Look at the price at the gas pump next time you fill up your car. Fuel prices are rising; hadn't you noticed?

We have a house on Water Island so we are always checking airfares. Yes they have gone up but their quixotic levels are not determined by fuel price alone. When I checked recently, Boston to St Thomas, through Charlotte, was about 300. Getting on the same plane in Charlotte and going just Charlotte to St Thomas was 700. My advice is to keep checking and also to check other airports you can drive to. Also, check all possible carriers; we recently flew Delta instead of USAir and save 300 per ticket. It really is maddening to me the way carriers manipulate price based on factors that are not readily apparent.

Airlines have crazy pricing schemes.
You're probably trying to book too early for 2012 flights...the airlines have no incentive to discount this early. We usually book our EWR/STT trip sometime during the summer.
Keep watching the fares every day....and have a target fare in mind.....don't wait for a "bottom" price, since you'll only know the bottom afer the price begins to climb again.
However, I fear that the $278. fares are gone forever.........

Checked prices out of JFK for mid March 2012. American Airlines $404 RT w/tax. Delta $884 RT w/tax. Delta's more than double AA's fares for that week.

Spike,

Have you ever noticed that Delta's taxes and fees come to about $17, while American's are $50? Both are direct fights JFK-STT. I think American considers it an Int'l flight while Delta considers it domestic. It really irks me. There should be some regulatory committee to oversee such things.

There have been times when fares on both airlines' direct flights have been comparable, except for the fees and taxes.