When Cheap Flights Cost More Than Consumers Bargain For

When budget airlines experiment with route changes, the customer may ultimately pay the price.

Picture it: After months of planning and saving, you finally book that hard-earned vacation. Hotel, ground transportation and itinerary are all planned and reserved. Just when you think you can simply tick the days off until the big getaway, you get an email from the airline. They’re no longer serving the route you booked, with no explanation beyond a perfunctory email and a refund, leaving you to make your own alternate flight accommodations.

This hypothetical situation happens all too often, per a May Wall Street Journal report that details the frequency of such cancellations. While route network overhauls can affect airlines of all sizes, these changes tend to happen more frequently on flights booked with smaller and budget airlines. These players more often “experiment” with their routes, canceling scheduled flights if there aren’t enough passengers to make the route profitable.

There are no officially published numbers on the rate of route cancellations or share of bigger airlines versus budget outfits making route cancellations a habit. However, local and industry press detailing planned route cancellations have covered the long list of these changes, which range from American canceling its Charlotte to Frankfort route starting last summer to Spirit cutting 37 routes from its network in 2023. The practice is not limited to U.S. carriers, either. In the U.K., daily Teeside to Heathrow flights were scrapped in 2022 due to increased costs, and both major and minor Canadian carriers canceled numerous routes during the previous year.

The January PYMNTS collaboration with LendingClub, “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-To-Paycheck Report,” researched consumers’ travel planning, finding that in that time (which preceded recent drops in inflation) 58% of consumers did not plan to spend on leisure travel. For the other 42% of consumers who planned to spend on leisure travel in 2023, these changeups can be devastating.

Although that share may not seem impressively high at first, the data found that leisure travel had so far been one of the last discretionary items consumers have sacrificed in their ongoing battle against inflation, with only expensive electronics or appliances more likely to be in consumers’ spending plans. This highlights the importance of getting away from it all for consumers, as travel is generally a significant expense, no matter the economic landscape or particular financial lifestyle.

While the hassle and expense of canceled flights may do damage to the budgets of consumers of all financial lifestyle and incomes, it could be especially catastrophic for those in the lower income brackets or living paycheck to paycheck. Flights can become more expensive as the departure date approaches, and any unexpected extra expense such as hotel cancellation or rebooking fees in the event of these route changeups could mean that a vacation turns into a staycation.

Leisure travel’s central place in the consumer mindset makes these getaways very important for those who can afford it. And with no clear and apparent end for inflation imminent, who can blame anyone for seeking a “great escape”? As airfare prices hitting astronomical rates amid a season of forecasted heavy travel, many consumers may be seeking deals to make their hard-earned vacations a reality. With consumers choosing to spend their discretionary dollars on experiences instead of retail in double-digit droves, these disappearing bargain flights could be disappointing.

As the weather heats up and summer bookings get serious, the last thing any passenger wants is to have their plans thwarted. Because, for those who do, their leisure travel may turn into a bumpy ride.