**Source: http://articles.kwch.com/2010-10-25/fewer-flights_24221623**
***Summary***
As the United States' Thanksgiving Holiday approaches, many are looking to travel across the country to visit family for the Thanksgiving long-weekend. Same thing goes for everyone else as Christmas slowly approaches. With our economy still in a slight recession, Airlines are cutting back costs and putting less seats up for sale. This year however, the demand for flights has gone up 6% compared to the same time last year. On the other hand, like I said earlier, the supply of seats has gone down. There is about 2% fewer seats this year than there were last year. That means there is more demand than supply, meaning you will be probably have to pay more to get what you want. However, CBS Moneywatchers, says you can still travel and avoid paying higher prices for your seats if you act now.
Every year, the American Thanksgiving occurs on the fourth Thursday of November. The day before the holiday is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year. Travel experts suggest that you buy your ticket for the morning of the holiday and make it just in time for the Thanksgiving feast. This may seem like all a rush, but statistics show that it is much cheaper because it is not considered a "peak travel day". With savings, also comes with no need to battle crowds at busy airports. However, if your destination is close by, even consider taking the bus or train. The bus and train may not seem to be very comfortable but things have since changed. Most buses and trains now come with free wi-fi, leather seats and huge snack bars. Some other ways you can save money is to not check in any bags at all and instead use the maximum number of carry-on bags that you are allowed to avoid paying baggage-handling fees. If you have frequent flier's points, consider using them for hotel deals because it may be hard to cash them for airfare during the holiday season. With so many hotels trying to fill their rooms, you are bound to find the best deal for your buck this holiday season.
**Connections**
The concept of Chapter two is supply and demand, and how "elastic" or "inelastic" a product is. In this case, there is a decrease in supply and an increase in demand. With our economy just slowly getting back up from the recession and the holiday season approaching, I think people are looking to visit family and friends that they weren't able to see for the past few years because of strapped pockets. Airlines on the other hand, who also have strapped pockets because of high costs are not willing to take many risks in this economy. The final result is, Airlines are putting out less seats for higher prices. Even though plane tickets have "elastic" prices, there could be an open debate about them being "inelastic". Most seat prices increase at peak seasons but decrease during the regular season, however most people are only able to travel during the "peak season" due to many reasons such as work. It may be the only time for them to get away so whatever the price is, people will still pay. There are also substitutes to air fare such as tour buses and trains. What I'm trying to say is, plane tickets have "elastic" prices but are "inelastic" during the holiday seasons.
**Reflection**
I came upon this article while running a google search in class and found it quite amusing because I, myself will be doing some traveling during this upcoming holiday season. Even when I bought my tickets at the end of Summer, I definitely saw what this article was getting at. I purchased 4 direct WestJet tickets to Los Angeles for about $500 a piece out of YVR. The thing that made it even worst was that my family probably won't even be able to sit together on the flight because about 80% of the flight was already full. I don't really agree with the "Moneywatchers'" though because you can do all those things and still come up empty-handed and with the same ticket price. The one part that their article was missing is international travel because they only cover the points to domestic travel. Overall, I found all the points in this article mentioned to be very useful to the domestic traveller.
