Expensive airfares, confusing travelers at airports

TOKYO/NEW YORK — Genevieve Price considers herself a great flight hacker.

The 35-year-old San Diego-based naturopath typically buys and uses basic economy tickets when visiting family in New Jersey. alaska airlines Using your frequent flyer status to select your seat is generally not allowed on no-frills fares.

“I like to travel a lot,” Price told CNBC at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, returning from Rome.

But Price said she has limits and plans to cap her future spending on flights, including no more than $900 to Rome, where her partner is from.

Consumers’ willingness to fly this spring is being tested as rising fuel prices lead to higher airfares. Cathay Pacific, SAS and Finnair are among the airlines that have already increased fares.

The Transportation Security Administration’s second government shutdown in six months has also left many frustrated as travelers have to contend with hours-long airport security lines.

Fuel prices at major U.S. airports were $3.98 on Wednesday, nearly 60% higher than before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.

The conflict represents a crisis for the Middle East’s aviation industry in particular, with airspace closures forcing airlines to cancel flights or take longer and more expensive routes.

Airlines are expected to brief investors on the long-term impact early next month, but quickly began raising airfares and fuel surcharges on tickets to offset rising costs.

united airlines CEO Scott Kirby told reporters at a company event in Los Angeles this week that airfares could rise by 20% this year. He added that even though airlines are passing on higher fuel costs to travelers, customers appear willing to continue booking.

Other airlines also said demand was holding up.

delta airlines Chief Executive Ed Bastian told a J.P. Morgan industry conference earlier this month that demand in recent weeks remained strong and airlines were “well-positioned” to recover from the fuel surge from in-house sales.

U.S. airlines have seen strong demand for years. Overseas travel, especially high-end leisure travel, has become a strength, attracting so many tourists that local residents have protested while the Japanese government has taken steps to reduce overtourism.

But airline executives said they would cut back on flights if demand falls.

“We’re definitely going to be agile in terms of our production capacity to make sure we keep supply and demand in balance.” american airlines CEO Robert Isom said at a JPMorgan conference.

Meanwhile, United Airlines is bracing for fuel prices to remain high into next year and will reduce capacity during off-peak travel times, such as midweek flights and holiday flights, by about 3 percent, Kirby told employees this month.

Some of the higher fares are already here.

A transatlantic ticket from the United States cost $1,059, an increase of 26.5% from the previous week when purchased three weeks in advance, according to a Deutsche Bank memo on Monday.

Domestic flights, including transcontinental flights and flights to and from Hawaii, also increased.

Mary Jean Ashen Cook, a nurse from Cuba City, Wis., said she and her husband, Paul, were scheduled to leave Tokyo for a 10-day trip to Japan earlier this month, but this year there will be plenty of family vacations within the United States.

“We haven’t booked any flights, but we should,” she said, adding that she and her husband would consider driving one of the planes. She noted that gas prices are also rising and will affect driving.

In addition to rising airfare prices, travelers are facing challenges at airports this spring.

TSA employees have been working without regular pay since Feb. 14 due to a deadlock in Congress over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. According to DHS, nearly 500 TSA employees have retired, leaving airports short-staffed due to increased deployment.

As a result, long security lines have formed at major airports across the United States, including Houston, New York and Atlanta. Wait times exceeded three hours in some areas, longer than some flights the airport offered, as lines snaked outside terminals and the airport.

Elizabeth Reddy, a 38-year-old classical pianist based in New York, said she flies several times a year. The long security line that lasted nearly 90 minutes at LaGuardia Airport on Friday for TSA pre-screening flyers could serve as a deterrent to her doing so in the future.

Reddy said if the security line was three to four hours long, “I think it would be okay to drive.”

DHS has blamed Democrats for the shutdown, making it the longest partial shutdown in U.S. history. As of Friday afternoon, the Senate had passed a deal that could potentially end the government shutdown, but its fate was considered uncertain.

Separately, President Donald Trump said he would sign an order to pay more than 50,000 TSA employees. DHS announced Friday that TSA employees will begin receiving paychecks as early as Monday.

The Trump administration sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to multiple U.S. airports this week, but DHS has not disclosed their duties. ICE employees, also under the DHS umbrella, are still being paid during the partial shutdown.

ICE agents were seen monitoring security lines at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Friday morning.

“Even if this reduces wait times slightly (we’re far from a significant improvement, as the worst wait times are still being investigated), ICE’s presence could make some people afraid to travel and TSA agents upset about not being paid,” Bernstein said in a memo Thursday. “Passenger throughput may slow in the coming days, and year-over-year growth in TSA screenings this week could turn slightly negative.”