Airlines give Super Bowl fans an economics lesson

Phoenix fans with dreams of following their Arizona Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII learned a hard lesson in airline economics Monday morning.

The cheapest nonstop coach fare to Tampa and back for the big weekend cost an eye-popping $2,053 on US Airways. Just a week earlier, the airline charged $725 for the same Friday-to-Monday itinerary.

Pittsburgh Steelers backers also saw ticket prices to Tampa jump, though not as dramatically, after their team won a Super Bowl berth Sunday.

Pretty much anyone flying in and out of the Tampa Bay area from the Thursday before the game until the Tuesday after the game will pay a premium.

"What you're seeing here is a textbook case of supply and demand," says Michelle Mohr, a US Airways spokeswoman. "When you see demand way up, fares reflect that. It's Economics 101."

About two months ago, Southwest Airlines also raised all Tampa fares an average of 20 percent for the long Super Bowl weekend. A refundable one-way ticket between Phoenix and Tampa went to $467 from $389 and to $273 from $227 between Pittsburgh and Tampa. Southwest is the largest airline at Tampa International, flying nearly 30 percent of all travelers.

"It's our normal practice for special events," including major college football rivalries such as Ohio State-Michigan and Texas-Texas Tech, said Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis.

Airlines also can charge more on high-demand flights in a less-obvious way, says Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com. They move seats from the cheapest fare categories into pricier ones — or stop selling the most deeply discounted fares altogether.

Some carriers will bring in more lift to handle Super Bowl XLIII crowds. JetBlue Airways will make its first-ever nonstop flights between Tampa and Pittsburgh. Southwest will add Phoenix and Pittsburgh flights. US Airways and Delta will fly larger jets than usual from hub airports.

So, is there anything wrong with airlines jacking up fares for Super Bowl XLIII? Especially when a Day's Inn near Busch Gardens is charging $259 a night and Payless Car Rental wants $280 to rent an economy car for a week — more than double the price from a week earlier?

A small markup like Southwest's 20 percent seems fair. But if I really had to fly somewhere on short notice, a $1,000 Super Bowl premium would stick in my gullet a long, long time.

Those Phoenix fans may have caught a break Tuesday. That US Airways fare to Tampa dropped to a mere $1,629, likely because too few buyers stepped up. Maybe Super Bowl mania has limits, after all.

Times staff writer Robbyn Mitchell contributed to this report. Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.