Chicago Time

Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that passenger air travel has only been popular among the masses since the late 1970s, when government deregulation caused the first air fare wars. Since then, travel by air has been the preferred method for long journeys, with the airlines having gone to a “hub” system in order to keep their costs down. Certain cities, therefore, became clusters for airlines to transfer their passengers along. While those dreaded layovers have been vexing travelers ever since, this practice has ensured that just about everyone who has ever flown across the U.S. has seen quite a bit of Chicago’s two major airports – O’Hare and Midway.

Where Do They All Belong?
Then there is the fact that Chicago itself is a diverse and vibrant city, home to millions of people, one of the great American metropolitan strongholds. While the persistence of the economic downturn has meant that fewer people are heading off to Europe each year, domestic travel has been on the uptick, with cities like Chicago – along with Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and New York City – moving passengers through their airport terminals at a record pace. But where, one may feel compelled to ask, are all of these people going? Fortunately, a recent study by Fly.com (along with PRS Newswire) addresses just that.

When In Rome… Or Vegas…
Chicagoans, at least, are literally choosing their destinations based on the price of airfare. Smaller regional airlines have been taking market share away from the big logos, which has made Las Vegas and Florida popular locations from the Chicagoan’s perspective. Prices on airfare from the Windy City to Orlando have dropped 13 percent from the previous year. Fares to Las Vegas are down 35 percent from the previous year. Fares from; flights to San Francisco plummeted by 33 percent, and to Dallas, by a whopping 42 percent. Apparently, the decision is based upon a paraphrased axiom: When it’s cheaper to fly to Rome, go where the Romans are.

Of course, there will always be those people who pine for the “Golden Age of Travel”. Of course, that’s a short-sighted reference generally made by elitists who hate rubbing shoulders with the unwashed masses. It’s hard to believe that cigarette smoke, bad food, shrieking jet engines and exorbitant air fares (protected by regulation in order to keep the early airline moguls happy) comprised any sort of Golden Age – even if monitoring your credit score and loans for people with bad credit were virtually unheard of back then. Today’s travel may be considered by some to be “no frills”, it’s certainly affordable, and even more so if you happen to be heading out of Chicago toward one of the aforementioned destinations.