America West FlightFund (Discontinued Program) - Where is HP going?




View Full Version : Where is HP going?


JenniferNAz
Feb 22, 04, 11:28 pm
I am curious about HP and what they are thinking/planning for the future.

I would like see what others here think. I am not posting this to complain, but to open up a little discussion about the company that I, and many on this board, spend a fair amount of money and a lot of time interacting with each year. I have posed a few questions below, and would love to hear anyone’s input.

I think we all can understand that HP is in business, so we can’t have everything we might want. On the other hand, we are the customer. If they don’t make their product equal or better than others we can find, we will go elsewhere. I think the past few years have proven that loyalty doesn’t get you very far anymore.


What direction do you think that HP is going in? Who are they trying to attract?

It appears, on one hand, that they are trying to get the frequent business flyer, the one who will pay more to get first class, but who doesn’t want to pay a few thousand for it. I am referring to the new lower first class fares, the transcon service.

While they seem to be trying to attract the frequent business flyer, they have decreased the elite bonus, increased the number of miles needed for first class award travel (what many, if not most, frequent fliers redeem), and have decreased the “special” part of flying first class. All of these moves have the effect of making the ff less likely to choose HP as their carrier of choice.

On the other hand, they appear to be trying to get the attention of the casual traveler with the lower number of miles needed for coach award travel, more flights in and out of places like Las Vegas, and if rumors spreading on this board are true, a total revamp of the on-board entertainment system.

The downside to the casual traveler seems to be the fact that fares have risen from where they were a little over a year ago and decreased service in coach (some flights don’t even have peanuts/pretzels anymore).

What do you think HP will look like 5 years from now?

What should they improve on? What should they cut back on?

Finally, do you think that they will actually listen to the people who fly their airline and what we want?

I am looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.


ByrdluvsAWACO
Feb 23, 04, 1:38 am
Barring some major aquisition, I can see HP as a major west coast player, but nothing more than a large LCC. They'll neet more intl service if they want to grow into a real network.

Besides the FlightFund debacle, I think HP's lack of a partner with an east coast network hurts the overall effectiveness of the airline.

Airtran would be a perfect partner. They share a similiar pricing structure, they both have a J cabin, and only two routes overlap(LAS-ATL/DFW). AirTran currently has no airline partners so HP would be wise to initiate a partnership. It would add 13 destinations to HP's network.


<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
What should they cut back on?
</font>

They should cut back on the Silver give away crap and/or limit the type of fares Silvers can be upgraded on. Stop upgrading backpackers just becuase they had a weather delay. Putting non-elites in J still costs money on flights that have meal service.



<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
What should they improve on?
</font>

Focus on more routes that matter. LAX/SFO-IAD/MIA Get serious about West Coast-Carribean service. Rethink their no-east coast hub decision. RDU would make a better location geographically. Improve the food in J. Keep out the riff-raff. Make the cabin more exclusive like the days before Greyhound pax got seated in J. Fix the broken VS partnership.


If HP had asked me how they could have reduced their costs while preserving the value of FF I would have suggested the following.

Plat - 100% bonus, club access on certain fares, or just leave the bonus at 125%.

Gold - 75% bonus. As it stands Gold is a joke.

Slvr - 25% bonus, upgrade on certain fares.

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"Rows 50 and above are business seats for those with infants" - gfowler-ord-1k
SkyTeam - "The whatever's leftover Alliance"

[This message has been edited by ByrdluvsAWACO (edited Feb 23, 2004).]

Marysunshine
Feb 23, 04, 4:53 am
Being a leisure traveler, I'm not aware of any lower redemption than any other airline. Where it used to be 20,000 FF miles for ANY domestic ticket ANYTIME, they now have this ridiculous 15,000 for short runs and 25,000 for all others which for most people is a higher redemption cost. I, for one, am not happy about the changes and for me HP no longer serves as a LCC. It is competetive with most of the others serving NY airports. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif


olympicnut
Feb 23, 04, 11:04 am
My guess is if the transcon routes they have now actually pay off (LAX-BOS/JFK etc etc) then they might add more long distance point to point services a-la jetBlue and AirTran. Just my $.02.

iahphx
Feb 23, 04, 7:18 pm
"Besides the FlightFund debacle"

One man's debacle is another man's prudent business decision.

ByrdluvsAWACO
Feb 23, 04, 8:14 pm
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by iahphx:
One man's debacle is another man's prudent business decision. </font>

.. and another man's profit.

------------------
"Rows 50 and above are business seats for those with infants" - gfowler-ord-1k
SkyTeam - "The whatever's leftover Alliance"

[This message has been edited by ByrdluvsAWACO (edited Feb 23, 2004).]

IMStill4Travel
Feb 23, 04, 9:48 pm
and yet another man's capital gain/dividend. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif



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