Glade Riven
Adventurer
I'd say it varies heavily on campaign setting. Airships are usually one of those divisive things that are either in the setting or not in the setting. Settings with them usually have enough of them that they are not egregiously expensive. Settings that don't have them, don't have them.
In game terms, airships are practically a location/mini dungeon rather than an object. As a reward it is a macguffin.
The biggest cost saver, however, is that the Pathfinder airship is not an Eberron airship. An Eberron airship is a flying ship (and is priced oddly, too, but that's a different discussion for a different forum) with no balloon. A Pathfinder airship is primarally an oversized blimp with a "magical" engine for steering, and maybe a bit of magic to help out what the blimp alone can't lift. A flying carpet has no balloons to help generate lift, so all the work is done by the enchantment.
A little bit of fluff can justify a lot.
In game terms, airships are practically a location/mini dungeon rather than an object. As a reward it is a macguffin.
The biggest cost saver, however, is that the Pathfinder airship is not an Eberron airship. An Eberron airship is a flying ship (and is priced oddly, too, but that's a different discussion for a different forum) with no balloon. A Pathfinder airship is primarally an oversized blimp with a "magical" engine for steering, and maybe a bit of magic to help out what the blimp alone can't lift. A flying carpet has no balloons to help generate lift, so all the work is done by the enchantment.
A little bit of fluff can justify a lot.
