With the economy bad, airlines are finding it very hard to fill seats. It is easy to compare prices by using sites like www.tripadvisor.com, www.fly.com and www.farecompare.com. Most of the cheap flights require a Saturday night stayover. Without a doubt it's a great time for cheap travel.
There are two fundamental shifts in air travel under way. First, airlines are dropping more routes and parking airplanes in the desert.
Next, they are going to "unbundle" more services that are included in the price of the ticket. In the future, airlines prices are going to be like a restaurant menu. They will be efficient, user friendly and full of a la carte choices. The strategy is based on imposing extra fees on a number of amenities and services--not just checked bags and food items. The plan is to have a basic ticket price in 3 or 4 categories and then have a bunch of items you can add. When you purchase the ticket, you can chose the extras in advance. Some of these items are: checked luggage, snack, aisle seat, exit row seat, beverage, video games, passenger assistance, early boarding and maybe a wheelchair. In order to know the total price of the ticket, plus taxes, you will have to add all the chosen extras, taxes and the base ticket price. This is the future method for increasing the price of flying.
This is the pricing arrangement I experienced when flyng discount airlines in Europe. You purchased a cheap ticket and paid for everything else. I doubt that the basic ticket will be cheap.
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