fare shock
I knew airline prices were rising, but I'm not a frequent flyer – to put it mildly – so I hadn't paid attention. And it's not just the cost of a ticket; it's the charges for baggage, of course. As an infrequent flyer, seeing actual costs is quite the shock.

I don’t fly much – my trip to Japan last year was my first in over a decade – so I am, I guess, naïve when it comes to air fares. But, damn.

It’s not so much the fares but the gouging for bags. I’m shopping Portland-San Francisco for my April trip to Japan; United allows no carry-ons (huh?) and charges $80 for the first checked bag. Alaska allows a carry-on and only $70 for that first carry-on.

So a $139 round-trip on United is, I guess, fine if you can store all your stuff in your pockets. Or does a bag that fits under your seat not count as carry-on? Have they removed the overhead bins? Must make deboarding a breeze.

Still, a $244 round-trip, including bags and the carry-on Alaska deigns to permit, isn’t bad. I could save money by flying Frontier, but includes a layover. In Denver. (And Google Travel helpfully points out, a near-doubling of carbon emissions.)

OK, wait. Upon further review (I review these things soooo many times): United does allow one carry-on but it costs $70.

So Alaska is $45 less, but involves almost 3 hours more wait time at SFO; on the other hand, they leave SFO for PDX 45 minutes earlier.

So that’s 2 hours saved (3 outbound, -1 inbound) for $45. That $45 is also one great meal in Tokyo.

No decision yet; I’ll monitor the prices for a few days.

——

OK, scratch that. I did a bit of reading on the topic of rising airfares, so, after over 5 minutes research, I am An Expert. Basically: No way prices will drop and who knows when they jump 5%. The airlines, like all major corporations, are in the customer-gouging business.

So I bought my ticket on Alaska; $174. With a long morning sitting in SFO, but it’s supposed to be a nice airport, so that’s fine. I can’t pay for my checked bag until 24 hours before the flight, so god knows what they’ll be charging by then. I doubt it will still be $70 for the round trip. Ah well.

So, all air fares purchased: PDX to SFO, SFO to NAR, HAN to KIX, NAR to SFO, and SFO to PDX. I think, with fees and all, it’s under $1,500 total. For two weeks in Japan, including a day trip to Osaka Expo, that’s fine. Money is the least important part of this equation.