Saturday, October 3, 2009

Is it just me?

Is it just me, or is the just world crazy? (Don't answer that, ha.)

My brothers and sisters and I are taking an eight-day vacation in Mexico next January -- something called the Copper Canyon Tour. Our jumping off point is Phoenix.

I checked the price for an airline ticket from Memphis to Phoenix and it was $350. The others are leaving from St. Louis, and theirs is only $191.

But wait. Mine is a direct flight, while theirs has one stop. It stops in Memphis!! Yes, it's cheaper to fly St. Louis to Memphis to Phoenix, than from Memphis to Phoenix -- cheaper by a factor of some.

I'm really frosted about this one. I can drive to St. Louis and fly back to Memphis and save $150 (something I'm not willing to do - gas, parking, inconvenience, etc.).

Have any of you had a similar experience?

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7 comments:

  1. I got curious:

    Median Income:

    Estimated median household income in 2007: $34,191 (it was $27,156 in 2000)

    St. Louis: $34,191
    Missouri: $45,114

    Estimated per capita income in 2007: $19,699

    St. Louis: $19,699
    Missouri: $23,915


    Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/St.-Louis-Missouri.html#ixzz0StWDuMqR


    Estimated median household income in 2007: $35,143 (it was $32,285 in 2000)

    Memphis: $35,143
    Tennessee: $42,367

    Estimated per capita income in 2007: $21,532

    Memphis: $21,532
    Tennessee: $23,418

    The only other answer are: Landing Fees and they would be impacted by: Fed Ex or the flight originates from Chi, with Memphis being the wide swing point.

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  2. so buy the full ticket and re-board when it hits Memphis. Have the family check you in at St. Louis.

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  3. That's simply crazy. Makes no sense at all. Bummer, Mojo.

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  4. Invariably, if I'm flying to a US destination, it's cheaper for me to drive across the border and then fly, rather than fly across the border. This can be true even if it involves an extra night's stay in a hotel.

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  5. I spend hours shopping for tickets every time I travel. Sometimes you can call an airlines and renegotiate. It's a sick game.

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  6. I encountered the same moronic pricing for a trip to Reno about 7 years ago -- $300 for a direct flight from St. Louis, $200 from Chicago to connect to the STL-Reno flight. I would have preferred the STL departure, but since it's a 3-hour drive to either city for me, I played their silly game and took the Chicago flight. For making me take two flights instead of one, American Airlines essentially cost itself a fare from another passenger (the ORD-STL flight was full) and the costs of extra ticketing, luggage transfers, etc. -- plus a few extra bags of peanuts.

    I did this trip again a year later and the pricing was the same. On the second trip, I joined family leaving from STL and they were pretty annoyed when they found out they were paying $100 more.

    One of American's ticketing agents told me that the airline did this because they had some secret reasons for increasing the number of boardings per passenger and, back then, for reducing the number of initial boardings in STL. Even the agent admitted it was nonsensical.

    KenP's suggestion (throw away the STL-Memphis part of the ticket and board in Memphis) doesn't work. The airline cancels all legs of your flight if you don't board the first leg.

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  7. Thanks to all who commented. This reminds me that I need to recheck and see if the tickets have come down (I haven't booked yet).

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