If I were planning a Thanksgiving visit to my maternal grandmother's house in Virginia, I would be in a world of hurt. I would be forking out at least $600 for a round-trip ticket if I traveled on the traditional days, leaving Wednesday and returning Sunday.
It's August, Thanksgiving is fewer than 100 days away, and the fare is probably not going to get any cheaper.
I won't be going, because that's more than I've ever paid for a round-trip ticket to the Washington area and because granny died in 1935. (I know that sounds as if mathematically I could be as old as Methuselah; I'm not, although I could be his younger sister.)
But there's other math you should pay attention to right now if you're thinking about flying this fall and winter, and unlike my granny, it's pretty ugly.
Here's why, why it matters and why there may be hope on the horizon:
