This is a great piece, definitely, but the question I have, do you - Americans - consider $500 a fair/reasonable amount of money to pay for a plane ticket? (I even had to lookup the average salary in the USA)
I'm from Europe myself, and it usually costs us anywhere from $40 to $150 to travel anywhere in Europe, though the prices do go up if you want to go to a place such as China, Thailand, or even India. But then again, that's Asia!
The US is much more spread out than Europe, much more. A flight between the major cities in Europe, say London to Paris will be maybe $100 one way. A similar trip (distance wise) in the US from New York to Boston would also be $100 one way. A lot of people in the US fly much further than that. A trip from New York to Phoenix Arizona (not even all the way across the country) is a similar distance to Lisbon to Helsinki and will probably cost about $400 for a round trip flight in the US, there and back again.
$500 is pretty normal for cross-country flying. Keep in mind that the USA is gigantic - JFK-LAX is approximately the same distance as Frankfurt to Tehran.
Prices are much lower for closer distances - it's not at all unusual to be able pick up ~$150 round trips for shorter routes.
I live near Washington, DC. If I fly to, say, New York, then $500 would be outrageous. I'd expect to pay $100-200 roundtrip for that, depending. It's about an hour's flight.
If I fly to Miami, I'd expect to pay $200-300. That's about two hours.
If I fly to San Francisco, then $500 becomes a reasonable price. That's a six hour flight.
It makes no sense to talk about "a plane ticket" in isolation. From where to where? How far?
From my own experience (from MidWest, live in SF now), $500 is pretty average for a cross country. I can get most places I want to go (any major US City not completely across country) for about $150-$300 though and these are all round trips. It's just when I go from SF <-> NYC/Boston/DC that I get the $500-$700 range. Or if I just book at horrible times or over holidays.
I fly across the country every few months (live in Arizona, family in Pennsylvania) and I usually pay around $450, round trip.
I could pay less, but I stick with US Airways so I can rack up miles. When I made less money I'd fly whatever airline was cheapest - just under $400 was common.
I've done it all: bus, train, and drove myself. Flying is the best deal, hands down. There's no comparison - round-trip cross-country for $500 is a modern miracle.
I'm from Europe myself, and it usually costs us anywhere from $40 to $150 to travel anywhere in Europe, though the prices do go up if you want to go to a place such as China, Thailand, or even India. But then again, that's Asia!