Airline Industry

Now that I have gone over a week without a new post, I thought that it was only appropriate for me to rant and rave about the Airline Industry. We are currently in the process of trying to track down some tickets to go to southern california. Can someone please explain to me how it can cost the same amount to fly from Portland to LA, as it does to fly from Portland to NYC?

If the pricing game wasn't bad enough, in the last month I have tried to procur tickets via the skymiles system. What a joke! Basically if you don't redeem your miles for a flight a year in advance then you aren't going anywhere with your skymiles(or else you will have to use double to go the same distance). Is it any wonder why the airline industry is going under?