4th Airfare Hike Attempt of 2012 has Failed
FINAL UPDATE – 10am EST, Feb. 28: The 4th airfare hike attempt of the year has failed. By yesterday afternoon, the hike was almost completely rolled back.
UPDATE – 10:30am EST, Feb. 27: The airfare hike appears to be crumbling. See an updated version of airfare analyst Rick Seaney’s detailed report on the hike attempt and watch for further updates.
UPDATE 2pm EST, Feb. 23: Air Canada, Frontier and Virgin America have all matched the price hike. See Rick Seaney’s indepth analysis of the hike for more.
Listen as airfare analyst Rick Seaney delves deeper into the reasons behind the hike and what it’ll ultimately mean for shoppers.
PREVIOUS: On Tuesday (Feb. 21) United/Continental raised airfare prices by $2-$5 each-way ($4-$10 round-trip).
Legacy Carriers Match, Discounters Wait
As of this morning, all other legacy carriers including American, Delta and US Airways had matched the fare hike.
So far, however, AirTran, JetBlue and Southwest have declined to do so, but watch here for updates.
What These Hikes Mean for Your Summer Airfare
Two Airfare Hikes within a Week
It was just about a week ago that the third airfare hike of the year got underway, which actually began with some fare tweaking by JetBlue the previous weekend then really gathered steam when Southwest jumped in on Feb. 15.
Inside Story: Anatomy of an Airfare Hike
Others quickly followed suit and airfare analyst Rick Seaney pronounced the hike, a success. He added, “It is pretty clear airlines will continue to try to recoup fuel increases with regular attempts at airfare hikes this year.”
These ‘regular attempts’ are proceeding as predicted.
