America/Europe Airfares

Hi John. I've noticed the same thing at times. Believe it is as simple as supply and demand.

In a capitalist world, people charge as much as the market can bear. I guess Americans can bear more. It's the same reason why the owner's manual in my two (Japanese) cars require me to change motor oil every 5,000 miles (8,000 km) whereas the owners' manual in the same model car in Europe says to change it every 15,000 km and to change the oil filter only once every 2 oil changes. Go figure.

Are you sure you're not being quoted prices in Euros out of Europe instead of dollars?

I have often wondered about this discrepancy too. However, this summer the opposite is happening to us. We lost out on a really desirable house exchange because the family of 5 from Germany couldn't afford to buy airfare. Our July tickets from LAX to DUS are $750 pp r/t and when they tried the same route going in the opposite direction they would get quotes of >900 Euros which is about $1,200 pp for them. Go figure, same 2 airports, same flights but in the opposite direction. Other airports in Germany were even more expensive for them so they had to give up coming to the US this summer.

Someone already mentioned supply and demand...competition is another big factor. There are so many variables that go into the pricing equation, it's nearly impossible for anyone to really understand it adequately. It's all about economics, though, and making maximum revenue in an industry with paper thin margins. And the airlines are expert at figuring all of this out. Just use the typical common sense advice provided here about when to buy, how to buy, etc., and don't think too hard about stuff like why it may be cheaper going the other way.