America West Dramatically Lowers Transcontinental First and Business Class Fares

The last stronghold of the network carriers, the domestic transcontinental route, is falling.

On Oct. 26, America West began offering non-stop service from Los Angeles to New York’s JFK—a shot heard round the domestic airline world. The self-described low-fare carrier is offering economy class business fares starting at $299 oneway—and they require neither an advance-purchase nor a Saturday-night-stay (only a $100 change fee). Until now, the lowest such fares would cost as much as $1,199.

With one take-off, America West has driven First Class fares down 40% with most major carriers. (See chart below.)

The advent of America West service from San Francisco to JFK (Dec. 19) and to Boston (Mar. 1) should put this entire market into a competitive tailspin.

That’s good news for business travelers and First Class flyers. The transcon market has been a kind of old-boys club for the majors. It was long-haul and lucrative, with First Class fares (Business Class on three-class aircraft) routinely costing more than $3,600 round-trip, and full-fare economy topping out at more than $2,200.

It took less than 48 hours, between Oct. 13 and Oct. 15, for most Los Angeles-New York First Class fares to drop from $3,630 to $2,256.

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Confirm last minute bookings, and upgrades, with $299 fares!

I have Platinum Elite status with American, so I can confirm an upgrade 72 hours prior to departure. With the new competition in place, I can now do that with an economy fare of only $299 on short notice ($1,100+ a month ago)!

With so many transcontinental flights, the odds of finding a flight with upgrade availability are not bad—especially as the number of upgrade seats can increase as a flight draws closer to its departure.

Savings not limited to these specific routes

Not flying to/from one of these cities? No problem. Say you’re flying Los Angeles-Washington DC. You could easily purchase a LAX-JFK fare, then a JFK-DC fare, for only a few bucks more.

Yes, the trip will take more time and time is money. But with savings of 40 to 70+ percent, you might just decide to spend the time . . . not the money.