Why is airfare from EWR so expensive? archived

Lack of competition on many major routes.
United/Continental rules the roost.

I use fare consolidators like Orbitz/Travelocity/Kayak. And check at different times of day and different days of week. There is such a huge game (and I don't mean that in the fun sense!) about all of this. You can easily waste hours that should really be just a few clicks of time. I think of the time to JFK/LGA as money, which it is, esp given gas/parking/tolls/etc., and figure it's a wash with slightly less aggravation about getting there on time. I've stopped bother to compare EWR to those unless there is just NO flight out of Newark to my destination.

Beyond what knak noted about checking at different times of the day/week; using multiple search sources; the key to getting good fares from EWR is flexibility in your travel times and days....and, shopping for your ticket in advance over a week or two. If you need to travel at peak times on short notice (ie., like many business travelers), you won't be able to get the best fare and there may be a better one.

Like knak, we rarely even shop prices for JFK/LGA because the extra costs of gas/parking/tolls/car service usually makes the fare comparison less compelling.

I've worked for companies that would book the cheapest flight no matter what the extra cost to return me to Maplewood--in the end, the saving was rarely worth the extra cost and the ill-will generated toward my employer when my flight came in at at JFK at midnight.

That said, the United/Continental merger transition phase doesn't make finding good prices any easier.

I have noticed the same problem. When we have been forced to go through JFK we at least can get there by train from South Orange. No driving needed.

If I'm not flying international, I try to go out of EWR.

My wife just got a flight out of EWR to Miami, RT for $235. Was the best price out there.

I have never found that to be true. In fact, over the past 5 years, almost all the routes I wanted to fly were always cheaper or equal priced out of EWR compared to JFK or LGA. Typically, CO has come back the very cheapest on routes like Denver- EWR, Orlando-EWR and even a lot of caribbean destinations like Antigua. I too just got flights during prime weeks (mem Day, 4th of July) to Miami, Orlando & Vegas and for all of those, CO/United was the cheapest.

The exceptions I have personally experienced over the past 1 year are: 1) Jamaica. CO used to be fairly competirive with Air Jamaica. Now, CP/UNited is at least 2x as high. 2) Dallas- flights out of EWR on CO have doubled or tripled over the past year.

The exceptions would be in certain markets where there is more airline competition outside of EWR.

southwest flies out of ewr. I've found their prices to be very competitive. But you need to check their website as they aren't included in the typical orbitz, travelocity, etc searches.

I fly out of Newark every two weeks or so and it is ABSOLUTELY true that flights are much more expensive out of Newark. Yes, if you have the flexibility to fly on off-days or off times, then you *might* get something cheaper. If you need to fly on a specific schedule, you're screwed. Especially over the last two years, prices have sky rocketed. The situation has gotten worse with the United/Continental merger.

Continental controls approximately 70% of the flights in and out of EWR. If you try to fly South West, they have one or two lousy gates in Terminal A. Continental controls all of Terminal B and C. Anyone else is relegated to Terminal A, which is really a special kind of hell.

A study was done last year that showed flights out of Newark to be 40% more expensive than LGA or JFK.

Some examples:
Flight to Savannah any weekend of the year, leaving Friday, returning Sunday evening - never less than $1000
Flight to Dallas for business - any flight direct to Dallas out of EWR at least $1400 - although thanks to kthnry who indicated SouthWest flew to Dallas, I now fly SouthWest. However that does put me into Love Field, about an hour on the wrong side of Dallas.
Any flight to Europe - around $1000

Whatever. I am so done with Continental/United, having been a loyal customer for years. For business I intend to take a car service to JFK and fly Virgin American to San Fran or LA.

Hey, glad that worked out for you! It's a great airline. In DC, lots of people drive to Baltimore to take their flights.

From the surly flight attendants to the tiny seats, the new United is even worse than either of its dismal components.

For me, it is worth it to spend some extra time either driving or taking cab to JFK just to avoid having to interact with this Frankenstein's monster.

I've twice flown the family out of Philadelphia on Continental/United. For Jamaica and LAX, the cost was ~$350pp cheaper RT.

LP said:

From the surly flight attendants to the tiny seats, the new United is even worse than either of its dismal components.

For me, it is worth it to spend some extra time either driving or taking cab to JFK just to avoid having to interact with this Frankenstein's monster.

I'm pretty sure the seats and flight attendants are the same you were dealing with pre-merger. ;-)

I think that the main answer is that the airlines charge more from certain airports because they can.

My son and his wife live in northern Illinois. A couple of times they have driven to Milwaukee because flights from there to their destinations were hundreds of dollars cheaper than from O'Hare--even though the first leg of the trip was a brief hop from Milwaukee to O'Hare!

mbaldwin said:

LP said:

From the surly flight attendants to the tiny seats, the new United is even worse than either of its dismal components.

For me, it is worth it to spend some extra time either driving or taking cab to JFK just to avoid having to interact with this Frankenstein's monster.

I'm pretty sure the seats and flight attendants are the same you were dealing with pre-merger. ;-)

Well, they both sucked before the merger but I believe that I read some promotional material recently about how they were adding leg room in 1st class which means removing leg room in coach.

We once drove to Atlantic City Airport to take Spirit Airlines. Very cheap.

Try ITA software to find a flight.

Flight to Portland ME $125 out of LGA. $620 out of Newark. Car service to LGA $280. My company also insists on lowest fares.

Just had to buy 4 RT to Memphis, TN, 2 adults & 2 toddlers (twin 3 year olds). 2 Adults $498.60 USD 2 Children $498.60 USD Taxes & fees $229.60 USD, and I got a steal deal saving $400 flying mid-week, using the search engines with email alerts of price changes and date flexibility. etc. In light of how the airlines have monetized every single thing possible, including charging extra to sit in the aisle with a bit more leg room, and the gouging taking place in the cost of check-in baggage, can we not have an open and sincere discussion about bringing price/cost integrity and fairness for a ticket?

All kidding a side, the cost to transport an item is directly proportional to its size and weight and people are at the end of the day are a type of cargo. Take a small puddle jumper flight and they do 'balance out' the total weight of the passengers seeking as even a distribution as possible across the plane. Our flight system does have a long established history of being mindful of passenger weight and seating.

It baffles me that it cost $500 to transport two 26 .lb 3yr olds totalling 52 lbs and the same exact price to transport me and my wife (our total weight being 325 lbs). In theory our weight could be 10x that of our kids and the price would be the same. Claiming you are paying for the seat has no integrity in price justification and the airlines always note the cost of fuel and fuel consumption (can creating lift), etc. Furthermore they use the weight and dimension argument and pricing model for the cost to transport baggage, only seems logical and fair to carry that argument and pricing model over to the passenger side, no? Aren't the airlines now forcing extra wide people to purchase 2 seats?

Obese America? If they charged by the pound, I'm thinking we can solve lots of problems in one fell swoop all related to diet, health, etc. Would not even need to retro fit anything at the airports, when you check in at the counter, the scales are already there! LOL. Rant over.

We are going to Portland on Continental for $359 RT in May. For the last year or so Portland fares have been higher than in the recent past and we have been baffled why they had risen so high--not to mention that most of these more expensive flights included a change of planes in Denver or Chicago. When we saw the $359 non-stop we jumped on it.

Oops, I just opened this thread to see what Boomie said and noticed I said we are flying Continental--nope, it is United.

Does Continental fly out of Laguardia too?

was on a plane shortly after they started gouging for the emergency row seating and was treated to a flight-long negotiation session between the stewardess and some woman who wanted to sleep in one of those seats for free, which were empty. flying = torture.

Checked flights to LA for an upcoming business trip. $1400 from EWR, $300 from JFK. Even with car service of $150 each way, it's still less than half the price to fly from JFK. Of course, it will take an extra hour each way to get there, and I'll fly before 6am to avoid the traffic, back after midnight for the same reason, meaning I'll be pooped for a week. The price discrepancy still surprises me.

Tom, thanks for the link -- I wasn't aware of that site, and it is more robust than Kayak, my usual starting point.

Round Trip Newark to Cincinnati (yesterday)on United Express for a one day trip: $859. Well at least they served a free soda each way and the commuter jet had the most uncomfortable seats.