With Charlotte’s airport being a major hub for US Airways, passengers from across the country often save money by booking flights which stop in our city before reaching their final destination. But a new study shows those savings aren’t shared by those of us who call Charlotte home.
If you’ve paid for a flight out of Charlotte Douglas recently, you know it isn’t cheap, regardless of where you’re going. Using government data about the 75 largest domestic airports - and information from a consulting firm, the Wall Street Journal has now quantified that.
Its study shows Charlotte is the fifth most expensive city to fly out of, with an average one-way fare of $186 before taxes and fees. That works out to a little more than 20 cents per mile traveled.
We put the Journal’s findings to a very unscientific test at a discount airfare website. We wanted to see how much more it is to fly out of Charlotte-Douglas as opposed to just flying through.
We looked at a US Airways flight from Boston to Phoenix that had a stopover in Charlotte. Round-trip cost for that flight of more than 2000 miles? $472.50.
A non-stop flight from Charlotte to Phoenix on the same carrier over the same days? That would set you back $1,121.50. And yes we went with the cheapest options on both.
One major reason for the price differences, according to the Wall Street Journal is the fact most passengers that originate in Charlotte are business travelers, and not discount loving tourists.
Still even business people need vacations now and then. And right now, they’ll pay more to fly from here to wherever.
The most expensive airport in the study, Cincinnati International, with an average cost of 22.2 cents per mile. The cheapest, San Juan Puerto Rico at 10.4 cents per mile.
