Charleston Airfares Take Off in Absence of Independence

Independence Air landed for good a few weeks ago and now Charleston airfares are taking off.

It's no surprise to seasoned travelers and anybody who has seen a headline about the airline industry in the past year or so. Executives at a number of bankrupt carriers have said for months they would have to raise prices to become solvent again. Delta's chief, Gerald Grinstein, told an Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter as much last week. Charleston, having lost its scrappy discounter, is now in the first wave of those changes.

On Dec. 30, the Atlanta-based airline was selling walk-up round-trip tickets to Washington, D.C., for $158. Late last week, Delta customers were paying $335 for that route, but only 14 days ahead of departure.

The other airlines serving Charleston have made similar changes, with most of the biggest spikes showing up on routes to Washington, where Independence Air was hubbed. On the routes for which prices have remained similar, the airlines have levied more advance-purchase and overnight-stay requirements.

The changes were not immediate. In fact, fares were relatively static in the wake of the discounter's departure, leaving some to think competition was tight enough to keep ticket costs in check. But it seems that was a ploy to avoid bad publicity, and the reality set in soon enough.

"They were being really good - for about a week, that is," said John Powers, president of Travel Management Group, a North Charleston-based booking agency. "The high end really hasn't changed much, but the deeply discounted fares were the ones that really took the pounding."

Craig Gibson, who calls Charleston home but travels for his work in software sales, said last week that Savannah is once again getting to be an attractive option.

"Whenever I fly, I have my travel agent check Savannah, and it's typically $200 to $400 cheaper," Gibson said. "When it gets up to $200-plus, it's worth it to fly out of there."

Savannah, of course, still has its lowballer - AirTran Airways.

Like a party

RSVP Shoppe Ltd., a stationery store and peninsula institution since 1976, has changed hands for an undisclosed sum.

The two women who owned the store, Marion Goodman and Irene Garfinkel, just sold it to Mitchell Crosby, an event planner, and his partner Randall Felkel, who worked for Lotus Flowers until December.

The rent on RSVP's King Street digs is going up considerably and Goodman and Garfinkel, 70 and 71, respectively, said they weren't up for the stress of orchestrating another move.

The women said they started the business on a lark - as something to do while their husbands were at work - so the recent transaction is particularly validating.

"We've worked hard at it," Goodman said. "We didn't have a lease and we didn't have a building, so they bought our name. To me, that is just wonderful."

Crosby, whose family owns Crosby's Seafood, spends most of his time planning parties and events via JMC Charleston, a company he launched in late 2004. Before that, he organized events for Charleston Place, where he handled weddings for both Goodman's and Garfinkel's daughters.

"(Buying the shop) felt natural," Crosby explained. "It's not a division of JMC Charleston, but our businesses basically complement each other."

Crosby and Felkel have their eyes on a larger home for RSVP.

They wouldn't say where, but it will give them more bang for their real estate buck and still be downtown.

Goodman and Garfinkel will be on the payroll, of course.

Swelling supply

Fennell Holdings recently cut the ribbon on its new Holiday Inn by the convention center in North Charleston.

Beds around the complex have been in relatively short supply compared with meeting hubs like Chicago and New Orleans.

The 142 rooms in Fennell's new hotel will strengthen the pitch of area meeting planners gunning for big events.

Reach Kyle Stock at 937-5763 or [email protected].

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