Just noticed the following new upgrade fees on some routes:
$129 for Extra-Long Range Nonstop Flights
Origin City Destination City
Atlanta
Aruba, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, Seattle
Baltimore/Washington
Los Angeles, San Juan, Seattle
Los Angeles
Atlanta, Baltimore
San Juan
Atlanta, Baltimore
Seattle Atlanta, Baltimore
Also, some routes that were medium range flights, are now considered long range
Weird how BWI-CUN is considered medium while ATL-CUN is long range but is a shorter flight. I only noticed b/c upgrades were 69 dollars for ATL-CUN when I flew two weeks ago.
I wish FL would double the costs of the upgrades so i can get my elite upgrade easier.
guess this also makes a 1 way upgrade even a better deal for 4 credits, I connect from a smaller airport, so a bit more for my money.
I wonder if a 30% hike will make a difference...seems like they should reduce the price of the short leg upgrade from $49 as some flights you'd pay $1 a minute of flight time for the upgrade.
guess this also makes a 1 way upgrade even a better deal for 4 credits, I connect from a smaller airport, so a bit more for my money.
I wonder if a 30% hike will make a difference...seems like they should reduce the price of the short leg upgrade from $49 as some flights you'd pay $1 a minute of flight time for the upgrade.
I doubt they would do this as it's already a great deal to upgrade if checking 2 bags ($40 for 2 bags and a seat in coach, or $49 for 2 bags and an upgrade). If the price were any lower it'd be cheaper than paying just to check two bags!
What I would like to see would be variable upgrade pricing, depending on the historical load in business class (UA does this at the kiosk on some flights when they're oversold in coach, or don't have enough elites to fill the front cabin, I believe). MCO flights I've been on, for example, or shorter ATL flights on weekends, are rarely full in business class, so perhaps offering a discount on upgrades for flights heavy with leisure travelers would maximize revenue. Likewise, AirTran could probably fill all 12 seats on shorter flights for $69 each on Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons, when there are a lot of business travelers.
Has there ever been an indication of the breakdown of business class passengers?
--What portion of business class passengers pay the business-class fare
--What portion of business class passengers pay an upgrade fee
--What portion of business class passengers receive a free upgrade based on their A+ elite membership
--What portion of business class passengers are moved up to bc because coach is oversold
The paid upgrade is designed as the cost to move up from full coach fare into business class, but as long as I can remember they've run what they describe as a "promotion" which allows you to upgrade from any fare. If they ever remove that promotion, I'd guess the paid upgrades would drop off significantly since those full-coach fares are relatively rare and comparably expensive. But if they did that it would probably improve the benefit to elites in more complementary upgrades. No more competing with people whose base fare was $69 who plunk down another $49 for an upgrade, while your last-minute fare was $300+
