SFO to CZM airfare out of sight!

[Mossman]

You might see the return of the pay toilet some time soon also, as long as consumers stay as stupid as they are thinking all that matters is the ticket price and not the total price.

When they charge to use the toilet, I'll pee in the barf bags.

(I managed to re-fill four Carta Blanca bottles on a long bathroom-less bus ride from Tijuana to Mexicali once! Darn bottles rolled to the back of the bus when we went uphill. To this day I wonder whether anyone sampled the warm brew )

 

[DandyDon]

When they charge to use the toilet, I'll pee in the barf bags.

(I managed to re-fill four Carta Blanca bottles on a long bathroom-less bus ride from Tijuana to Mexicali once! Darn bottles rolled to the back of the bus when we went uphill. To this day I wonder whether anyone sampled the warm brew )

You win at AWFUL again. :medal:

 

[Basscat]

I just did Orbitz searches of different days for a week in July at my area airports, and the price is the same regardless of the day of the week. That seems really strange.... :-(

 

[marcus8]

welcome to my nightmare. I check air fare daily to Coz as we usually go twice per year. But I've been looking to book something since Jan and prices are out of site. Delta, one stop through Atlanta, have been the best fares from the Bay Area for months now, but even those are 600 and 700 for most dates over the summer that I'm looking at. It's absurd. Sure, Cancun can be a bit cheaper but when you add in the pain factor/cost of the bus/ferry each way, it's not saving me anything in my view.

Then I look at Hawaii air fares and I can find Alaska Air flights direct to any island in the $350 range. WTF!? Is this a result of these mergers? It's been hugely frustrating. I'm holding out for something better.

 

[jayjoans]

We do the same Marcus, checking fares for a bargain before planning the rest of our trip. We had been grabbing the midnight departure from SFO connecting through Houston which put us in the condo at El Cantil around lunchtime. A little travel siesta and nice dinner and we're ready to dive the next morning.

Our threshold has been $350, if it dropped below that we hastily put together a trip.
But over $700?!! I can get r/t to Fiji from LA for under $1000 many times throughout the year, and over to Hawaii even now for under $400. If this is the new normal, then I'm glad we got to Coz as much as we did since it won't be nearly as often now if at all.

 

[DiverG]

We do the same Marcus, checking fares for a bargain before planning the rest of our trip. We had been grabbing the midnight departure from SFO connecting through Houston which put us in the condo at El Cantil around lunchtime. A little travel siesta and nice dinner and we're ready to dive the next morning.

Our threshold has been $350, if it dropped below that we hastily put together a trip.
But over $700?!! I can get r/t to Fiji from LA for under $1000 many times throughout the year, and over to Hawaii even now for under $400. If this is the new normal, then I'm glad we got to Coz as much as we did since it won't be nearly as often now if at all.

Was that including the taxes and fees? Even if you weren't, getting from SFO to Cozumel for $450ish was a great price. In years past tuhe best prices I saw from Houston to CZM was about $258 plus taxes/fess for a price around $358. I usually paid between $400 and $450 total. You were getting a steal flying over twice the distance.

 

[DandyDon]

Was that including the taxes and fees? Even if you weren't, getting from SFO to Cozumel for $450ish was a great price. In years past tuhe best prices I saw from Houston to CZM was about $258 plus taxes/fess for a price around $358. I usually paid between $400 and $450 total. You were getting a steal flying over twice the distance.

A new law now requires fare quotes to include taxes, which makes shopping easier - altho Kayak and Matrix have always included such.

Fares are crazy to us shoppers, varying a lot with supply & demand. Sometimes I can fly from Lubbock, change in Houston, and get my ticket for much less than the passenger starting in Houston - but more often I pay more than most in the US and some Canadian origins. United is getting their act together after the completion of the merger, American is dealing with another bankruptcy, and we have fewer airlines to choose from. Hopefully we will see some reductions soon.

Or consider new destinations. I've dived all around the US including Seattle, etc. because it was a minimum of 2 flights for me to anywhere anyway - and it's been fund diving different places.

 

[kixy1]

I have to agree with Mike here, the low ($400 or below) airfares to Cancun/Cozumel from the west coast were nowhere near the true cost to the airlines. As our economy "adjusts" and corporations and individuals are being forced to live within their means, these loss leader, sale prices are gone forever. As the availability of bailouts and subsidies diminishes, I believe we will continue to see airfares increase to keep up with the actual costs of doing business. Fuel, aircraft replacement, wages, regulations....

In the last few years, I've seen a significant reduction of flights (especially direct) to the Yucatan from Seattle. In addition, every single leg, of every single flight down in the last 3 years has been overbooked. I believe the airlines have found their sweet spot on availability vs demand. They have just enough seats to fill the demand at $600-$700 a ticket.

When looking at the overall cost of a vacation, the stabilization of airfares does make one take a look at all the options available. It used to feel like that trip to Asia was completely out of the question when compared to the overall cost of trip to Coz. Now, not so much. However, for me, I've been other places, will still continue to travel, but my destination of choice is the Yucatan. I will just need to scrimp a little harder to get "home"

 

[Pelagicsal]

Distance seems to have little bearing on fares. I live in Atlanta and regularly talk to people who are connecting through Atlanta - and are paying lower fares than I am originating in Atlanta.

Comparing destinations and distances will bear out this conclusion, too.

 

[asha]

When looking at the overall cost of a vacation, the stabilization of airfares does make one take a look at all the options available.

+1. Now that flights to the Caribbean are routinely $600+, we find ourselves expanding our scope, traveling farther, and going a lot more interesting places. We're currently planning a trip to Tulamben that will cost (all-in) about the same as previous years' trips to Curacao or St. Martin. Silver lining!