Airline prices going up this holiday season?

[surfmonkey]

Welcome to my bitchfest. :) Anyone else notice that prices to fly this holiday season are significantly higher than before? I fly to the east coast every year, and never have any trouble finding a $300-$400 fare. But man this year, I can't find anything for less than $600-$700 range. And I've tried all the expedia's & travelocity bargain fare sites. Nada. Anyone else having this problem?

[Mark Zeger]

Could be. There are still fewer people flying these days than years before, but more flights are full. How can this be? Airlines are ditching older, larger aircraft and using small regional jets, like Embraier, to cover the same routes at lower costs. So, as these smaller capacity flights fill up, rates rise for the last available seats. Meanwhile, major carriers such as Delta and United are creating secondary low-cost airlines to compete with Southwest and jetBlue. Delta's "Song" and United's "Ted" (as in the last 3 letters in "United") should be starting service soon.