The latest in international airfare trends
KING FEATURES SYNDICATE
International airfares are going down, down, down from the United States to many parts of the globe. Why? There’s no one reason, but the unpopularity of U.S. President Donald Trump and his policies abroad certainly is a factor. A good number of foreign visitors are choosing other destinations over the U.S., thus opening up seat space.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, America’s share of the global travel market fell from 13.9 per cent to 11.9 per cent in a year when travel was up seven per cent globally. The continued strength of the dollar also has contributed to this slump in inbound travel.
But the most significant reason may be H.B.O. fares — and I’m not talking about the cable network. Standing for “hand baggage only,” these are fares rolled out just in the past three months or so that reward passengers who give up the right to check a bag, or even bring on good-sized carry-on luggage.
The carry-on can weigh no more than 22 pounds — no ifs, ands or buts. We’ve seen fares as low as $399 round-trip between the United States and a handful of European capitals. Discounts from Toronto, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and a handful of other cities also are in the offing.
So the rates are low ... or are they? The fact is, most visitors heading abroad want to, well, be able to change their clothes a few times once they arrive. And many airlines are being strict about that weight limit, requiring passengers to check a bag if it’s too heavy. What’s the fee for that if you get caught? It can be as high as $70 per piece, per leg on some of the carriers. Which means that unless one packs very, very carefully, one could end up paying more for these fares than for regular tickets.
Can you say “shell game”? With this class of ticket, passengers also must pay a fee to choose a seat in advance.
At this point, we’re seeing H.B.O. fares from TAP Air Portugal, SAS and Aer Lingus. But as of April 10, Air France and KLM will be hopping on the bandwagon. Word has it that Delta Airlines and Alitalia also are considering this fare category on international flights (Delta already has a similar scheme called “Basic Economy” for domestic ones), though no details are available.
My advice: Get out your calculator.
You’re going to want to add up all of the extra fees to make sure that going for a “sale fare” actually will save you money.