www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I was just searching the flights from Ft. Lauderdale to San Jose. You would think the prices would come down a bit or stay the same with more competition, other than Spirit. I checked for Feb 2008 and it looks like a short weekend trip will cost about $400 for tickets.

So much for a free market. LOL
1life2live

FYI-Miami to SJO on Taca is $274-276 on Feb 1-5 or 15-18, for example.

Thanks for the info.

Feb 2-4 (Sat-Monday) was $308 on AA (with fees, etc) while Spirit was about $340; both out of FLL.

I hear alot of guys talking about sub-$200 prices round trip but I dont see it. Best I found was in an email from Spirit that posted 89.00 each way, but with taxes thats still just a bit over $200.00. I met one guy at Del Ray that said he paid $149.00 for his tickets.

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"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance & conscientious stupidity."
~MLK Jr.

My wingman got Sprit roundtrip for $110 (with taxes) once from FTL. I have no idea how.

DFW-SJO Special $595

We're American Airlines.....screwing our hometown customer base

Oil is up to $93 a barrel! and still going up.
Buy your airline tickets NOW if you know your dates.
The fares are only going to go up!

Practical thinking would lead you to believe that, but I remember a year or so ago we had this same conversation, at a time when we were seeing $70 per barrel oil and $3 plus per gallon gasoline. A good deal out of WASH/DULLES to SJO at that time was in the $400 range, TOTAL R/T......I just checked travelocity and I'm still seeing flights for less than $300, TOTAL R/T.

I don't know about the fare situation in other parts of the country, but in the northeast, it still seems to be a bargain. It seems the pricing is more competition driven than "price of oil" driven. TACA seems to be a huge "player" in the market.....with others following suit with aggressive pricing. I hope it keeps up. You would think that at some point, the cost of fuel would have to enter into the equasion....for all the airlines.

Zebra

Z,
In the long-run, it has to, but that's not necessarily true in the short-term. Let me explain. The airline industry has heavy competition and constant pricing wars. Their planes are constantly flying whether they have 5 passengers or 150 passengers. Therefore, an smart airline should be willing to lower their prices enough to compete with other airlines (i.e. attract passengers) in that market, even if it means actually taking a loss on the flights.

The costs for an airline to make a flight are almost 100% fixed. (OK, if there are fewer passengers (less weight), you burn less gas, but the difference is irrelevant.) It has almost no variable cost. Therefore, every extra passenger costs you NOTHING more and gains 100% of the fare. Even if the regular fare should be $300, making $100 (losing $200) for the airline is better than making nothing (losing $300). By flying almost empty planes you lose a ton of money, whereas having a plane full (even at very low fares), reduces your loss for that flight. Sometimes, it's a choice between lose little or lose big.

But in the long-run, you are 100% correct, airlines will not be able to sustain these losses, and at some point will ALL have to raise their fares to stay in business.

I am guessing that the airlines buy a fair amount of their fuel on the futures market and this gives them more price stability then we as at-the-pump purchasers receive. I know it works for the big trucking companies.

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My life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming...." MAN....WHAT A RIDE!!!!"

Yeah I think Spirit intentionally gave the lower fares up front to snare passengers down the line. Those rat bastards!

I met 2 different trvlrs with these types of fares ($50/$60, $72 RT) but all bought 4-5 months out. I can't plan that far out. The $72 guy did say that he spends 2 out of every 4 weeks down there so knows he is going for certain.

I agree! I think Spirit intentionally gave low fares up front to try and corner the market later.