I've noticed lately that many of the flight ticket search aggregators are now starting to show fares that would make you "think" you are booking a regular economy ticket.
However, with many airlines (particularly those within the US) ... now offering a tiered level below economy called "Basic Economy" ... so that they can compete against low cost carriers, it maybe a little bit more difficult or deceiving when you use search engines to shop for cheap flights.
For example, now on Momondo (a flight search aggregator that I popularly love to use), displays the economy fares first in "Basic Economy". Be sure to check, as you can see right below the price or next to it an indication that it's NOT a regular economy fare.
You might think ... what would it make a difference? It does though.
What Basic Economy is Usually Like
Basic Economy fares across the major legacy carriers means you CAN'T bring any carry on items. You may bring ONE personal item (which is usually a small purse or laptop bag). That's it. Usually, I know majority of folks always travel at least one carry on item, so honestly, the Basic Economy fare works if you are just taking a quick day business trip and then returning. You'll more than likely need a carry on item, but you'd have to pay extra for that. As well, you board last (unless you have that airline's credit card or status that gets you to board ahead), and as well, you can't pick your seat ... the gate agent or the airline will assign one the day of.
Honestly, is Basic Economy worth the few dollar savings? I haven't seen the price difference to be considerable enough to merit getting Basic Economy ... usually, it's just a $50 to $75 difference ... but then you'd be paying up just to have a carry on item or seat selection, etc.
Now for most flight search aggregator sites like Momondo, Google Flights, etc. ... you can specifically filter by cabin, I usually uncheck Basic Economy, so that the fares displayed only show regular economy and upwards in class.
Oil Prices Forecasted to Go Up, So Airlines Increasing Fall Ticket Prices to Hedge
Something else I noticed across the board is that when I was checking Fall 2018 airline tickets ... I noticed across the board that the round trip prices are getting a bit pricey.
Usually, Hawaii to West Coast flights roundtrip for me I could easily have found anywhere from $250 to $375 roundtrip. Now it's almost double that price anywhere from $450 to $650 round trip.
As well, Hawaii to East Coast flights I sometimes could have found something for $600 to $700 round trip. Now that price exceeds well over $1,000 roundtrip. Quite pricey.
But I guess airlines are afraid of higher oil prices cutting into their profits, so they are passing on that cost onwards to passengers.
C'est la vie.
Underbooked Hawaiian Airlines Interisland Flights Between OGG (Maui) and ITO (Hilo, Big Island)
Below is my screenshots of the recent flight I took from Maui to Big Island (Hilo).
The one-way flight is around $108.
I bought the neighbor island pass so that I could save, so my one-way flights are always capped at $77 each way.
That short 25 minute in the air flight ... the plane was 75% empty and yet Hawaiian Airlines still charges the flight seats at $108. So ridiculous.
Guess it's not profitable at all for them to even bother reducing the price to fill up any of those seats.
Granted, I guess since the flight was a Saturday afternoon, usually people wouldn't travel interisland unless it's Sunday evening or Monday morning.
But still ... to me, the market price for the interisland flight of that duration of 25 minute and how empty the plane was should have been around $60.
But then again, that's only my own opinion.