South America Flights $7K currently

[Jo-D]

Hello!  I'm looking for flights for a cruise in January 2024 and in the past week the flights have been priced at $6-7K for premium economy, and $3K for basic economy.  This is INSANE.  It would make the flights more than the whole 22 day cruise!  I obviously have time for the prices to go down, but has anyone else seen a massive spike of prices (price tripled overnight) in the past month or so?  Any guesses/explanations why?

 

At this point, flying business is cheaper than Premium Economy.  (Still outside my budget, though.)

 

Flights are from Dallas -> Chile and Argentina -> Dallas

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Jo-D
added comment about business pricing

[6rugrats]

Economy varies from ~$1100 to $1300. You didn’t post your exact dates/cities, so I just looked at DFW-SCL.  

Edited March 28, 2023 by 6rugrats

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, Jo-D said:

It would make the flights more than the whole 22 day cruise!

 

OMG.....once again, comparing flights with the price of a cruise.  How many times will we have to write:

 

THERE IS ZERO CORRELATION BETWEEN AIR PRICES AND CRUISE PRICES

 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled posts.

 

And regarding prices....where are you finding these inflated numbers?

 

 

[Jo-D]

36 minutes ago, 6rugrats said:

Economy varies from ~$1100 to $1300. You didn’t post your exact dates/cities, so I just looked at DFW-SCL.  

Jan 5 and Jan 29.

 

American airlines, and through HAL. 

[Jo-D]

I appreciate that they are independent of each other, the statement was simply for comparison of pricing. 🙂

 

I have looked at the general price for the flights on comparable days and time frame over the past six months or so and the premium economy seat was usually in the $2K-$3K range.

🙂

[Z'Loth]

5 hours ago, Jo-D said:

Hello!  I'm looking for flights for a cruise in January 2024 and in the past week the flights have been priced at $6-7K for premium economy, and $3K for basic economy.

 

I was tempted by a themed European river cruise, and the cost of the flight (again, from DFW) was still chin-dropping. 

[FlyerTalker]

32 minutes ago, Z'Loth said:

I was tempted by a themed European river cruise, and the cost of the flight (again, from DFW) was still chin-dropping. 

 

AA non-stops carry a price premium -- have you looked at other carriers and non-obvious routings?

 

Dates and cites always help to provide information.

[Z'Loth]

11 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

AA non-stops carry a price premium -- have you looked at other carriers and non-obvious routings?

 

Dates and cites always help to provide information.

 

I don't recall the cruise at the moment as the brochure isn't readily, but it was a one-off classical music history music tour. I think the flight was going to Amsterdam, but please don't hold me to it. At that point, I wasn't really booking because I have an upcoming cruise coming up in January. 

[FlyerTalker]

On 3/28/2023 at 4:07 PM, Jo-D said:

Jan 5 and Jan 29.

 

American airlines, and through HAL. 

 

If you go the day before (Jan 4) you can go down in business and back in PE on Delta/LATAM for about $3675 round trip.  Wait a day on the return and it drops to about $3500 round trip.

 

If you have to leave on the 5th, you can get full business both ways on AA for about $4830.

 

Cruiseline air is not always your "best" deal.

[Jo-D]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

If you go the day before (Jan 4) you can go down in business and back in PE on Delta/LATAM for about $3675 round trip.  Wait a day on the return and it drops to about $3500 round trip.

 

If you have to leave on the 5th, you can get full business both ways on AA for about $4830.

 

Cruiseline air is not always your "best" deal.

Thank you, I'll look into it!

[Gardyloo]

So first, IMO it's way too early to be booking flights for January.  Too many things can happen - spikes or dips in fuel prices, labor unrest, major schedule alterations... Flights aren't going to sell out, and while you're talking about peak periods, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if business class prices fall.  I'd start shopping seriously sometime around June or July.

 

Second, there aren't a lot of premium economy seats on those routes - just regular economy and business class.  If you look at the flight details on ITA searches, you'll see that they're often a mixture of PE (on a few flights) and business class fare buckets.  

 

Third, there are work-arounds if you're prepared to be a little flexible on dates (of course while respecting your cruise dates.)  For example, a round trip from DFW to Lima, Peru (LIM) in business class on United (via Houston) departing on January 4 and returning on January 30 comes in at $2201 per person.  A business class one-way ticket on the 5th from LIM to Santiago is US$330, and a one-way (in PE this time) from Buenos Aires to Lima on January 29 is $426, so all in $2957.  You might need an airport hotel near LIM for one or two nights, but you'd end up money ahead compared to the current prices.  

 

Just a couple of suggestions.  

[Zach1213]

1 hour ago, Gardyloo said:

You might need an airport hotel near LIM for one or two nights, but you'd end up money ahead compared to the current prices.  

 

 Lima in itself is a pretty cool city. If it's more than just a sleep over in Lima, I would definitely stay in the city (versus the airport) and enjoy it. 

[MSUjohn]

On 3/28/2023 at 7:05 PM, FlyerTalker said:

 

OMG.....once again, comparing flights with the price of a cruise.  How many times will we have to write:

 

THERE IS ZERO CORRELATION BETWEEN AIR PRICES AND CRUISE PRICES

 

 

 

 

yes there is, they both are in your cruise part of your cruise budget 

[6rugrats]

1 hour ago, MSUjohn said:

yes there is, they both are in your cruise part of your cruise budget 

No, that has nothing to do with "correlation."

[CruiserBruce]

Agree...that isn't correlation. If we fly from X to Y, and back, for a cruise, or for a land vacation, the airfare is the same.

 

Additionally, there is no relationship, as you can book a first class airfare, and get the cheapest cabin on the ship, or the best suite on the ship and the cheapest seat on the flight...so the ratio can be distorted so many ways.

[MSUjohn]

On 4/3/2023 at 6:24 PM, 6rugrats said:

No, that has nothing to do with "correlation."

no *****? I have had a couple of stats classes myself. 

🙄

[FlyerTalker]

On 4/3/2023 at 1:52 PM, MSUjohn said:

yes there is, they both are in your cruise part of your cruise budget 

 

11 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

no *****? I have had a couple of stats classes myself.

 

So which is it?  Correlation or not?  Seems you say both.

[waterbug123]

On 4/3/2023 at 4:52 PM, MSUjohn said:

yes there is, they both are in your cruise part of your cruise budget 

 

No.  They are two completely different products priced by two completely different companies, independent of each other.  There is literally no correlation between the two.

[6rugrats]

On 4/7/2023 at 12:37 PM, MSUjohn said:

no *****? I have had a couple of stats classes myself. 

🙄

Are the asterisks some type of profanity?  No matter how many years ago these classes were, the concept has not changed.  There is no correlation.  If someone slept through Statistics 101, a simple explanation of  correlation is a connection between two or more things, especially when one of them causes or influences another.  The price of a cruise has no relationship to the price of airfare.

[FlyerTalker]

20 minutes ago, 6rugrats said:

The price of a cruise has no relationship to the price of airfare.

 

And vice versa.