Continental Adds $10 Fuel Surcharge

Continental Airlines today added a $10 fuel surchrage on flights within the US and between the US and Canada.  The charge is tacked on to each way, meaning the cost of a round-trip ticket just went up $20.  Earlier today, American cut back its number of flights to about a dozen destinations in an attempt to reduce capacity and save on fuel.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, book flights as soon as you know your travel plans; there's little to be gained by waiting, as there's no reason to expect the cost of airline fuel is going to sharply decrease.  And as the number of available seats on some routes begins to slip downward--as Northwest and Delta pare back a bit on their flights--the competition for low-fare seats only increases.

Continental will hold its breath and watch to see if its competitors match its fare increase over the weekend.  If they don't, Continental may have to back down on Monday.