…sometimes. ✈

This content was created in partnership with Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

We recently got this reader request: “I would love to see a story on why it is so expensive to fly out of Columbia. While I love the parking and the charming airport, 99% of the time I always find cheaper prices out of Charleston, Charlotte and even Augusta.”

This is not the first time we’ve heard this. When Beth published her passion piece about flying local from CAE last year, we got some Twitter shade. “But it’s more expensive,” some said. Even though we’ve pointed out many direct, round-trip flights under $250 you can take (like these summer deals) out of our lil’ Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

So – we reached out to the experts to get some real answers for you guys. (And we’ll warn you right now: It requires some effort from you as the consumer. You know, that whole supply and demand dynamic.)

Flight pricing (everywhere) all boils down to supply and demand.

The more demand (people who want to fly out of an airport), the more supply (different airlines servicing an airport). When demand is high (i.e. demand is higher in CLT than CAE), more airlines service the airport – meaning more airlines are competing against each other with lower prices.

The more people use CAE airport, the cheaper it becomes for everyone.

Just this week, CAE reported seeing double-digit growth this year because their fares are better and the airlines have added capacity (like American doubling down to Dallas/Ft. Worth starting last month + Delta increasing aircraft size this fall). There are 53,000 more seats for sale from CAE in 2018 vs. 2017.

So – if people choose to fly local on these expanded flights + fill up those extra seats CAE got, CAE will get *more* seats and fares will continue to creep down.

Examples of this supply + demand can be seen in Greenville (GSP), where low-price airline Frontier announced new routes in June, and in Asheville (AVL), where new direct flight options were recently announced by another low-cost carrier, Allegiant Air.

And – not so fun fact – budget airlines like Spirit and Allegiant did service CAE in the past, but demand was not high enough (due to people driving to CLT or ATL to fly), so they pulled out and stopped servicing CAE. How ‘bout once we get ‘em again (fingers crossed), let’s fly ‘em.

Now, let’s talk price comparisons.

Every single city pair (i.e. CAE→DFW, CLT→ORD, etc.) is different, but the long story short is that the airlines are always trying to make as much money as possible.

📍 CAE has a strong business travel base, so on city pairs where the airlines can get away with it, they will charge a premium. CAE’s fares are a little higher on average, but there are lots of destination cities where CAE’s fares are as good or better than CLT.

📍 Augusta (AGS) is close enough to Atlanta that airlines have to offer rates competitive with those found at ATL.

📍 Atlanta (ATL) has lots and lots of flights on low-cost airlines, which put pressure on the rest of the airlines there to lower their prices. That’s why you can find super cheap options out of ATL.

📍 Charlotte’s (CLT) fares really aren’t great across the board. They have some affordable flights to some places, but that airport is largely monopolized by American and you don’t see a lot of cheap flights there.

Parking is another point of contention. Here’s a breakdown of nearby airport parking:

CAE | starts at $6/day | garage is across the street from the terminal (walkable)

CLT | starts at $7/day | lots is a half-mile from the terminal via a bus ride

AGS | starts at $8/day | lot is adjacent to the terminal (walkable)

ATL | starts at $10/day | lots are a shuttle-ride away from the terminal

More of a visual learner? Here’s a chart of the average fare paid for CAE’s top 25 destinations in the fourth quarter of 2017. They’re sorted by how CAE’s average fare compares to the average fares of AGS, CLT, GSP + the gross fare of all fares combined.

There are many markets where CAE is right in line with the average fare. For flights to L.A., CAE is actually the cheapest option. Inversely, there are many markets where CAE is a little higher. And only in about 4 or 5 destinations is CAE drastically more expensive than other nearby airports. Check it out below. 👇

The good news is that options are looking up (and costs are looking down) at CAE.

ProTip: Next time you plan a vacation, use Hopper to track flight pricing out of CAE. You’ll probably be surprised that you can find some good rates – and Hopper sends you notifications to “wait” (prices are expected to drop) or “buy now” (prices are likely as good as they’ll get).

Travel well + travel often,

–Chloe