Airline Choices
Undoubtedly, airlines have become the most preferred form of transportation certainly for travel internationally, but also in the USA for traveling any significant distance. Airline flights have also become very economical. In 2021 the cost in inflation adjusted dollars was practically 50% of what it was in 1995, however in 2022 the difference decreased to only 33% as the airlines took a post-covid opportunity to significantly increase the cost of travel.
Despite significant consolidation of the major carriers, this cost reduction has been a result of less regulation and increased competition due to the introduction of low-cost budget carriers. While the traditional low-cost carriers (Southwest and Jet Blue) have increased their fees to be more in line with the original big three (American, United and Delta), the entree of other low-cost carriers (Frontier, Spirit, Allegiant, etc.) contribute to continuing to push fares lower.
Choosing An Airline
Gathering all the options before booking a flight is important. Please check our post on Reservations and DIY Travel Budget Strategies to see how we gather information and try to keep the costs down.
Also, if you are trying to decide which specific airline to fly among the biggest US carriers, we suggest that you read our post: United vs American Airlines and Delta: Which is Best?
Generally speaking, we don’t fly the new budget carriers; however, in Europe, we found that the budget airlines tend to have the more available itineraries and, since we have less loyalty to the major European carriers, we found ourselves flying them quite often.
Here is a link to one of our favorite US Carriers: Hawaiian Airlines.
Here are links to three of our favorite International Carriers:
- Aer Lingus
- Etihad
- Qatar
Quick Airlines Booking:
Here is an easy way to search for low-cost flights and to make airline bookings: WayAway.
Following is our approach for deciding which carrier we use for different itineraries:
Priority #1: Is there a direct airline route?
When you can fly direct from point A to point B you eliminate a lot of potential problems, and you will arrive much earlier than other alternatives. You eliminate the possibility of missing a connection and the additional possibility of your luggage not being on the second flight. You miss the hassle of having to connect through airports that were not designed for easy connections (JFK, DFW, MIA, PHL, CLT and ORD to name a few) and you can take it a little easier when rushing to get off the first flight. This factor will dictate in many cases which airline we choose to fly.
For example, if we are traveling to one of the airlines’ main hub-locations, then that can sometimes dictate our choice of airline. A good example is when you are visiting Amsterdam. Amsterdam has a very good airport, Schiphol, that doesn’t get a lot of attention like some of the more populous European cities. The countries’ former flag-carrier, KLM, offers a great transatlantic service, especially with its partnership with Delta.
