About Rick Seaney, CEO FareCompare

Rick Seaney

Rick Seaney, co-founder of FareCompare.com - is a world-class air travel expert.

FareCompare.com presides over a kingdom of sophisticated software that searches out fares and destinations at a billion combinations per query - while keeping track of 500 airlines serving more than 270,000 markets around the globe.

And all of Rick's data is updated continuously - in real-time.

No wonder he's the media's go-to guy for all things air travel. He's got the answers. And he loves to share his knowledge.

That's why Rick and the team created FareCompare.com - to help everyone become an air travel expert, and get the best deals first -- every time they fly.

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Take 3: Domestic Airline Ticket Fuel Surcharges are Back

May 21, 2010 | Posted in: Airfare Increases, Delta, Fuel Surcharges, Fuel Watch | 4 comments

domestic airline ticket fuel surcharges

Many times airfare hike attempts look a bit like a ball traveling through a pachinko machine — and that is the case with this latest “fuel surcharge” airfare hike attempt by Delta.

This morning, it looked as though this Delta-initiated hike (via a fuel surcharge) was going to fail, especially after both Delta and United rolled back. However, it appears I may have been premature in seeing it as a flop.

That’s because Delta has now reversed itself, and at 1 pm,  jumped back into the hike – joined by Virgin America and Alaska (American is still participating).

There is another domestic airfare feed at 8pm EDT time tonight, which is likely to see United jump back in (they also dropped out when Delta did this morning).

We know who’s in – but, who is not going along with this hike? Keep reading…

Take 3: Domestic Airline Ticket Fuel Surcharges are Back

Domestic Airline Ticket Fuel Surcharges are Back, Briefly

May 21, 2010 | Posted in: Airfare Increases, American, Delta, Fuel Surcharges, Fuel Watch, United | 0 comments

domestic airline ticket fuel surcharges

This is an update to last night’s post that revealed Delta Air Lines filed a $20 roundtrip fuel surcharge on tens of thousands of mostly smaller city-pairs.

However, Delta has now backed away from that; the carrier removed its surcharge filing – but not before both American and United matched this $20 surcharge.

By this morning though, United pulled out, leaving only American with the new surcharge.

What’s going on? You could say these new fuel surcharges are just another way of saying “airfare hike”. Face it, fuel prices – now at a little more than $80 per barrel – have not risen above airline estimates. So, the surcharge is yet another gambit to try to bring in extra revenue, much like those “peak travel” day surcharges are (and the successful bag fees).

The airlines haven’t had much luck with regular price hikes this year, so they’re trying whatever they can, to see what works – but so far, this latest attempt seems to be fizzling.

However, I do expect to see more price hike attempts, in a variety of guises, as the busy summer season approaches.

Domestic Airline Ticket Fuel Surcharges are Back

May 20, 2010 | Posted in: Airlines, Delta, Fuel Surcharges, Fuel Watch | 0 comments

domestic airline ticket fuel surcharges

U.S. travelers haven’t seen domestic airline ticket fuel charges since November of 2008, when legacy airlines folded these surcharges into the base airfare as the price of oil dropped dramatically from early summer highs.

But now, oil prices are cresting over $80 per barrel and the surcharges are beginning to make a come-back: On Monday, Delta Air Lines filed a $20 roundtrip ($10 one-way) fuel surcharge on top of their lengthy list of “peak” travel day surcharges, on tens of thousands of mostly smaller city-pairs with no departure date restrictions.

For example, a one-way connecting Delta flight from San Francisco to Denver or Dallas (via Salt Lake City) on May 27 has both a peak travel surcharge of $30 and a fuel surcharge of $10 tacked on to the base airfare.

Keep reading – and see how the “hub cities” were spared the surcharge…

Domestic Airline Ticket Fuel Surcharges are Back

Price Fixing Scandal: Virgin Atlantic vs. British Airways

May 12, 2010 | Posted in: Airfare Increases, Europe, Fuel Surcharges, Pricing Activity, Virgin | 0 comments

price fixing scandal british airways virgin atlantic

A trial is now underway in London featuring three former (and one current!) British Airways executives, who are accused of conspiring with arch-foe Virgin Atlantic to fix fuel surcharge prices during the years 2004 to 2006.

Virgin Atlantic execs are not on trial, according to the Daily Mail, as VA was the whistle-blower in the case.

British Airways, meanwhile, has already paid more than $520 million in fines and court settlements (including nearly $230 million to the U.S. Justice Dept. alone).

And even though Virgin Atlantic is not being charged in “the debacle” as they’re calling it in the UK, there should be plenty of embarrassment to go around during the trial, which is expected to last about 3-months.

Fuel Surcharges Rise on El Al (a Blast from the Past?)

October 27, 2009 | Posted in: Airlines, Fuel Surcharges, Fuel Watch | 0 comments

Israel’s El Al Airlines has announced that, effective this coming Thurday (Oct. 29), it’ll raise its fuel surcharge rates.

The reason: rising oil prices.

Now don’t panic – the price per barrel hasn’t gone crazy the way it did in the spring/summer of 2008 – but it is creeping up.

So El Al is raising surcharges from $10 to $23, depending on the length of the flight. Believe me, this is a trend I’ll be watching very carefully.

Holiday Travel Fee – Under Guise of Flight Airfare Surcharge?

October 25, 2009 | Posted in: Airline Fees, American, Fuel Surcharges, Peak Travel Day Surcharge, United | 3 comments

UPDATE: Others have now joined in the matching, including Delta, Northwest, and US Airways.

UPDATE: The surcharge is coded with ‘Q’ which is “Miscellaneous/Other”, ‘F’ is Fuel Surcharge

??

Now here’s something I’ve not seen before…

On Wednesday, American Airlines added a $10 “fuelmiscellaneous surcharge” to the vast majority of its fares – but only for travel on three very specific days: the Sunday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 29) and Jan. 2 and 3. United Airlines followed suit.

You’ll note that the Sunday after Thanksgiving is one of the two busiest travel days of the year (the other is the Wednesday before the holiday) — and of course, Jan. 2 and 3 are also quite popular.

So it’s not so much a surcharge as a quick way to upcharge for those premium days. Yes, it brings in a lot of sorely needed revenue to the airlines – but to the detriment of holiday travelers, who are already paying stiff fares for those high-traffic days.

The surcharge is a rule category associated with a given airfare and is added on to the base fare and taxed (the actual surcharge is $9.30 + the 7.5% tax, equaling to $10). When you look at online price quotes it will be baked into based price of the airfare (not something charged separately like pre-paid checked bag fees).

Some of you may remember that, last year, procrastinators were rewarded with lower fares during the holiday period, but I do not expect that to happen this year (please see our “Holiday Travel 2009: Guide for Buying Cheap Holiday Flights” and “Holiday Travel – Seat Cutbacks for Thanksgiving 2009“).

When will this “new airline surcharge” crop up next? Maybe during next summer’s busy vacation season? We shall see…

Airlines Dig Themselves Out of Fuel Hedges – and Into the Future

January 13, 2009 | Posted in: Airlines, Fuel Surcharges, Fuel Watch, Pricing Activity | 1 comment

Good news and good news. Let’s take that in order:

First, those fuel hedges. Last summer, when fuel was oh-so-close to $150 a barrel, the airlines were losing their shirts (except for Southwest, which had hedged for this eventuality). Then they belatedly hopped on the hedge bandwagon, only to see oil prices take a dive (“60 Minutes” says, blame it on Wall St. oil speculators).

Now, the good news: in short order, a lot of those hedges are set to expire – which will be a tremendous boon to airlines now struggling with the latest economic hurdle – people who don’t want to get on planes.

How big a boon? Well, the Chicago Tribune reports that, “Even if oil averages $60 per barrel for the year — well above Friday’s close of $40.83 — the fuel bill for the nine largest U.S. airlines will drop $20.4 billion from 2008 levels.”

Worth repeating: the airlines’ fuel bill could drop by more than $20 billion. Wow.

So even if fewer people fly, airlines can still make money. But – the airlines aren’t just sitting around, waiting for the next fuel spike. They’re looking for alternatives to petroleum, and having some success with algae blends. Just last week, Continental was the latest to test biofuels in flight. And why not? Airlines are looking to save money – and go green.

Kudos to airlines for even thinking of the future, at a time when the economic picture is so darn dreary.

International Fliers: Malaysia Airlines Scraps Domestic Fuel Surcharges

January 13, 2009 | Posted in: Business Travel, Fuel Surcharges, Fuel Watch | 0 comments

Malaysia Airlines isn’t dropping fuel surcharges entirely, but they are dumping them domestically — and if you’re hopping around Asia, that could save you money.

Malaysia execs say it’s being done to “boost air travel amid an economic slowdown”.

It might also have something to do with the fact that Malaysia’s rival, the low cost carrier AirAsia — removed fuel surcharges from ALL its flights – about 2 months ago. Like I’ve always said – competition is a beautiful thing…

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