality. When price is all that matters, pretty soon everybody is shopping in dingy dollar stores with dirty floors.
It’s only when A) companies can successfully differentiate their service, and B) customers willingly choose to pay enough extra for special service that it’s profitable to deliver that service, that we can get the happy competitive effects you legitimately desire. So far the industry as a whole is mostly stuck unable to make either of those things happen. The fact that most tickets are sold through intermediary almost-auction websites certainly is an obstacle to differentiation.
It’s also important to understand that there are several different “industries”. US domestic, US international, intra-Europe international, non-US long-haul international, SE Asia regional, each have very different dynamics.
I’ve been speaking to US domestic and a US international since that’s what I understand best.
I agree with what you say LSLguy (mainly) However, I think (at least for us) there are other factors. Obviously price is essential, but I think there is also false economy- as in the super cheap airlines that will then charge you for luggage and a sandwich and eventually ends up costing more than a main stream carrier.
I’m going to Europe later this year and normally fly Qantas/ Emirates. I got a Singapore Airlines flight that was $900 per person cheaper so in the end there wasn’t a difficult decision.
And the other aspects were when you arrive, when you depart and the actual flight time. I could have booked cheaper flights but it would have taken 52 hours. No thanks.