Now with gas prices falling considerably it would be nice to see the Airlines lower their prices as well. I think eventually this will happen. I remember about 5 years ago I was paying $750.00 round trip from NY to Bangkok. I want to book a trip for next year but I am going to hold out until I see the prices come down. Someone told me that the Airlines buy their gas in contracts. So as soon as their high price gas contracts end then I think we will see airline tickets come down. Thats great news for people that want to fly to Thailand frequently.

Unless BKK airports are closed!!! lol

I wouldn't hold your breath. They might buy there next contracts at a cheaper price, but that doesn't mean they will pass the savings on to their customers.

All airlines are struggling to keep their planes afloat in today's economy...........many have gone out of business, so don't really expect prices to dip too much lower.......did you ever think what it take in a whole to get one of these babies up in the air? When's the last time this plane was inspected for safety and maintenance? Do you really want to be a plane and something should have been repaired, and it wasn't.........think about that when you are thinking about buying your next ticket!

I think the airlines can still make a profit and lower prices. Airlines will never go out of business because the government won't allow that. If you can drive some where cheaper in the USA without flying then you know the airlines are in trouble.

I think I'll have to agree with dy and funky house on this one. I don't think that the airlines will pass the savings on to the consumers. As dy stated, in todays economy, the airlines are struggling to stay afloat, so they may just use the reduced oil prices to catch up a bit. I know the local airlines here in Hawaii have reduced the fares a little, but I think that had to do with a new competitor in the market "Mokulele Airlines", we are still paying around $110 for a short inter island flight ( longest for me being Honolulu to Hilo, and that is only 20 min.)

If you go back when gas prices started to rise and read the headlines you will see why the airlines were in trouble. Now that gas prices are at 2004 prices I won't accept they are still in trouble. Every time I fly to Thailand the planes are packed! I think they need to look at their cash outflows and see where the money is going. Maybe too much money is going out for upper management just like most company's in the US. I have a hard time believing that the airlines can't pass the savings on to its consumers.

Just like the auto industry. Is it really necessary that auto workers receive about $80.00 an hour on average?

Prices of tickets to any where from Australia are at the lowest I have seen.

I seen a return flight to Manila from Brisbane yesterday for $765-00 return with Royal Brunei Air.

In theory with lower fuel costs and the need for airlines to increase competitiveness due to the decline in long haul travel / tourism these savings should be passed onto the consumer.

On the other hand say 1 flight normally has 300 passengers per flight and due to the decline in demand these flights only have 200 passengers. This means the airline loses 1/3 of revenue which is needed to contribute to the overall cost of the flight. This will either mean the airline will have to increase ticket prices or decrease the number of flights they operate. If they decrease the number of flights they operate this will decrease the contribution to overheads and administration costs incurred (this is why people lose jobs etc) so again ticket prices will need to be increased to contribute to the overheads. This is why BA and Qantas merged to increase their capacity to contribute to overheads (economies of scale) and possibly save each other from going under...

Obviously this is a very basic (dummies guide) to demand / supply structure and shows that prices could go either way. Hoping for cheaper flights though I have a few trips to make in the near future...

The cost structures of the airlines (american ones at least) have been way out of alignment for a long time. Even in previous years of low fuel prices installed capacity outweighed demand and the cost/rev model was idiotic at best (unions were largely to blame here in my opinion). Only now are they starting to take capacity offline and rein in bloatted unionized labor costs. The bankruptcy processes allowed many to cancel union contracts and start from scratch (hint hint auto!! ). Now that they are able to balance the cost/capacity balance I would not look for the fares to come down anytime soon. FYI... The fuel cost component of a flight is much higher than the labor cost component in a car assembly. And the $80/hr figure is very misleading. (FYI..i'm in no way defending unions as I think they are useless dinosaurs that reward a lazy unproductive workforce!)

Best I can find :Phoenix to LAX to Tokyo round trip 1,400.00 one cheaper flight but the layover in tokyo is 13 hours.im buying mine after jan 1st since most people wont be traveling on vacation after december.

I am in the same boat if you wait for ticket prices to come down will you be able to get a seat?

Also Low Cost Carrier's are cheap but not reliable, guess you will have to weigh up your options!!!

There might be some decrease in the fuel surcharge, but I doubt it'd be by much. Not sure about the others but Thai Aiways is having problem meeting their target (even before the airport was closed), so the chance for them to sell extremely cheap is not that high.

Most of the flights are full, because the reduce the frequncy of the flights. Not sure if you do notice that, but I do notice it flying back and forth to Vietnam this year. My fave flight was recently cancelled and I have to flight later flight instead. They rather have a couple of customers being turned away than having an empty plane.

As much as I am hoping for cheaper flight ticket, I can't wait forever until the price is going down low enough to travel. :-S