Is
it cheaper to fly from Phoenix than Tucson?
How do I find the best, cheapest flights from Tucson?
Why should I fly from Tucson rather than Phoenix?
Helpful Tips to Get the Best Rates
How do airlines determine fares?
Why do travelers pay different amounts on the same airline flight?
Is
it cheaper to fly from Phoenix than Tucson?
Tucson has three low fare airlines, jetBlue, Southwest and US Airways. In addition, the other carriers flying from Tucson offer service to some of the same cities, creating a competitive environment that keeps fares reasonable.
How do I find the best, cheapest flights from Tucson?
. Visit airtucson.com.
. Surf the Internet. Use this website to link to other websites
offering good fare deals.
. Visit the airline websites to find their specials and sign
up for their newsletters.
. Call a travel agent for assistance.
Why should I fly from Tucson rather than Phoenix?
In all likelihood you have found a fare from TIA that is equal
to or cheaper than PHX. But if you didn’t and would have
to pay a few dollars more to fly from TIA, there are several good
reasons to do so.
Cost:
How much gas (at $2.25 or more per gallon) does it take to drive
to Phoenix?
How much more will you pay for parking?
Convenience:
How early do you have to leave check in at Sky Harbor
at least one hour prior to departure?
Consider what happens if there is an accident on I-10
that could delay your arrival in Phoenix.
Will you have to pay for a hotel room
in order to catch an early flight?
How much construction will you encounter en route to the airport
and at
Sky Harbor?
How long will it take you to get to the airport once you park?
How much is your time worth?
Better Service:
Every airline ticket purchased with Tucson as
the departure point is a “vote” for better airline
service. The airlines (by law) must supply numerous categories
of information about their
operations to the U.S. Department of Transportation and in turn,
this information becomes publicly available.
From passenger boarding data, the airlines can see how changes
in demand occur in a given market and for particular city pairs.
When the statistics indicate that a particular city has growing
demand but lacks adequate service, airlines are more likely to
meet the demand by adding additional flights or destinations. If
growth is slow or negative, the market may appear less attractive
and gaining new service can be extremely difficult.
Helpful Tips to Get the Best Rates
Reserve early.
Many discount fares require reservations 7 to 21 days before travel
and 30 days for international fares. Booking online allows you
to compare fares and it is worth the few minutes required to do
so. Though fares will seldom differ by more than a few dollars
between online distributors, check several online sources as they
may not all offer the same inventory of arrival and departure times
with a particular airline. The airline web site will have all available
flights listed while other sites may have only certain flights
made available to the distributor by the airline.
Fly on a weekday.
Lower fares can often be found for certain days of the week such
as Tuesday Wednesday and Sunday. If possible, book your flight
to avoid peak business travel hours as fares during the early morning
and early evening hours may be higher.
Fly on a holiday.
Many people find that fares around holidays are high enough to
prevent them from traveling, but it may be possible to still travel
and enjoy the holiday season by traveling on the holiday. Airlines
must still operate their schedule and will often price seats on
holidays much less than during the few days prior to and after
the holiday, but don’t wait until the last minute!
Be flexible.
Consider alternative arrival or departure dates and times to get
the best price. America West, Southwest and others have made shopping
for low fares on their websites much easier by allowing you to
compare fares at a glance for more than just one set of dates.
Ask for discounts.
Seniors, children and others are sometimes eligible for discounts.
Subscribe to e-letters.
Most of the airlines and airline booking sites (hotwire, Travelocity,
etc.) newsletters with specials. It’s worth subscribing.
How do airlines determine fares? In any given market, airlines set fares to recover the costs of
providing service and achieve some level of profit for each segment
flown. A major determinant of fare levels is competition. In large
cities that have one dominant (non low fare) airline, fares may
be considerably higher than in a city with a number of airlines
and at least one low fare carrier. (Tucson is fortunate to have
a good mix of airlines – 12 – providing nonstop service
to a variety of destinations (18) and direct service (one stop,
same plane) to another 24 cities. No single carrier dominates the
market which means more competition.
"Why do travelers pay different amounts on the same airline flight? Airlines use a very complex method of segmenting their available
inventory into “fare classes” in order to achieve the
necessary revenue to pay the operating costs of the flight and
earn a profit. When seats (inventory) are made available it is
known (from historical performance) that a certain number of seats
in each fare class (economy, business, first class, etc…)
will be sold in advance on a given flight on a particular date
and time. As the supply of seats is sold during the weeks before
the departure date, airlines adjust prices on the remaining inventory
with the expectation that as supply grows smaller, customers will
be willing to pay a higher price to travel. Even an economy class
ticket purchased hours before the flight can be quite expensive,
however; some airlines (low fare carriers such as Southwest and
jetBlue) have now “capped” their fares so that the
most expensive fare never exceeds a fixed amount.
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