DOES THIS MAKE SENSE??

My daughter who lives in New Jersey was given "Black Friday" off (as she calls it after spending 10 years in retail) at the last minute, meaning she wants to come home for Thanksgiving. Originally I had talked about going out to visit her that weekend, but then she moved to a smaller place in the last month and there really isn't any extra room for a houseguest, and with my dad and sister's situation, and my own discomfort level, really didn't feel up to the travel. It would have to be by air, even though its only a 12 hr. drive, mainly because of the uncertainty of the weather that weekend. The last two years have brought blizzard conditions, and I am a real chicken on the roads in that kind of weather.

So we go about trying to get flights. I "offered" to pay for her flight just to keep me from feeling obligated to visit, but being as cheap as I am, searched and searched and searched for flights. Tuesday the flight prices from Philadelphia were about $273; Wednesday they were $373. From Newark, it was higher yet. The prices continued to climb Thursday and Friday until I finally got fed up and searched for "nearby" airports. To my surprise, a small airport in Allentown, PA (about a 2 hr. drive for her) had a flight for $278 direct, getting her here on Thanksgiving morning. She agreed to drive there and stay overnight to get the early flight, all so I could get the low air fare.

So I decided to take a look at a flight for next spring, since it will be two years that I had been out there last. So her flight on Thanksgiving morning is $278 but a flight in April on an arbitrary date is $478. WTF?? Cheaper to fly into Newark or Philadelphia. Airlines. I just don't get the price fluctuations.