In case you had any lingering doubts, the airline industry wants you to know that the Summer Of Low Fares is officially over. Continental may have dumped Delta for Star Alliance partnerships - and in case you're wondering that's still a total mess - but the two airlines seemed simpatico last week when they simultaneously announced price hikes.

Those increases, which functionally included airlines in two out of three alliances, caused other companies to take notice. That led to another round of industry-wide fare hikes, making this the second time in as many weeks that ticket prices have increased:]]> Omri 2009-10-26T14:09:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/5/14/221416/846

Q-Up fares may be the super secret double probation way to get upgraded from coach to first class, but many other types of special fare are no longer worth the trouble these days. Fares for seniors, children, and the recently bereaved are fast disappearing, and when they do appear, they are sometimes more than a regular last minute fare.

A senior fare that the LA Times priced on Southwest for instance, was $80 more than a standard fare. Jeez, Southwest, cut those old people some slack. They lose the mad rush for seats boarding a Southwest plane as it is. Other fares vary from airline to airline; Delta sells seats for half-price for kids under two, but United does not.

Another wrinkle is that many low-cost carriers, such as jetBlue, don't have special fares at all. They reason that if everything they sell is cheap--ostensibly--there's no need for further savings. We always thought of a bereavement fare as something from another era. The fares disappearance from the galaxy of airline pricing structures merely confirms it. Let's hope that someone flying a bereavement fares gets a pillow and a blanket, at least.

[Image via freebeets/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Special Airfares May Not Be Bargains [LAT]
·   How to Cowboy Up Into First Class [Jaunted]  
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