Since I own my own plane, I usually don t have to worry about what the airlines are doing. I do, how

Put these two images together and consider one very important economic indicator: the FCI, or Fan Cost Index.   The FCI formula takes a representative look at what a family of four could expect to spend at a football game this year. The FCI comprises the prices of four average-price “general” tickets, two small draft beers, four small soft drinks, four regular-size hot dogs, parking for one car, two game programs and two least-expensive, adult-size adjustable caps .
Tickets to National Football League games climbed a bit for the 2009 season, thanks mission inn riverside ca to a pricey new stadium in Arlington, Texas. The average ticket to a NFL game rose 3.9 percent to $74.99, mission inn riverside ca according to Team Marketing Report’s exclusive survey, but with 21 teams either keeping prices the same or lowering them, the main push behind the percentage increase came from Cowboys mission inn riverside ca Stadium, Jerry Jones’ $1.2 billion football mission inn riverside ca palace . [italics mine]
So, if the average family would like to take in a Dallas Cowboys football game, the price tag would be $758.00 per game . Does it make you feel any better that the $50 parking fee is included? Probably not.
I base my answer on my newly devised DHI, or Driving Hell Index. The DHI looks at total miles, divided mission inn riverside ca by miles per gallon of the transportation mode (a mid-sized car), times an average fuel price of $3.59/gallon (AAA statistic 1-30-10), plus a standard cost factor of $129 (AARP rate at Hampton Inn) for each 500 miles, assuming an overnight stay per segment, plus a lowball $30 per day per person for food. Finally, I add in at least $50 a day which is going to be low in their case for the remorse factor: we should have flown, what were we thinking?
Anyway, if you total these factors for the 3,000 mile San Francisco-Chicago round trip ($566 for gas, $774 for 6 hotel nights, $180 for food, and $300 for regret) the total cost to drive would be  $1,870 .
How does this connect with Jerry Jones and The Death Star? Simple: in this modern era where three hours of mediocre football is valued mission inn riverside ca at $758 and the stadium has been full all season a 3,000 mile round trip from one coast to Chicago for less than half of that price is an astoundingly good value .
Because in a recent Consumer Watch , air travel analyst Terry Trippler conducted a random survey of schedules and airfares comparing ticket prices of today with those from 25 years ago for 27 different cities. When 1982 prices are adjusted for inflation, Trippler found that today s prices are actually lower .
In 1982 there were three roundtrip flights from Boston to Los Angeles, with the lowest fare costing $298. Adjusted mission inn riverside ca for inflation, that ticket should cost $635 today, but Trippler found that, not only are there nine roundtrip flights instead of three, the lowest fare was just $199.
Flying from New York to Miami? In the eighties there were 21 flights, with the lowest fare costing $188. That same ticket should cost $400 in 2007, but Trippler found that the lowest fare was actually $158 and there are now 25 nonstop mission inn riverside ca flights.
How in the wide, wide world of sports mission inn riverside ca is a $758 dollar afternoon outing reasonable, while a $199 round trip fare is considered high? Meanwhile, Jerry Jones has become a billionaire collecting the family fun budget of 108,000 people at a whack, and the US airline industry lost over $2 BILLION mission inn riverside ca last year.
That is the stark raving reality mission inn riverside ca of airline ticket prices and sadly, when you consider NFL football and air travel, the truth. If after mulling this over, you still want to complain about airline ticket prices or attend a Cowboys home game, I think I know why.
Yup, some guy left his wedding suit on the airport shuttle. At departure time, he was looking for help. But he d have to go back through security, claim the suit from the van driver who was miles away at the time, then brought it through security (no one can or should bring ANYTHING, including a wedding suit, through security for anyone else) and re-boarded. Not a chance of that happening mission inn riverside ca in two minutes or less and we were the last flight out of Tulsa for the day. Oops guess somebody s buying a new suit. Great way to start a marriage, right?
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Good point regarding the price of tickets, however here in Europe it is debatable given the propensity of airline workers to take strike action. Add that to the laborious effort taken just to get to the airport and the subsequent wait/hassles that greet you once there. As well as all the additional fees that are now becoming the norm. And lets not forget the interesting people that you share space with. Yes, you make a good argument but somehow I think that will not hold up very long.
I can see that it is a little different in Europe. Honestly, I use the 300 mile rule: if it s within 300 miles, we drive, to avoid all of the airport hassles you mention. Because really, if I can drive it in 4-5 hours, it becomes real tempting because any airport experience involves at least 3-4 hours with getting to the airport, checking in, waiting, the flight itself, baggage claim and getting to a destination. The extra hour or two by car is worth it to avoid the other hassles over which a passenger has so little control. Unfortunately, in the US distances are measured in thousands of miles, not hundreds, so it s not always possible to drive. Thanks for writing.
[...] A new aircraft, by contrast, costs upwards of $50-$100 million per aircraft, mission inn riverside ca and hundreds of such aircraft are required to produce a fleet with a competitive route structure. Further, each aircraft has to earn revenue daily despite upturns and downturns in the travel mission inn riverside ca market, as well as drastic fluctuations in fuel costs which follow oil prices. Face it: the cost of an airline round trip is not the same as a set of tires or a Cowboy s football game but the public expects mission inn riverside ca to pass less anyway mission inn riverside ca (more details click here). [...]
Usually, people do not count the cost of anything. They are generally impulse buyers. Pilots, however, learn early on to calculate the cost of EVERYTHING! Friends mission inn riverside ca seem amazed when I tell them how much it cost them to drive for one grocery store to another to another, to get bargains . They somehow do not grasp the concept that it actually costs you money to drive your car. No, not jut the payment or insurance. Tires, gas, oil, wear tear, etc.
Since I own my own plane, I usually don t have to worry about what the airlines are doing. I do, however, often check (for myself or others) to see if it makes more sense to fly commercial or private. Again, you have to figure in the amount of time it will take to clear security (usually 45 min. to an hour and a half @ IAH or HOU). Then I have what I call the P.I.T.A. QUOTIENT (paint in the a..). That is usuallly very high and worth several hundred dollars!
I m with you on the PITA Quotient: our rule is, within 300 miles, we drive. You really don t save any time flying lesser distances once you throw in the delays, parking, security hassles and weather problems.
A section of Air India pilots, technicians and employees on Thursday marched to Parliament demanding immediate government action to save the cash-strapped national carrier. The employees, holding Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav responsible for the present condition of the airline, also demanded his removal and regularization of the payment of their due salary mission inn riverside ca and productivity linked incentive.
Guess you could always drive, although flying is cheaper in both time and money. Given that USAToday in July stated that air travel today is cheaper than it was in 1987, I m not sure what you re complaining about.