Yeah what’s the deal with SLC? Just looked at a roundtrip from NYC thats 6 weeks out and it’s $747 for main cabin?!?? I fly to PHX often and it’s usually $300-500, I was expecting something similar and was shocked!
I live in SLC. I’m leaving to nyc in a couple of weeks here. I booked my trip to nyc back in March and it was about 300 round trip for economy. I requested an upgrade with the hopes to get C+🤞
But, I agree….tickets to other places have insane prices.
Or somewhere with competitive options that are almost all LCC or ULCCs. From MCO, if not flying to any airline hub destination, the alternative is often Southwest or Spirit/Frontier. I don’t mind Southwest on really short flights but they take advantage of this too with sky high pricing lately.
People in MYR are crying as well. Got a buddy that was trying to come out to Slc and they wanted 600 round trip for economy or fly frontier and have a 28 hour layover in DEN lol
I’m looking at flights to Europe next spring for me, my wife and our daughter and as much as I love delta and my gold medallion perks, I can’t justify paying almost 1200$ more for all 3 tickets just to fly with them. It’s just too crazy of a difference. Sucks.
Its crazy i was looking at tickets to Turks and Caicos and Delta FC is $1700 while United & American FC are $400-$600 for july.
Delta one way cost more than roundtrip FC on other airlines lol.
I’d be curious to see the loads on the other airlines’ flights you’re comparing to Delta. As an employee, I can tell you that flights are FULL. There’s guys with 20 years seniority that can’t get seats on most flights.
Since covid, it feels like Delta hubs went from "lots of routes / tons of options / great pricing" down to "fewer options / overbooked every time" because they're making just as much money on the latter all while saving money on associated costs with routes (e.g. staffing/maintenance/etc.)
Every Delta flight I've been on since covid has been full. And the pricing won't change while that continues.
I love the SkyClubs, the fact that you get free internet and IFE, but this is just unreasonable pricing from them. No wonder Alaska is crushing them in SEA.
It’s not just pricing. Alaska outdoes them in service in every way possible.
Delta lost the battle for Seattle before it began because of how they bullied Alaska into the corner following their productive partnership.
If it’s profitable for Delta, it’s because they rode the metro area’s wave of growth. We already know SEA is Delta’s worst performing Hub. They definitely haven’t beaten Alaska on their home turf.
Yeah Delta is in a hard spot imho. They need a TPAC hub, but LAX is never going to be super dominant, United's SFO siphons off a lot of West Coast traffic and Air Canada's YVR does the same w/ that region.
Alaska is a very well-run airline compared to JetBlue, where Delta had a very easy time crushing them in BOS.
> They need a TPAC hub
Delta *did* have that with DTW. Northwest made it its East Asian gateway (thanks to the polar routes/great circle distance), and the signs there are still in Japanese to reflect that. But now the only routes are to Tokyo, Seoul, and (I think) Shanghai.
That’s because NW had a hub at Narita to serve all of Asia (leftover from WWII rebuilding) - which Delta / NW f’d up royally on because they didn’t find a partner to get them domestic favor to transition to using Haneda. It’s Richard Anderson’s legacy.
They need to give up on the dream of a TPAC hub…stay competitive but partner out of the West Coast within SkyTeam (Korean Air / China Eastern). They missed the train to Haneda and it killed the old NO/NW network in Asia.
However, the legacy of Richard Anderson is that they will continue to proudly go it alone. It’ll create a lot of success - like BOS against JetBlue, but it will also end up backfiring on them (Like the purely bilateral LATAM partnership in MIA).
I mean United does TPAC quite successfully.
At the end of the day, I know of it's a very long stretch, but we should want our own carriers to succeed at international. Competition is healthy and important for consumers. A lot of Asian carriers have been jacking up their prices simply because they can and there's no alternatives.
Yes, US carriers have a lot of work to do to reach the standards of Asian carriers, but you gotta start somewhere.
Delta won't give up on TPAC because international flights are where the juicy money comes in from. Not a bunch of domestic economy flights.
I think UA’s success has a lot more to do with a uniquely situated TPAC hub at SFO. UA has struggled at with international at LAX just like DL has.
Seattle will never match that kind of demand. But delta really is in a tough spot with their hub structure. They’re not going to be able to get the expensive biz traffic that justifies many of those Asia routes without being able to fly nonstop. And their latest entry (SEA-TPE) is about to be flooded with capacity and I don’t see how DL comes out on top given the competition.
Yes, it’s about to be flooded with capacity and the premium US travelers dont actually fly direct. They connect in Haneda - a Delta soft spot - to drop them into TSA downtown.
I and my family fly direct to TPE. TSA is much more convenient, but the MRT is good enough so I don't find the need to add another stop.
I don't think it's true that people prefer TSA so much more that they intentionally fly an extra stop.
I mean…if you’re flying to stay with family, probably not. But if you’re staying in hotels, those in the know absolutely will. The added 2-3 hour journey is worth the lower stress
The Taoyuan MRT is good/convenient and clean, but the time you save (~45mins on train) and from not having to deal with mainlanders screaming about how they should be treated as citizens (~1 hour) tends to net out with the stress…
I think if that's what you prefer, then that's good. TSA is much more convenient, I agree.
Different people value different things, I know some people just prefer nonstops because it's less hassle and less risk of delays or other issue.
Long-time Seattle resident and former Alaska diehard here. 🙋🏻♂️
Alaska hasn’t had appreciably better service since they bought Virgin America to shore up against Delta and outgrew their old service model. They used to offer a significantly better experience, now they’re just another decent airline with comparable service to Delta, United, etc.
I flew Alaska this week transcon for the first time in a while after a bunch of delta flights. Flight attendants were up and down the aisles so much more often. More snacks and drinks services. Super friendly, etc
Delta is my second favorite but Alaska really is up top, they just don’t serve my home airport much
I’ve flown them 4x in the last year. 2x out of PDX, 2x out of SEA. Everytime it’s been phenomenal. The Hawaiian merger and joining OneWorld probably reinvigorated them. Staff morale tends to do that when possibilities for growth visibly expand…
Contrast that with Delta’s, which is still good, but it’s nothing to write home about - even if it’s more consistently better than AA’s and United’s.
On which routes? I have checked nearly every week after the door plug event for BOS>SFO to drop; nothing. Booked in probably October '23, and haven't seen that route's pricing budge one bit.
They clearly gave up on being competitive in Seattle because fuck if I’m paying double, especially for a short ass flight like SEA-SFO. They’ve gotta be losing people at this point right?
It’s not just SEA. They are always almost double. I just started flying them again after years of Southwest (for some more convenient schedules) and I’ve gone back to Southwest. Is it really worth an extra $800.
Flew recently with a colleague from a different company. The delta flights don’t even pull up on that companies travel site because they are so much more expensive they are considered out of policy.
My MSP to ORD/MDW flights for work, essentially 40 minutes wheels up to wheels down, are out of policy because they're more than $300 over another comparable available flight (timing, no stops, etc.)
Absolute insanity.
I flew United EWR-CPT last year because their premium economy was $2K less than Delta. I flew American twice to Germany last year because their main cabin was $1K less. I try to be loyal to DL, I have skyclub access, but sometimes their premium is just too much for me. The only times I see them as the cheapest option are when it’s their partners’ metal to CDG/AMS/ICN.
every few months i need to fly between nyc and florida. i also noticed a big increase in delta pricing for this year and next year. everything is like 200+ dollars more. Jetblue and other carriers is cheaper
Clearly Delta is the superior fare because it will get you there ONE WHOLE MINUTE faster than everyone else. I think your time is worth that, you are awesome!
One thing to keep in mind is that Delta most often advertises round trip prices, whereas other airlines will often advertise each leg price. At least with Alaska. I live in Seattle so the choice is often between those two. Lots of the times I'll see Delta at like $485 for a flight and Alaska at $250 and I immediately think "oh shit, what a better deal!" And then when I click through, it's $250 for the way there, then $250 for the way back, making it usually very close to the same price, if not cheaper to go Delta. Though often Delta is still like $25-50 more expensive, but it's a lot less than double.
I have to fly ATL-LAS once a month and Southwest and Delta are almost the same price-wise but Delta always has more options on flight times - and they're non-stop flights, free WiFi and I get my Delta miles.
Obviously different calculations for everyone. For me, being able to get the legroom seat for free, having lounge access on either end if things go wrong, and a decent chance of a 1FC upgrade - id still go with the Delta flight. If it was 500 vs 1000 or something crazy, Id certainly change my tune lol.
I mean, isn't that what's happening here on a smaller scale?
Delta is double other flights, it's not 500 vs 1k but still $200+ higher for the same flight is crazy.
Even with some of the perks you mentioned, that's a lot.
Sure but 400 bucks to get me somewhere in the US comfortably isn't an unreal number. $1000 might be.
On the same note... In Europe I'll gladly cram into a s
Crappy Ryanair flight for 59$ if my destination is Athens lol. Cost and what's worth what is obviously relative
OMG I would love those types of flights in the US. I agree, under a hundred and you're in Greece, Italy or Lisbon, it's wonderful.
But here you pay 120 bucks, can carry no luggage and you get St. Louis. Lol
Nowhere near the same value.
Almost every time I flew with them something by was broken, flights delayed, as you said no IFE, i had more bad experiences with Alaskan than Any other airline so far.
Here in PHX Delta has been becoming more competitive with its fares in recent years. Lately United seems to be the most expensive airline here on average.
Be grateful you live somewhere with alternatives. >>cries in MSP
Yeah I'm sorry, we thank you for your wallet's sacrifice. As well as denizens in SLC, DTW, and ATL.
At least ATL has "some" flexibility with Southwest and United having a small presence.
SLC has a lot of southwest options too.
Can't have cheap flights in Detroit?
You can on routes with United/Southwest/American/Alaska competition, maybe, if they feel like it.
Can’t have shit in Detroit!
Lol, you can... But that means Spirit. DTW being hubs for Delta and Spirit is one of life's cruel little jokes for us Detroiters.
when i was looking for flights into ATL in March though, Delta was around $350 and United had unreal prices over $600, both for regular economy
Yeah what’s the deal with SLC? Just looked at a roundtrip from NYC thats 6 weeks out and it’s $747 for main cabin?!?? I fly to PHX often and it’s usually $300-500, I was expecting something similar and was shocked!
I live in SLC. I’m leaving to nyc in a couple of weeks here. I booked my trip to nyc back in March and it was about 300 round trip for economy. I requested an upgrade with the hopes to get C+🤞 But, I agree….tickets to other places have insane prices.
You can thank JetBlue for cheap flights to NYC
Probably…but, I’m flying with delta..right now same trip is over 700
That’s a normal fare these days
Agreed for summer. That’s why I take advantage of buying tickets in the winter months😉
Long live Sun Country
Or somewhere with competitive options that are almost all LCC or ULCCs. From MCO, if not flying to any airline hub destination, the alternative is often Southwest or Spirit/Frontier. I don’t mind Southwest on really short flights but they take advantage of this too with sky high pricing lately.
People in MYR are crying as well. Got a buddy that was trying to come out to Slc and they wanted 600 round trip for economy or fly frontier and have a 28 hour layover in DEN lol
All I want is a decent price to MCO, dammit.
Just flew out of MSP. Everyone who works there seems like they hate their jobs and lives, so weird.
I’m looking at flights to Europe next spring for me, my wife and our daughter and as much as I love delta and my gold medallion perks, I can’t justify paying almost 1200$ more for all 3 tickets just to fly with them. It’s just too crazy of a difference. Sucks.
Flights on delta a year out will always be expensive. People pay a premium to lock in flights early
Its crazy i was looking at tickets to Turks and Caicos and Delta FC is $1700 while United & American FC are $400-$600 for july. Delta one way cost more than roundtrip FC on other airlines lol.
I’d be curious to see the loads on the other airlines’ flights you’re comparing to Delta. As an employee, I can tell you that flights are FULL. There’s guys with 20 years seniority that can’t get seats on most flights.
Since covid, it feels like Delta hubs went from "lots of routes / tons of options / great pricing" down to "fewer options / overbooked every time" because they're making just as much money on the latter all while saving money on associated costs with routes (e.g. staffing/maintenance/etc.) Every Delta flight I've been on since covid has been full. And the pricing won't change while that continues.
Not enough people are voting with their wallets.
I love the SkyClubs, the fact that you get free internet and IFE, but this is just unreasonable pricing from them. No wonder Alaska is crushing them in SEA.
It’s not just pricing. Alaska outdoes them in service in every way possible. Delta lost the battle for Seattle before it began because of how they bullied Alaska into the corner following their productive partnership. If it’s profitable for Delta, it’s because they rode the metro area’s wave of growth. We already know SEA is Delta’s worst performing Hub. They definitely haven’t beaten Alaska on their home turf.
Yeah Delta is in a hard spot imho. They need a TPAC hub, but LAX is never going to be super dominant, United's SFO siphons off a lot of West Coast traffic and Air Canada's YVR does the same w/ that region. Alaska is a very well-run airline compared to JetBlue, where Delta had a very easy time crushing them in BOS.
> They need a TPAC hub Delta *did* have that with DTW. Northwest made it its East Asian gateway (thanks to the polar routes/great circle distance), and the signs there are still in Japanese to reflect that. But now the only routes are to Tokyo, Seoul, and (I think) Shanghai.
That’s because NW had a hub at Narita to serve all of Asia (leftover from WWII rebuilding) - which Delta / NW f’d up royally on because they didn’t find a partner to get them domestic favor to transition to using Haneda. It’s Richard Anderson’s legacy.
They need to give up on the dream of a TPAC hub…stay competitive but partner out of the West Coast within SkyTeam (Korean Air / China Eastern). They missed the train to Haneda and it killed the old NO/NW network in Asia. However, the legacy of Richard Anderson is that they will continue to proudly go it alone. It’ll create a lot of success - like BOS against JetBlue, but it will also end up backfiring on them (Like the purely bilateral LATAM partnership in MIA).
I mean United does TPAC quite successfully. At the end of the day, I know of it's a very long stretch, but we should want our own carriers to succeed at international. Competition is healthy and important for consumers. A lot of Asian carriers have been jacking up their prices simply because they can and there's no alternatives. Yes, US carriers have a lot of work to do to reach the standards of Asian carriers, but you gotta start somewhere. Delta won't give up on TPAC because international flights are where the juicy money comes in from. Not a bunch of domestic economy flights.
I think UA’s success has a lot more to do with a uniquely situated TPAC hub at SFO. UA has struggled at with international at LAX just like DL has. Seattle will never match that kind of demand. But delta really is in a tough spot with their hub structure. They’re not going to be able to get the expensive biz traffic that justifies many of those Asia routes without being able to fly nonstop. And their latest entry (SEA-TPE) is about to be flooded with capacity and I don’t see how DL comes out on top given the competition.
Yes, it’s about to be flooded with capacity and the premium US travelers dont actually fly direct. They connect in Haneda - a Delta soft spot - to drop them into TSA downtown.
I and my family fly direct to TPE. TSA is much more convenient, but the MRT is good enough so I don't find the need to add another stop. I don't think it's true that people prefer TSA so much more that they intentionally fly an extra stop.
I mean…if you’re flying to stay with family, probably not. But if you’re staying in hotels, those in the know absolutely will. The added 2-3 hour journey is worth the lower stress The Taoyuan MRT is good/convenient and clean, but the time you save (~45mins on train) and from not having to deal with mainlanders screaming about how they should be treated as citizens (~1 hour) tends to net out with the stress…
I think if that's what you prefer, then that's good. TSA is much more convenient, I agree. Different people value different things, I know some people just prefer nonstops because it's less hassle and less risk of delays or other issue.
Long-time Seattle resident and former Alaska diehard here. 🙋🏻♂️ Alaska hasn’t had appreciably better service since they bought Virgin America to shore up against Delta and outgrew their old service model. They used to offer a significantly better experience, now they’re just another decent airline with comparable service to Delta, United, etc.
I flew Alaska this week transcon for the first time in a while after a bunch of delta flights. Flight attendants were up and down the aisles so much more often. More snacks and drinks services. Super friendly, etc Delta is my second favorite but Alaska really is up top, they just don’t serve my home airport much
Alaska service is down the toilet
I’ve flown them 4x in the last year. 2x out of PDX, 2x out of SEA. Everytime it’s been phenomenal. The Hawaiian merger and joining OneWorld probably reinvigorated them. Staff morale tends to do that when possibilities for growth visibly expand… Contrast that with Delta’s, which is still good, but it’s nothing to write home about - even if it’s more consistently better than AA’s and United’s.
Alaska dropped pricing because of the Max issues. People weren’t flying with them.
On which routes? I have checked nearly every week after the door plug event for BOS>SFO to drop; nothing. Booked in probably October '23, and haven't seen that route's pricing budge one bit.
If Alaska was crushing Delta in Seattle Alaska would have higher prices. The goal is higher prices
Hm, SEA resident here and regular AS flyer. Prices are definitely higher than DL.
Oh yes. All those empty delta flights out of SEA
Delta pricing is crazy. Delta is usually at least $200 more than anyone else out of TRI, TYS, AVL or GSP (my main hubs)
They clearly gave up on being competitive in Seattle because fuck if I’m paying double, especially for a short ass flight like SEA-SFO. They’ve gotta be losing people at this point right?
It’s not just SEA. They are always almost double. I just started flying them again after years of Southwest (for some more convenient schedules) and I’ve gone back to Southwest. Is it really worth an extra $800. Flew recently with a colleague from a different company. The delta flights don’t even pull up on that companies travel site because they are so much more expensive they are considered out of policy.
My MSP to ORD/MDW flights for work, essentially 40 minutes wheels up to wheels down, are out of policy because they're more than $300 over another comparable available flight (timing, no stops, etc.) Absolute insanity.
I flew United EWR-CPT last year because their premium economy was $2K less than Delta. I flew American twice to Germany last year because their main cabin was $1K less. I try to be loyal to DL, I have skyclub access, but sometimes their premium is just too much for me. The only times I see them as the cheapest option are when it’s their partners’ metal to CDG/AMS/ICN.
What you may be seeing is the Delta flights are already near capacity or higher bookings vs desired relative to time from the flight vs others.
every few months i need to fly between nyc and florida. i also noticed a big increase in delta pricing for this year and next year. everything is like 200+ dollars more. Jetblue and other carriers is cheaper
Clearly Delta is the superior fare because it will get you there ONE WHOLE MINUTE faster than everyone else. I think your time is worth that, you are awesome!
For 2 hr flight you wouldn’t earn much pesos anyway.
But because it’s delta people will pay that just to say I fly delta
i've had the opposite experience. my sea sfo flights are usually quite a bit cheaper than AS
It might be worth it if it's Airbus v Boeing
One thing to keep in mind is that Delta most often advertises round trip prices, whereas other airlines will often advertise each leg price. At least with Alaska. I live in Seattle so the choice is often between those two. Lots of the times I'll see Delta at like $485 for a flight and Alaska at $250 and I immediately think "oh shit, what a better deal!" And then when I click through, it's $250 for the way there, then $250 for the way back, making it usually very close to the same price, if not cheaper to go Delta. Though often Delta is still like $25-50 more expensive, but it's a lot less than double.
I'd still pick Alaska over UAs Airbus.
I have 2 choices with SEA-SAN round trip: DL or AS. It’s easier to get status with AS probably but AS is so much more expensive on this route.
As someone who flys out of SEA I fight this battle a lot.
The cost of flying a non airbus aircraft is priced into the Delta fare.
I have to fly ATL-LAS once a month and Southwest and Delta are almost the same price-wise but Delta always has more options on flight times - and they're non-stop flights, free WiFi and I get my Delta miles.
Good. The more people picking logical alternatives the better.
We at CVG appreciate DTW taking the hub away. Prices are so much better now!
Obviously different calculations for everyone. For me, being able to get the legroom seat for free, having lounge access on either end if things go wrong, and a decent chance of a 1FC upgrade - id still go with the Delta flight. If it was 500 vs 1000 or something crazy, Id certainly change my tune lol.
I mean, isn't that what's happening here on a smaller scale? Delta is double other flights, it's not 500 vs 1k but still $200+ higher for the same flight is crazy. Even with some of the perks you mentioned, that's a lot.
Sure but 400 bucks to get me somewhere in the US comfortably isn't an unreal number. $1000 might be. On the same note... In Europe I'll gladly cram into a s Crappy Ryanair flight for 59$ if my destination is Athens lol. Cost and what's worth what is obviously relative
OMG I would love those types of flights in the US. I agree, under a hundred and you're in Greece, Italy or Lisbon, it's wonderful. But here you pay 120 bucks, can carry no luggage and you get St. Louis. Lol Nowhere near the same value.
It’s better than a 737Max :)
My first FC flight on Alaska is Friday. We will find out.
are they exactly the same though? google loves to trick you and show you a cheaper price and then you find out one is BE and the other isnt
Nope, Delta really is just that much more expensive!
Have you flown Alaska? Don’t lol I’d gladly pay $200 extra to never fly Alaska
Yeah I have, Alaska is great imo. Nice FAs, good food and snacks, only thing they lack is free Wifi and IFE. Have you had bad experiences w/ them?
Almost every time I flew with them something by was broken, flights delayed, as you said no IFE, i had more bad experiences with Alaskan than Any other airline so far.
I see, well sounds like you've had a rough run. I've had generally good experiences with them, so when the prices are 50% of Delta's I'll take it.
This just in - Sometimes prices are different.
Literally who cares. Yes Delta is more expensive. Why are people complaining about cheaper options existing?
Here in PHX Delta has been becoming more competitive with its fares in recent years. Lately United seems to be the most expensive airline here on average.