Some of the extreme things that go through my head when I see ridiculously high transcon fares…
Here at FCF, we like to call them Spite Flights. They’re the journeys that everyone is taking after being locked down and out for two years. So now people are flying to spite the lockdown so to speak.
But then the sad reality hits: Oh my gosh… the price of some of these tickets. When demand goes up, supply gets tight and prices rise. It’s a perfect inflationary storm — especially if you’re looking at America’s iconic transcontinental journey.
It plays out like this. The Delta fare for a New York-Los Angeles or -San Francisco nonstop flight in Business Class (and not a redeye) is as high as $3,800 right now if you’re traveling before September. American and United fares are around $2,200 (minus a few exceptions) and JetBlue is similar with fares ranging from $3,201 to $5,300+. Oh, and forget about using your American, Delta, or United miles on these routes as it’ll cost you an astronomical 95,600 to 224,000 miles round-trip.
Worthy of Agatha Christie
One reason I’m up in arms about transcon prices is because I’m booking many these days for myself. Like Hercule Poirot when he’s stumped for answers, I feel boxed-in, paralyzed, and at the mercy of these killer fares. I just had to vent. So when you get sticker shock at the price of a transcon flight, know that you’re not alone.
Agatha Christie liked to write murder mysteries about great journeys. I’m talking about classic stories like “Death on the Nile” and “Murder on the Orient Express.”
Well here’s one she might have written about traveling Stateside this year: “Homicide on the Transcon.” Only a couple months ago, transcon Business Class fares were $958 from San Francisco and $998 from Los Angeles to New York, round-trip. It meant you could happily leave your miles simmering on low heat while you paid a reasonable cash price to cross the country. You didn’t even have to plan far in advance either — it was incredibly easy to enjoy 11 or so hours of flying in a very comfortable (in many cases internationally configured) Business Class seat.
That was then. Now the story has taken a dark turn for us opportunity travelers. Transcon fares have more than doubled like many groceries and gas.
Let’s go to the charts to see transcon Business Class fares compared across the big three U.S. carriers.
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Here are the fares on the three major carriers and the approximate percentage of time you’ll find them over the next 11 months, for context.
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Cross-Country Versus International Fares. It’s a Blurry Line
These domestic fares are now in the international long-haul realm. We often see deals to Brazil from many U.S. cities such as Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, Boston, and Atlanta, for less than $2,200. And that's for 17+ hours of flying, so these transcon fares are of poor value, relatively speaking. You can also frequently find deals to Europe here and here in the same price range as a transcon flight. And many non-California-New York transcon fares are low, like Miami-Los Angeles at just $727, So what's a premium traveler to do with all of this?
A Cross-Country Case Worth Cracking
“It is the brain, the little gray cells on which one must rely. One must seek the truth within — not without." ~ Hercule Poirot
Alright, it’s time to put our brain cells to work to try and solve this one. We may not be able to lock the bad guys in the Tower of London, but we might be able to avoid their deeds. Here are some detective deductions to consider.
- Use your miles you say? Er, no. Unless you want to spend close to 100,000+ miles or more round-trip; 102,000-160,000 miles on Delta, 95,600-224,000 miles round-trip on United, and 105,000 to 130,000 miles on American, round-trip. Prices on those airlines have gone through the roof, too. It hurts my old-school mentality to pay 100,000 or more miles on a transcon unless I have no way out — like the poor victims in “Death on the Nile,” or as we shall now call it: “Death on the Mile.”
- Of course you can consider using your miles to upgrade. However, you’ll unfortunately be on a waitlist to do that right now. And a very bad-looking waitlist at that. Check out this typical one below on United for a flight one day out. There’s only one seat left for sale: 4A. Not good for those looking to make a foray into Business.
What does this seat map tell us?
- Forget waitlists
- Forget elite upgrades (aka loyalty)
- Business is booming for the airlines
Nine Stabs in the Dark to Beat High Transcon Prices
- If I have to fly Business Class or better, should I not consider going to Africa, South America or Europe for a leisure trip at a similar price point?
- The next time you see fares drop, as they did back in January and February, be ready to pull the trigger (as an Agatha Christie character might say). They may not last long, and you don’t want to end up feeling like the great detective in The Hollow, “I, Hercule Poirot, am not amused.”
- Compare airlines and see how far in advance you can book as they vary for low fares. In other words, don’t be a slave to one airline.
- Fly at a time of day that’s not your first preference. In other words, be flexible.
- Look at Newark versus JFK or vice versa.
- Be nimble enough to jump on last-minute opportunities. For example, I might hold a ticket I bought for more than I’d usually like to spend, and be ready to trade it for a better one if last-minute award availability opens up.
- With transcon awards ranging from 47,800 to 112,200 each way, check other mileage programs for last-minute award space. A cursory look at American Airlines revealed a diamond hiding in the haystack: a 27,500-mile trip in Business Class,one way, but rare.
- If you’re going from New York (JFK or Newark) to California, tagging on an extra jump to Maui might sweeten the deal. In this case, your high fare is justified because you’re getting a side trip at a great value. So if it’s $2,300+ from New York (EWR) to Los Angeles, but you can add on Maui in Business Class for $470 (on many dates), making the total $2,834, suddenly the big picture isn’t as painful.
- If you’re starting in California and going to New York, American’s Los Angeles-Belize fare allows a free stopover in New York (which would be your transcon JFK-LAX flight). So you can vacation for a few days in Belize, do business in New York, and then fly home, all for $1,917 (you better Belize it!).
In other words, when airlines give you lemons, try to make lemonade.