My clients, who shall remain nameless, just wanted to go somewhere warm for five days around Thanksgiving week. And incidentally avoid their relatives. So from San Francisco, we looked at a number of packages to Mexico and Hawaii.
Puerto Vallarta, only 1,500 miles away, was $650 for airfare alone for Nov. 26 to Dec. 1. Hawaii was higher. And a side issue was the clients wanted to fly United as they needed about 5,000 more miles each to maintain Premier status. (A perk that is now worth some serious money, with baggage and “Economy Plus” fees.)
On a lark, I checked San Juan, Puerto Rico. Jackpot! For the exact same dates, leaving Thanksgiving Day, from San Francisco, and returning Dec. 1, the roundtrip airfare was 448. Including taxes. And it’s almost 8,000 frequent flier miles.
From my clients’ perspective, this was wonderful news. In fact, they were able to splurge on a nicer hotel – El Convento – than they had expected to stay at in Mexico. And although it’s a lot of flying, she has told me that with economy plus they find airplane flights reasonably comfortable. (Along of course, with being a temporary escape from a world of Blackberries.)
And from San Juan’s perspective, no doubt their tourist economy can use the extra money.
From an airline perspective, however, it’s insane.
There is no way United can make money on $448 roundtrip tickets to fly people that distance. And, in fact, the fare just for the same flights to Washington, where they are connecting, would be $529 for the same dates. Flights just from D.C. to San Juan would be $380.
But apparently United is matching some fare or some airline they think they have to match. So, in the short run, it’s a win for my clients. In the long run, if airlines go bankrupt because of this kind of fare insanity, maybe not so much.
(Photo from El Convento, Old San Juan)
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
