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Airline ticket prices are flat since 2000, which is down almost 50% after inflation. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUR0000SETG01 https://fred.stlouisfed.

Airline ticket prices are flat since 2000, which is down almost 50% after inflation. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUR0000SETG01 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUR0000SETG01. So I say let them keep doing what they're doing.

ceejayoz 1y ago
Is that accounting for things like bag fees and “fuel surcharges” that used to be in the ticket price?
- ghaff 1y ago
  People who fly any amount don't pay for checked bags if they check anything at all.
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    People pay billions in bag fees alone every year. https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/airlines/us-airlines-highest-baggage-fees/ https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/airlines/us-airlines-highe... It’s hardly the only fee, either.
    - ghaff 1y ago
      Which doesn't contradict what I wrote. I daresay a lot of families who travel once a year at Christmas pay bag fees for their big bags. Lots of people who travel on a regular basis don't. And a lot of it seems to be on discount airlines. (Which I admittedly never fly.)
      - amrocha 1y ago
        It actually literally contradicts what you said. People flying any amount (at christmas with their family) are paying bag fees.
        arcticbull 1y ago
        US airlines recorded $5.1 billion in checked baggage fees according to your article. US airlines recorded a revenue of $275.3B in 2024. This accounts for 1.8% of revenue. A further billion was change fees. Net profit was $6.7B meaning literally all of their net revenue (a total of 2.25% of gross revenue) was accounted for from these ancillary fees. But their inflation-adjusted cost went down 36% since 1995. There were a total of about 1 billion emplanements by US carriers in 2024, ish, so we're talking about a total of about $6 per passenger per year. They really are insignificant.
        ghaff 1y ago
        Excuse me. I should have said any significant amount. Those people flying every month or two mostly do take measures to have free baggage assuming they have checked baggage at all.
- zeroonetwothree 1y ago
  Bag fees are fairly small compared to the ticket price and obviously don’t make up for a 50% decrease.
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    > Bag fees are fairly small compared to the ticket price… $70 ($35 both ways) on a $300 flight isn't that small. And again, that's not the only fee. See also: hotels adding "resort fees".
- arcticbull 1y ago
  Fuel surcharges are generally accounted for as part of the fare on revenue tickets, they're a way of extracting additional revenue on award tickets. However, all the major US rewards programs don't charge fuel surcharges anymore. Air Canada gave up on it too. The only one of note is Alaska and American redemptions on British Airways. On domestic tickets there's no YQ, YR or embedded Q surcharges anyways. Domestic airfare in the US is down 36% adjusted for inflation since 1995. [1] Even base tier status concentrated flying with any one carriers get you a waived checked bag, and so does pretty much any airline credit card. So basically you shouldn't pay more than $95 a year in checked baggage fees. US airlines generally have sub-5% net margins which is why they find themselves in creditor protection every decade or so when the market turns. There's a long-running adage about investing in airlines. [1] https://www.bts.gov/content/annual-us-domestic-average-itinerary-fare-current-and-constant-dollars https://www.bts.gov/content/annual-us-domestic-average-itine...

ceejayoz 1y ago

Is that accounting for things like bag fees and “fuel surcharges” that used to be in the ticket price?

ghaff 1y ago
People who fly any amount don't pay for checked bags if they check anything at all.
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  People pay billions in bag fees alone every year. https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/airlines/us-airlines-highest-baggage-fees/ https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/airlines/us-airlines-highe... It’s hardly the only fee, either.
  - ghaff 1y ago
    Which doesn't contradict what I wrote. I daresay a lot of families who travel once a year at Christmas pay bag fees for their big bags. Lots of people who travel on a regular basis don't. And a lot of it seems to be on discount airlines. (Which I admittedly never fly.)
    - amrocha 1y ago
      It actually literally contradicts what you said. People flying any amount (at christmas with their family) are paying bag fees.
      - arcticbull 1y ago
        US airlines recorded $5.1 billion in checked baggage fees according to your article. US airlines recorded a revenue of $275.3B in 2024. This accounts for 1.8% of revenue. A further billion was change fees. Net profit was $6.7B meaning literally all of their net revenue (a total of 2.25% of gross revenue) was accounted for from these ancillary fees. But their inflation-adjusted cost went down 36% since 1995. There were a total of about 1 billion emplanements by US carriers in 2024, ish, so we're talking about a total of about $6 per passenger per year. They really are insignificant.
      - ghaff 1y ago
        Excuse me. I should have said any significant amount. Those people flying every month or two mostly do take measures to have free baggage assuming they have checked baggage at all.
zeroonetwothree 1y ago
Bag fees are fairly small compared to the ticket price and obviously don’t make up for a 50% decrease.
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  > Bag fees are fairly small compared to the ticket price… $70 ($35 both ways) on a $300 flight isn't that small. And again, that's not the only fee. See also: hotels adding "resort fees".
arcticbull 1y ago
Fuel surcharges are generally accounted for as part of the fare on revenue tickets, they're a way of extracting additional revenue on award tickets. However, all the major US rewards programs don't charge fuel surcharges anymore. Air Canada gave up on it too. The only one of note is Alaska and American redemptions on British Airways. On domestic tickets there's no YQ, YR or embedded Q surcharges anyways. Domestic airfare in the US is down 36% adjusted for inflation since 1995. [1] Even base tier status concentrated flying with any one carriers get you a waived checked bag, and so does pretty much any airline credit card. So basically you shouldn't pay more than $95 a year in checked baggage fees. US airlines generally have sub-5% net margins which is why they find themselves in creditor protection every decade or so when the market turns. There's a long-running adage about investing in airlines. [1] https://www.bts.gov/content/annual-us-domestic-average-itinerary-fare-current-and-constant-dollars https://www.bts.gov/content/annual-us-domestic-average-itine...