Why are plane tickets in Europe so much cheaper?

That's a good question considering fuel in Europe at least for cars is so much more expensive.

 

Distance. London to Paris is only about 210 miles by air. Paris to Berlin by air is only about 550 miles.

Meanwhile... Texas is nearly 800 miles across alone. The entirety of Europe is less than half the width of the continental United States.



This causes two things. Flights take more time, and more fuel. Meaning higher cost, and slower turnaround.

 

because trump isn't there yet to make america great again

 

Heavy regulation and airline unions in US. And US airliners are still struggling out of bankruptcy

 

If you want to know more about the American air travel business, I highly recommend the book "Nuts!: Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success." It gives an inside look at the "dirty" side of the business (i.e. monopolistic practices), as well as how to run a successful business. Basically, Southwest is a success story because their planes are always full, their customer service is second to none, and no one in the company is too big to pitch in when a bird is on the ground.

It is also a great book for anyone trying to find success in life, or anyone in, or interested in management or starting their own business. I read it when I was about 15, and it changed the arc of my life dramatically.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Out of curiousity, with it being a 20 year old book, do you think its still relate-able today?

 

Heavy regulation isn't a reason. All airlines that fly into the US have the same regulations as US-based carriers. Unions is an issue, but most US airlines are simply run terribly. I traveled 100% of the time for 3+ years as a consultant, and took hundreds of flights per year across pretty much every domestic airline we have, and Southwest was the only airline that seems to know what they are doing as a business. As an example, one time, flying from LGA (NYC) to IAH I was one of two passengers on a United 787.

When I was on the flight I was talking to the crew, and they said it was a usual occurrence for them to deadhead like that to shift planes around. So I did some basic calculations while we were in the air to try and figure out the cost of the trip. From what I found, the base nautical mile cost of that flight was $39,165.20 (fuel and maintenance costs for that base plane flying 1432 nautical miles), while the additional cost per nautical mile for all of the 252 seats on the flight was $46,984.49 - for an estimated total flight cost of $86,149.69! Now, this doesn't take into consideration other costs associated with the flight either, like fees for landing and takeoff, the full crew on board (6 flight attendants, 3 pilots), insurance, etc.

This is just idiotic and a waste of money. Southwest is successful because they only fly one model of plane, and their planes are nearly always full. They also limit the time they are on the ground, by having the entire flight crew prep the cabin (including pilots when needed). In my more than 250 flights with them over the past five years now, I've had a whole row to myself just a handful of times - and I've only ever been on a flight with less than 20 people or so once... and that was after huge storms had cancelled flights, and a flight left at 1:00AM from New Orleans to Hobby.

 

I certainly do think it is relatable today. It is about creating a winning culture, which is pretty timeless. A lot of the book too, is how they thought outside the box and how they treat everyone from janitor to pilot the same. Executives and upper management even sling bags on holidays so ground workers can spend time with their families.

One of my favorite examples (if I remember all of the details correctly) was when the automated ticketing systems picked up steam in the early to mid 1990s, and they couldn't buy computers fast enough or at a cost that made sense. So one of their technology guys, literally bought all of the parts for custom PCs, and they created an assembly line of regular employees to put together all of the computers.

It is also interesting from a business perspective, as you see just how much they struggled with "the big guys" trying to squash them at every corner. But they refused to cry about it, powered through, and outlived all of the competitors that tried to crush them at their inception.

I've read hundreds of business, management and entrepreneur books. This would be the one I recommend over all of them. I am an extremely pragmatic problem solver to this day, because of what I learned from this book in my early teens.

 

I disagree. If you book two months in advance, you can fly pretty much anywhere they fly for less than $300. Sure the extreme budget airlines can save you a few bucks, but no leg room, no bags, charge for snacks, etc... no thanks. I prefer the airline that I can sit comfortably (even as a big guy), has amazing rewards when compared to other airlines, great customer service, and that has never had a crash. I think they've only had a handful of fatalities from accidents, and I believe that was from a runway skid off during icing a few years ago.

They only fly 737s, which greatly increases their profit margins and safety. It is the "Chick Fil A" business model for flying.

Either way. When I stopped traveling 18+ months ago, I had more than 600,000 points banked - which if booked right, was the equivalent to upwards of 30-35 flights. In fact, I'm headed to Costa Rica later this month. Simply can't beat their mileage perks.

 

It's been a while since I worked for a U.S. flag carrier, but this may be the answer to your question:

Fares in Europe to visit 5 countries for $300 aren't available to Europeans. They are "visit Europe" fares only available to non-EU residents. You cannot purchase these in Europe. Back in the day, there used to be VUSA (visit USA) fares that were similarly priced.

These represented incremental revenue opportunities for carriers without diluting yield (by cannibalizing what locals pay).

Not sure if these still exist.

 

Another reason could be as well, that there are 88 major commercial airports in the US - which is about equivalent to the entirety of Europe. Each airport that an airline has access to, costs the airlines money. They pay for their gate access usually in long-term agreements regardless of how air travel may fluctuate for that region or city.

 

Lower fuel costs, and it is winter.

DD

 

Having a robust high speed rail network probably helps lower prices from a competition standpoint.

 

Because people here are fatter the plane struggles to stay floating. In China and Europe everyone is thin. You can probably fly from Beijing to Shanghai on a gallon of fuel. Chinese are like feathers.

 

Currency market. Dollar is high right now compared to the Euro/Pound, so almost everything over there is relatively cheaper. Good time go vacation there.

 

Amen.

 

Tickets roundtrip to Europe from Houston are like $400. One example was Barcelona.