Florida residents who are taking no chances as Hurricane Irma approaches were shocked to discover that major airlines are jacking up prices for flights headed out of the state.
John Lyons, 53, bought a one-way ticket for his daughter to fly from Miami to Hartford, Conn. for $159.20 on Monday. When he went back on Tuesday to buy a ticket for his daughter’s friend, the price went up to $1,020.
“I logged in and expected to see $160, and frankly if I had seen $260 I wouldn’t have reacted. And I logged in and saw, $1,020, and I about had a heart attack,” Lyons told Yahoo Finance.
Lyons was so shocked by the price jump that he checked if he hadn’t accidentally booked a first class ticket.
“American Airlines had the audacity to raise the rate $800,” Lyons said. “You know, I’m angry. I think it’s horrible what they are doing. I just think it’s horrible. I'll leave it at that.”
The U.S. National Hurricane Center called Irma a “potentially catastrophic” storm on Wednesday. The hurricane was moving towards the U.S. Virgin Islands with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, making it a Category 5 hurricane. Irma is already the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded outside the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.
