Said It Here

Why do short-haul domestic flights cost $900?

Short-haul domestic flights are pricing out at $900 to $1,000 weeks in advance for 90-minute trips, forcing travelers to ask for travel budget extensions or look into budget airlines to save money.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    asking for an extension or more budget on travel
  2. 2
    booking flights with connections instead of direct flights
  3. 3
    flying into nearby airports like Newark or Baltimore (BWI) and taking the train
  4. 4
    driving instead of flying
  5. 5
    searching fares as two one-ways instead of a round trip
  6. 6
    shifting travel dates using flexible date grids
  7. 7
    travelling via AirAsia X or Batik to save some money

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/travel3 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“Yep, got the same from Buffalo to Philly”source ↗

Professional_Ruin_24 · r/travel · 2 upvotes

“I have a work trip leaving on a Sunday in mid October and returning in three days and the flight from Detroit to Philadelphia (90 minutes) is priced at $900-$1000 on both American and Delta.”source ↗

“I'm actually gonna have to ask for an extension on the travel budget for this trip. I have never seen prices like this in my life.”source ↗

Barefoot-Life3 · r/travel

“All the American flights are over $900. And the midday flights on Delta are 800-900. I'm just trying to point out that in a sane world, several weeks in advance for 90 minute flight should not cost that much and I don't know if I've ever seen it cost that much.”source ↗

Barefoot-Life3 · r/travel

“Unfortunately, I can only travel in December where all ticket prices are so high. So, I am thinking of travelling via AirAsia X or Batik to save some money.”source ↗

PsychologicalUse7656 · r/travel

Where this came up

r/travelairlinesbudgetbudgetingflightstravel

People with this problem also raised