The Americas



US media have exposed airlines ‘opportunistic’ approach which has seen plane ticket prices jump dramatically following the Amtrak rail crash which killed eight people and injured over 140 people last week.

Amtrak rail crash has seen air fares increased over the past week

Amtrak rail crash has seen air fares increased over the past week Image by Loco Steve / CC BY 2.0

The so-called ‘price gouging’ has been highlighted by CNN and the New York Daily News with the doubling, and sometimes tripling, of ticket prices on flights between New York and Washington DC because of problems travelling by train due to the disruption in Amtrak’s widely-used Northeast Corridor.

The Daily News report itemises the cheapest flight at $700 with prices rising up to $1,769 for the two-hour journey. The report found that virtually all of the flights were full booked between Kennedy and Dulles airports with only a few seats available at a much dearer rate.

CNN discovered that the average price between the cities was $200 on an advance purchase ticket and $600 if it was a last-minute booking. However in the wake of the Amtrak tragedy, the fares have been bumped up way beyond those figures.

One travel expert quoted in the Daily News described the airlines actions as opportunistic because the airline companies understand that it’s one of the biggest business routes in the US and can charge whatever they feel like.

TravelPulse.com checked an Amtrak reservation between Washington and New York for a month’s time and it showed a premium rail round-trip was only $260.