Airfares have been bouncing higher but that didn't slow down the fast break of fans flying to NCAA college basketball tournament games this year. And that's the way the travel has continued to rebound throughout the economy.
Commercial airline tickets for "March Madness'' fans and teams cost 15.2% more in March than last year, according to Short's Travel Management, which arranges travel for NCAA teams. That wasn't enough to force fans to stay home—just as many basketball fans flew off to tournament games as last year, Short's said.
This week's Middle Seat explores just how much higher fares have gone – based on interesting data on what people are actually paying these days. And it also looks at whether airlines have pushed prices too high for current demand.
The last three attempts to raise fares further have fallen apart, and some airlines have reported slightly lower load factors for March. Load factors – the percentage of seats filled – are still plenty high for all major carriers. But a few more empty seats may be giving some carriers pause in pushing prices higher. The disaster in Japan is no doubt a factor as well.
A pause in the march to higher prices doesn't mean we'll see cheaper prices come summer.