Seriously,How Much Does It Cost?

I have some close friends that had to fly into town on short notice this weekend. We've all had to make those last minute, unexpected flights in our lives, and on top of adjusting schedules and the like, there is the expense.

So how much does it cost to fly from say Las Vegas to Cleveland or Akron/Canton on short notice? Or any kind of notice for that matter? Great question! You know when you go to Wal-Mart, you go to the desired department, pick up the item you need, and look at the price. You know right then and there. Then you make your decision if that's okay or not with you. Easy enough. Same thing at the much-dreaded gas station these days. You may not like it, but the price is the price and you go with it. But flying? That's a different animal altogether.

Let's go back to the original question. How much does it cost to fly from Las Vegas to Northeast Ohio. Do you know? I don't. The honest truth is... NO ONE KNOWS. Are you flying coach or first class. What time of the day, what day, are you staying over for a Saturday night or not. (Did you ever really understand that one?..me either.) The list goes on. Do you want to stop in another city or not? How many bags are you checking? Are you flying early in the week or late? Do you have a web special, any discounts or coupons? Are you member of our frequent flyer programs or not? Did you make your reservation at least 21 days in advance, or even 14 days in advance?

Strange phenomenon here, if you book your flight at the last minute, somehow you are not near as important as someone who booked it 21 days ago. And man do "they" let you know it. Airlines stick a straw right in your wallet and start sucking, and they don't stop till they're full! And man, are they thirsty. Now there's fuel surcharges, charging you to use your "free" points, using other people miles, buying miles...man C'mon!!!

You know, when you start typing these issues, it all sounds so ludicrous, and it is. I don't remember having this kind of problem at Wal-Mart. When I go into buy golf balls, I pay the same price if I'm there on short notice or if I decided to buy them 21 days earlier. They also have never asked me if I'm going to use the golf balls on a Saturday night. I don't have to have a web special rate on the golf balls either. Plus these golf balls are transferable; I can share them with my friends! One sad note though, if I buy 25,000 golf balls over time, I don't get a free golf trip anywhere there is golf in the contiguous 48 states. Plus, the golf balls aren't one price at 2pm and twice as much at 5pm, or from Monday to Tuesday. I think the airlines ought to take a cue from the consignment shops too. The longer an item sits at a resale shop, the lower the price goes, sometimes 10 percent a week. Now we're flyin!

In the end, my friends got here safely and on time, I'm thankful for that, and it's always great to see them. And after begging, borrowing, stealing, answering all the right questions the right way, making 40 phone calls to the right people, the two of them flew in with a fare that was fair. But to be honest, it shouldn't be that hard or stressful. Talk about a system that is just absurd. Someone, somewhere just simplify this whole situation.

So again, back to the original question, how much does it cost to fly from Las Vegas to Northeast Ohio? The real and honest answer is....there is no answer. There are way too many factors in the equation. It should be 1 plus 1 equals 2. But it's not. It truly is a question without any real answer.