How Airlines Turned Your Vacation Plans Into a Losing Bet

To appreciate how crazy the airline fare-shopping game has become, you have to go back to the 1960s and ’70s—or get someone who remembers them to describe those halcyon days before deregulation. Airline fares were all set by the federal government, and thus were consistent across the board. That trip from Chicago to Kansas City cost the same no matter what airline you flew, when you booked your seat, or how many times you changed your mind and switched flights. No penalties, no advance purchase requirements, no change fees—no problem. Yes, airline fares were higher on average than they are today, in inflation-adjusted dollars. But taking off into the friendly skies could be extemporaneous, freewheeling, even an adventure.

Those were, in the view of the airlines, the bad old days.