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United’s Saipan-Guam flights are now pricier
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Posted on Feb 24 2023
United Airlines is known to be on the pricier side in terms of air service from Saipan to Guam. However, as of late, United’s ticket prices have reached an all-time high at nearly $600 for a roundtrip fare.
Concerned citizens have reached out to Saipan Tribune regarding United’s recent increase in ticket prices. According to United Airlines’ website, a roundtrip economy ticket from Saipan to Guam now ranges from $580 to $587.
According to frequent United travelers, the average ticket from Saipan to Guam usually ranges between $300 to roughly $400 for roundtrip. Now, at nearly $600, it has nearly doubled.
United has yet to issue a statement about the change in their airfare prices.
Commonwealth Ports Authority Kimberlyn King-Hinds said that CPA is unaware of the decision behind the increase in rates and it could have been a business decision on United’s part.
“Obviously we want to see reasonable rates and fares and for United, it was probably a business decision and I don’t know what all that entails. Obviously as a resident, you want to be able to travel at a lower cost and now it’s really cost-prohibitive. Last I checked, it’s now $600 to go to Guam. That’s expensive for a little over a 30-minute plane ride,” she said.
As far as helping the airlines bring down their rates, King-Hinds said that would be difficult because if an incentive is offered to one airline, it has to be offered to all the airlines and it’s just not monetarily possible, given CPA’s current financial standing.
“We have to be very careful about the types of incentives that we offer because if we offer one person something, we need to offer it to everybody. As to directly reaching out to an airline, we have been cautioned by the federal authorities because that could be seen as incentivizing one over the other and you do have other airlines flying to Guam, to include Marianas Southern Airways and Star Marianas,” she said.
The CNMI has other options with commercial carriers like Marianas Southern Airways and Star Marianas.
