Coin show travel alert - air fares expected to increase by 25% next year

Michigan · June 28, 2008 8:43AM

Just someone to budget for, also frequent flyer programs are going to be cut back in various ways as well.

STONE · June 28, 2008 8:45AM

NOOOOOOOOOO..............

Bochiman · June 28, 2008 8:49AM

Maybe this will encourage some dealers to go to less shows but actually make the most (ie...Sundays) from the shows they do attend.....

bidask · June 28, 2008 8:54AM

If oil goes much higher, one day there could be no US automakers or US airlines.

We in the US will all go to riding bicycles, while the Chinese grow in the use of cars and airlines. ( they subsidize the price of oil)

BECOKA · June 28, 2008 8:58AM

I would imagine that this will be pretty hard on dealers who rely on travel to obtain inventory.

Dentuck · June 28, 2008 9:00AM

Here's some good news:

Whitman Offers Discounted Airfare to Baltimore and Atlanta Shows

Coinosaurus · June 28, 2008 9:21AM

Thanks Dennis - that's a great idea for any convention management.

WTCG · June 28, 2008 10:38AM

Despite what you may hear in the news, most of the announced airfare increases brought forth by the legacy carriers do not "stick" after a few days at the increased prices. Competition, especially on routes that are served by LCC's, keep airfares low or stable on most routes.

Fortunately for the people in this business who travel extensively, most of the cities that are travelled to are well served by LCC's. As a result, airfares to these "coin show cities" will probably not increase dramatically.

BAJJERFAN · June 28, 2008 10:54AM

<< If oil goes much higher, one day there could be no US automakers or US airlines.

We in the US will all go to riding bicycles, while the Chinese grow in the use of cars and airlines. ( they subsidize the price of oil) >>

Unfortunately many Americans and their car companies are/were not very forward thinking; all they wanted was to haul their fat spoiled arses around in gas hogging SUVs.

Barry · June 28, 2008 11:01AM

<< Here's some good news:

Whitman Offers Discounted Airfare to Baltimore and Atlanta Shows >>

Convention rates for hotels and airfares are nothing special, and you can usually do better on your own.

BAJJERFAN · June 28, 2008 11:03AM

<< If oil goes much higher, one day there could be no US automakers or US airlines.

We in the US will all go to riding bicycles, while the Chinese grow in the use of cars and airlines. ( they subsidize the price of oil) >>

All thanks to the purchasing philosophies of employers like mine who buy everything they possibly can from out of the U.S. no matter what the real cost is. They are doing more to help the affluence over there than they are here. Since I don't fly to shows [yet] it won't matter to me much.

mrearlygold · June 28, 2008 11:05AM

<< If oil goes much higher, one day there could be no US automakers or US airlines.

>>

Certainly the domestic airlines don't want to try competing with some of the overseas airlines. If that were to ever go free market, you're right, there would be no US airlines or at best only 1 or 2.

When I lived overseas I flew pretty extensively thu several countries in Asia. Even on the 45 minute flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui they served Dim Sum. After about a year I flew back to the US and I remember asking what's for dinner on the flight from LA to Fla and they said there is no dinner, that there's a McDonalds next door.

Whew.

Plus, if you ever flew almost any airlines in Asia and saw the flght attendants. Woo hoo! I think Asiana was the best but Vietnam Airlines sure was close. Then Eva out of Taiwan was up there as was Cathay out of HK. China Southern had some pretty good food but nowhere near as good as Thai Airlines.

You get back and fly Delta and wonder what they're thinking.

I've haven't been to Europe ( yet, we are planning on going soon enough though) and a client used to tell me similar thinks about Lufthansa and others. I never wanted to believe it but when I lived overseas and saw for myself, it left me somewhat sad about the state of air travel here.

mrearlygold · June 28, 2008 11:08AM

<< 

<< Here's some good news:

Whitman Offers Discounted Airfare to Baltimore and Atlanta Shows >>

Convention rates for hotels and airfares are nothing special, and you can usually do better on your own. >>

How? I still need to book for July's Jewelers convention in NYC and then I guess take a train to Baltimore for the coins show, then fly back to Fla.

Please tell me where I can get a better deal on a hotel in NYC as well as the airfare up thru Newark, train to Balt, Hotel in Balt and the airfare back to Ft Myers.

RedneckHB · June 28, 2008 11:23AM

<< If oil goes much higher, one day there could be no US automakers or US airlines.

We in the US will all go to riding bicycles, while the Chinese grow in the use of cars and airlines. ( they subsidize the price of oil) >>

Indeed. I believe it was United Airline this week who stated that the increased cost of jet fuel was be $3.5 BILLION more than last year. This is just the INCREASED cost.

BTW----$3.5 billion is 6x the market cap of United. So the increased cost is greater than 6x the equity value of the company.

Be prepared for some very difficult air travel in the next year.

WTCG · June 28, 2008 11:28AM

<< If oil goes much higher, one day there could be no US automakers or US airlines.

We in the US will all go to riding bicycles, while the Chinese grow in the use of cars and airlines. ( they subsidize the price of oil) >>

Oh yeah, if U.S. automobile manufacturers are unable to keep up with the times and manufacture cars that people actually want to own and drive then they do not deserve to remain in business.

Michigan · June 28, 2008 12:02PM

"Despite what you may hear in the news, most of the announced airfare increases brought forth by the legacy carriers do not "stick" after a few days at the increased prices. Competition, especially on routes that are served by LCC's, keep airfares low or stable on most routes."

It has been that way in the past but I'm not convinced that routine will happen in the future, I think there is a fundamental shift going
on in the airline industry in reaction to oil prices and that will change the old way of doing business.

WTCG · June 28, 2008 12:11PM

<< "Despite what you may hear in the news, most of the announced airfare increases brought forth by the legacy carriers do not "stick" after a few days at the increased prices. Competition, especially on routes that are served by LCC's, keep airfares low or stable on most routes."

It has been that way in the past but I'm not convinced that routine will happen in the future, I think there is a fundamental shift going
on in the airline industry in reaction to oil prices and that will change the old way of doing business. >>

If the legacy airlines try to charge a substantially higher fare for the same route that is serviced by an LCC then the legacy airlines are comitting business suicide. These days the lecacy airlines have lost their "mystique" and the product they offer is often times of lower quality than what some of the competing LCC's offer. That product that legacy airlines provide these days is not worthy of a price premium, and perceived loyalty to their mileage programs cannot sustain their business revenues for much longer.

bidask · June 28, 2008 12:12PM

<< Despite what you may hear in the news, most of the announced airfare increases brought forth by the legacy carriers do not "stick" after a few days at the increased prices. Competition, especially on routes that are served by LCC's, keep airfares low or stable on most routes.

Fortunately for the people in this business who travel extensively, most of the cities that are travelled to are well served by LCC's. As a result, airfares to these "coin show cities" will probably not increase dramatically. >>

Airlines are cutting capacity all over airline land, which means seats are dwindling and those that remain can go up in price for the demand that remains.

21Walker · June 28, 2008 12:15PM

Unless you work for the airline..............Rick

TwoSides2aCoin · June 28, 2008 12:20PM

The meek shall inherit the earth and the rich will fly in space.

Barry · June 28, 2008 12:22PM

<< How? I still need to book for July's Jewelers convention in NYC and then I guess take a train to Baltimore for the coins show, then fly back to Fla.

Please tell me where I can get a better deal on a hotel in NYC as well as the airfare up thru Newark, train to Balt, Hotel in Balt and the airfare back to Ft Myers. >>

Check out some of the travel web sites like kayak.com, sign up for fare notifications from airfarewatchdog.com, etc. Hotel deals can be gotten from the travel web sites, too, and if you're a little flexible, priceline and hotwire have deals that can't be beat. For example, we booked a room at a hotel near the Charleston airport a few months ago on priceline for $49/night. Best deal either by phone or their web site was $139! So subtract your 10% show discount and see which works out better.

When I've gone to large medical meetings, they always offer the show rate, and more often than not simply calling the hotel directly, saying you're NOT with the show and asking for their best deal yields a better rate.

TwoSides2aCoin · June 28, 2008 12:27PM

I saved 15% by switching to a mountain bike and backpack.

Bochiman · June 28, 2008 6:47PM

<< 

<< If oil goes much higher, one day there could be no US automakers or US airlines.

>>

Certainly the domestic airlines don't want to try competing with some of the overseas airlines. If that were to ever go free market, you're right, there would be no US airlines or at best only 1 or 2.

When I lived overseas I flew pretty extensively thu several countries in Asia. Even on the 45 minute flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui they served Dim Sum. After about a year I flew back to the US and I remember asking what's for dinner on the flight from LA to Fla and they said there is no dinner, that there's a McDonalds next door.

Whew.

Plus, if you ever flew almost any airlines in Asia and saw the flght attendants. Woo hoo! I think Asiana was the best but Vietnam Airlines sure was close. Then Eva out of Taiwan was up there as was Cathay out of HK. China Southern had some pretty good food but nowhere near as good as Thai Airlines.

You get back and fly Delta and wonder what they're thinking.

I've haven't been to Europe ( yet, we are planning on going soon enough though) and a client used to tell me similar thinks about Lufthansa and others. I never wanted to believe it but when I lived overseas and saw for myself, it left me somewhat sad about the state of air travel here. >>

The US airlines have the unions to contend with. Unions have/had a time and place but when competing internationally, the unions need to have governmental protection or else they cannot compete.

I was in Korea a few days ago and when I went to the COEX Mall, in Seoul, to eat, the place had so many employees making sure things went smoothly and all customers were happy, that all I could think about was "not in the US". I asked a co-worker, from Seoul, what the min wage was...he said roughly $3/hr. That isn't enough to live in Seoul, by far. A lot of them were high school/college, but still.....

For the airlines, I flew over on Asiana, then used Cathay Pacific to come to Taiwan. I fly back on Korean Air. I don't have a desire to use United/Northwest (which, would have doubled my airfare from $3000 to $6000 for the same trip (business class).

I did that before....flew Asiana over, and Northwest back. The plane is kept in nicer shape, imho, particularly the restrooms/seats/whole interior, and the stewardesses are very attentive, and attractive for the most part.
When I went back, the US based airline had the older, not as attentive (but, still, it was business class so they weren't too bad at service), women in business class....it was because they had "seniority" so they got the "easier" assignment of business class.
For the asian airlines, a lot of times, that "seniority" doesn't play into it.

They also do things the US ones cannot, by law, do....like check their employees weight and appearance. Most are bi-lingual, if not tri-lingual. The US ones are lucky to speak English

291fifth · June 28, 2008 8:25PM

This thread seems to have gotten off track (isn't that amazing!)

The air fare increase is going to have an effect on major coin show attendance both by dealers and collectors. Dealers who have been having marginal shows are going to become much more selective about what shows they will attend. Collectors are also going to start cutting back on shows, some because it has become too expensive and some because the material they were hoping to see/buy just isn't there anymore.

Major shows in locations that are hard to fly to or that have very high air fares are dead.

The sharpest commercial show operators will survive. Numismatic association sponsored shows are likely to have big trouble if they allow politics, rather than economic sense, to guide their decision making.

I expect to see the number of national shows to drop sharply over the next few years.

ChangeInHistory · June 28, 2008 9:06PM

It may increase the reliance on internet and website sales. Hopefully, accurate coin photography will become even more important.

Michigan · June 28, 2008 11:00PM

In recent days I have heard that some smaller and medium size cities could loose all commercial airline traffic, there will also be cuts
at the major airports as well. The days of $59 one way flights to Florida are history.

BAJJERFAN · June 28, 2008 11:34PM

$59 won't buy enough fuel to get the plane far enough down the runway to even take off.

jsf · June 28, 2008 11:50PM

"...air fares expected to increase by 25% next year"

hitchhiking to increase by 35% next year

Placid · June 29, 2008 12:44AM

I watched a interview of one of the officers of southwest airlines.
He claimed his company purchased jet fuel at locked in price a few years ago so they only have to pay that price until that contract expires in 2011 or so.

I wonder how many other airlines did this and the ones that did will have a big advatage over the competitors that didnt.

Coin show travel alert - air fares expected to increase by 25% next year

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