Did airlines jack up fares after Amtrak wreck? It's unclear

After the May 12 derailment of Amtrak Train 188 in Philadelphia that left thousands of regional commuters scrambling for other transportation, airfares between New York and Washington seemed to skyrocket - coach fares between Washington Dulles and John F. Kennedy airports were going for $1,000 and more one way.

A last-minute flight between Philadelphia International and New York LaGuardia airports was $537 each way for up to a week after the wreck that temporarily shut down the Amtrak line between Philadelphia and New York.

Did airlines increase fares to take advantage of desperate travelers, or are fares booked at the last minute always sky high?

American Airlines and merger partner US Airways, which operate 73 percent of flights in Philadelphia, said the airline "made no pricing changes in those markets that week," a spokeswoman said of the days immediately after the Amtrak derailment.

"In general, they didn't change their fares. What happened was the flights filled up," said Brett Snyder, author of CrankyFlier.com, an airline industry blog. "As planes get fuller, the fares go up for the remaining seats - the rule of supply and demand.

"That's what you see on every flight, and this was no different," Snyder said. "It's just that these markets had higher-than-normal demand just because there was no Amtrak train. They were filling up more quickly, and so fares in some cases were going up."

George Hobica, president of airfarewatchdog.com, said he saw one-way airfares of $900, $1,700, and $1,100 between Washington and New York after the rail line shut down.

"Usually the prices are $200 or $300 one way, even for last minute. We've never had in my lifetime that rail line shut down, so there's no precedent."

Typically, airfares are cheapest at least 21 days in advance of departure. Ticket prices increase quickly during the week of the flight, and passengers pay on average 40 percent more for a ticket the day of the flight, according to travel tips published in April by Angie's List,a subscription website that provides consumer information.

Jeffrey Erlbaum, president of Eta Travel in Conshohocken, said he's rarely had a customer fly just between Philadelphia and New York. "That would be ludicrous."Normally, it'smuch cheaper to rent a car, hire a town car or a limousine,or take a bus or train, he said.Who flies on the more than half-dozen daily US Airways nonstops between Philadelphia and New York, a distance of 80 miles?

Many are international travelers "flying from Philly overseas or coming back," Erlbaum said. "Instead of going out of JFK airport, people can get a better fare out of LaGuardia, connecting through Philadelphia to wherever."

A direct flight from New York to Honolulu might cost $800, whereas flying New York to Honolulu via Philadelphia could be $500, Hobica said. "US Airways tries to get people to fly from New York to London via Philadelphia," he said. "They keep the Philadelphia-New York fares high, so they can sell more expensive onward tickets."

Nevertheless, Erlbaum said he checked "historical fares" between Philadelphia and New York the Tuesday and Monday before the evening Amtrak derailment and found they were "exactly the same" as fares immediately after the accident. "They did not jack these fares up. The fares are high, but they are naturally high, and there was high demand and few seats."

A check May 27 of US Airways flights from Washington to New York - a distance of 203 miles and generally with more travelers - showed one-way flexible coach fares for May 28 of $429, more than $100 cheaper than the cost to fly from Philadelphia and New York, which was $552 one way.

"You see this on a ton of very short routes that go into airline hubs: very high fares," said Snyder, the CrankyFlier author. "The route is not really in that market for the local traveler. It's in the market to connect people to the airlines' global networks."

US Airways and partner American operate an international hub in Philadelphia.

"Did the airlines raise fares? Semantically, they could argue they didn't, that they always have that $5,000 fare in the system," Hobica said hypothetically of the period immediately after the recent Amtrak wreck. "It's just nobody ever paid it, because there were always plenty of seats. When there's only one seat left in the entire day on the entire route, this is the scarcity fare.

"Whether the airlines actually introduced new fares that were higher, no one will ever know because they are not going to let you look under the hood and reveal their pricing strategies," he said. "But were fares much higher? Yes."

StartText

$552

One-way coach nonrefundable fare for travel May 28 between Philadelphia International and N.Y. LaGuardia airports.

$437

One-way coach nonrefundable fare between PHL and LGA airports on June 4.

$301

One-way nonrefundable coach Philadelphia to N.Y. LaGuardia on June 25.

$281

Nonrefundable coach ticket on the same route each way Aug. 27.

SOURCE: US Airways websiteEndText

215-854-2831