2 + 1

I started researching plane fares last night. I got through about half of the possible airlines I could use, depending on whether I fly out of The Noog (CHA), Atlanta (ATL), or Nashville (BNA) and into Albuquerque (ABQ) or El Paso (ELP). I came up with three generalities.

1) It's cheaper to fly out of ATL or BNA than out of CHA. This is partly because CHA is a smaller airport and requires an extra connection, but mostly because "discount" airlines have created competition for "major" airlines in ATL or BNA, so the prices are more competitive. (I put quotation marks around the words in the previous sentence because some companies now blur the line between the formerly rigid designations.)

2) It's cheaper to fly into ABQ than ELP. This might be because ABQ is slightly larger. Plus, ABQ has the International Balloon Fiesta, and you can go to Santa Fe or Taos. ELP has... um... and you can go to... uh, Carlsbad Caverns or White Sands National Monument, I guess.

3) The third item isn't another generality so much as a realization -- and math is involved, and I wasn't sure you'd read this far if you knew math was coming. (Although, to be honest, the title was a hint.) One airline indeed has a higher price to fly out of CHA than ATL or BNA, but not as high as its competitors. Then I started thinking. If I fly out of ATL or BNA, I need to take the shuttle, which adds $73 to my cost. The extra airfare is about $80, a difference of just $7. Is $3.50 per round trip a low enough "Convenience Fee" for me to pay, rather than two hours each way in the back end of a van crammed with "Customers of Size"? You bet your sweet bippy it is!