3 days ago
American, Delta and United charging higher rates for solo flight tickets, writer finds
A Minneapolis-based aviation writer says he's uncovered an airline pricing strategy that makes tickets for solo travelers more expensive.
Kyle Potter, executive editor at Thrifty Traveler, says he discovered the practice as he went to buy a ticket for a flight himself.
"I saw a $206 one-way fare to Newark this summer," Potter said. "I bumped it up to two passengers, then all of a sudden, I'm looking at $156 for the same fare."
Potter ran more tests and found that Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines all were doing the same thing. Solo tickets cost more than tickets bought in a group for the same flight.
"You start doing some math, double checking, 'What's going on here? Did I enter the wrong airport code? Did I change the date on accident?' It became pretty clear, quickly, this was a penalty for booking just one ticket," he said. "This isn't an isolated incident. This is a trend. This is something that airlines are doing in order to squeeze more money out of people who are booking just one passenger."
Potter posted his findings online in a post that's now been shared thousands of times and viewed by millions of online users. He suspects airlines of charging higher rates for solo travelers to increase costs for business fliers who would typically expense the price of the ticket.
WCCO has reached out for comment to Delta, American and United, with Delta being the only airline to respond so far.
In an email, a Delta spokesperson said the company is "limited in what it can say about pricing," though they said "this pricing structure is not new to Delta or the airline industry."
Potter said after his interview with WCCO that an insider tipped him off that Delta's policy would be reversing course. Higher prices for solo tickets remain for the other two airlines.
"It feels like a game of cat and mouse. Every time we find something out, weeks, months later, there's some new system, trick, to push you into a more expensive fare, or hide a cheaper fare from you," Potter said. "I think there just needs to be more accountability – and I don't know if that's something individual travelers can achieve."
