Good deals are difficult to find for those flying to the States

[unhappycamper]

Good deals are difficult to find for those flying to the States
By Matt Millham, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, June 8, 2008

Have plans to travel to the States this summer? Plan to fork over plenty of cash.

On Wednesday, just days into the high travel season, United Airlines announced it was cutting the number of international flights by as much as 5 percent. On Thursday, Continental Airlines said it was trimming its passenger capacity by up to 11 percent. Add to that the skyrocketing cost of fuel and an increase in the number of European travelers taking advantage of the cheap dollar, and you can guess what the result is.

Don’t expect to get a cheap seat this summer, said Herbert Blesinger, owner of ABC Travel Service, which has offices in the German cities of Mannheim, Kaiserslautern, Ramstein and Vilseck. While airlines have left prices on higher fare classes about the same as last year, the lowest fares are expected to increase well above last year’s prices during the high season —– typically June through August.

Passengers might have been able to get cheap seats if they bought early, but if they wait until the last minute, the cost could double or more of what that same ticket would have cost if purchased in May, said Siggy Mitschke, an agent at the SatoTravel office in Darmstadt. Prices, she said, are rising fast.

Airlines are laying the blame for higher ticket prices on increased fuel costs, which, they say, have also forced them to cancel flights.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55397