The low cost carriers such as Southwest are no longer the automatic choice for lowest fare. Their fuel and other costs have forced them to raise prices - just as the legacy carriers have. Southwest has raised prices in a number of ways, including last month upping its minimum fare bucket from $39 to $49 and its highest one-way prices from $299 to $309.
This morning's Wall Street Journal has several examples where the low-cost airlines lose out in pricing to the traditional airlines. Included is a trip between New York La Guardia to Fort Lauderdale, where Spirit's cheapest round-trip fare (before taxes and fees) is $148 versus only $138 for US Airways. Between the D.C. area and Chicago, American has a round-trip fare of $197 (including taxes), which is lower than Southwest's best fare of $232. Between New York and Tampa, JetBlue's best nonstop round-trip fare of $219 (including taxes) is higher than Delta's $179.
As the press and airline experts have been predicting, expect more airfare increases from all of the airlines over the next few months as the full impact of fuel price hikes kicks in. Southwest, which has traditionally hedged fuel costs with futures, won't be able to count on those locked-in lower costs much longer.
