Vent - Airfare Prices

[MasonC2K]

My wife's grandmother will be passing away anytime now. She would need to fly from ATL to Grand Rapids to go to the funeral. The cheapest round trip tickets are over $700 per person. Absolutely ridiculous! Only Delta seems to do bereavement flights anymore and even that is too much.

You would think with gas prices way down flights would be cheaper now....

Grr...

[Oxylepy]

Red eye, middle of the week to middle of the week. Check and see how that works for you. Usually full weeks tend to be fair in pricing, but if you leave on tuesday, wednesdat, or thursday on a super early or late flight you tend to get better prices

[mlededee]

Sorry to hear about your wife's grandmother. Have you checked prices with Southwest? I see flights from ATL to GRR for as low as $446 round trip this week, and as low as $396 next week. The farther out you can book the cheaper it is, but obviously you don't have an exact time frame here.

[ladywhipple02]

Not sure if you're going through a site like Expedia, but I would check the individual sites, and check to see if there are any regional airlines that fly between those locations - sometimes they can offer lower prices.

Gasoline and jet fuel aren't the same things - those prices fluctuate based on different markets. Not to mention that those airplanes are EXPENSIVE to maintain - even when they don't go anywhere. They actually cost more when they don't fly than when they do fly. Empty seats don't mean cheaper prices, they mean higher prices to maintain the cost of the plane itself. It's an interesting business for sure.

The only reason Southwest can still offer lower prices is because way back in the day they signed a LONG term contract for low fuel prices and are still getting it at rock-bottom cost.

[MasonC2K]

After some digging we were able to get a good deal with Southwest Less that 900 for both of them.

[Albert Clark]

My condolences to your family. Glad you found fair pricing. I don't fly anywhere anymore. Too dangerous in the airports and even moreso in the air. I just choose to take my chances on the ground. I used to fly everywhere with the military and personally back in the 70's and 80's. Today is just a different time and too challenging. Just my vent....

[MasonC2K]

Well, when we have planned trips we drive because it's cheaper even with stopping at hotels along the way. But when gotta get somewhere in a hurry....

If you wanna be technical about it though. Statistically speaking flying is still far and away the safest way to travel. It's only perceived as being dangerous because what few incidents there are make headlines.