Brian-AAFlyer
Dec 27, 02, 12:29 am
I'm seeing an interesting trend in pricing from each of the airlines.. From it you can clearly see what type of business theyre going for..
I've tested this on highly competitive routes such as NRT and LHR, simply because it provides the most data, so this could be route specific, but..
Looking at UA and AA, each of which considers the other is 'mainline competition' you can see where revenue management teams in each company price things differently..
Way out UA offers cheaper asia and europe fares.. usually a few percent cheaper (NRT is up to 50% cheaper), but as we close in on the traditional APEX 21, 14 and 7 day fares, things switch, AA offers much more agressive fares than UA, beating them by up to 15%
Similar situations occur heading to europe, leading me to believe that AA is really striving for that 'mid-fare' passenger and simply doesnt want to bid for the bottom of the barrel over 30 days out.. AA doesnt really mind us mileage runners therefore, because we're paying a premium to get the cheaper seats we could have gotten from UA
The 7-21 day fares that 'normal' business travellers buy seem to be cheaper on AA MOST of the time, leading me to believe that AA is focussing on a specific demographic, the corporate flyer who can choose based on price, but has little notice of travel arrangements (maybe a few weeks)
This fits with annecdotal evidence that I dont see many 'vacation' types on AA flights during the week (Tue-Thur) which I HAVE seen on UA, DL et al.
I may just be going through my own version of the conspiracy theory here, but I feel that I'm on to something.. AA doesnt CARE whether you buy >28 days out, but MAN do they want you if you decided to fly next week.. where as UA has always been keener to get the >30 day crowd (I'm assuming that RM wants predictable loads to fill the aircraft as much as possible)
Ohh just as a throwaway comment..
did you know that 7-11 stores use predictive systems like the airlines to predict how many donuts to order (based on weather, day of the year and previous selling history)
How long until we see time based discounting of donuts? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
I've tested this on highly competitive routes such as NRT and LHR, simply because it provides the most data, so this could be route specific, but..
Looking at UA and AA, each of which considers the other is 'mainline competition' you can see where revenue management teams in each company price things differently..
Way out UA offers cheaper asia and europe fares.. usually a few percent cheaper (NRT is up to 50% cheaper), but as we close in on the traditional APEX 21, 14 and 7 day fares, things switch, AA offers much more agressive fares than UA, beating them by up to 15%
Similar situations occur heading to europe, leading me to believe that AA is really striving for that 'mid-fare' passenger and simply doesnt want to bid for the bottom of the barrel over 30 days out.. AA doesnt really mind us mileage runners therefore, because we're paying a premium to get the cheaper seats we could have gotten from UA
The 7-21 day fares that 'normal' business travellers buy seem to be cheaper on AA MOST of the time, leading me to believe that AA is focussing on a specific demographic, the corporate flyer who can choose based on price, but has little notice of travel arrangements (maybe a few weeks)
This fits with annecdotal evidence that I dont see many 'vacation' types on AA flights during the week (Tue-Thur) which I HAVE seen on UA, DL et al.
I may just be going through my own version of the conspiracy theory here, but I feel that I'm on to something.. AA doesnt CARE whether you buy >28 days out, but MAN do they want you if you decided to fly next week.. where as UA has always been keener to get the >30 day crowd (I'm assuming that RM wants predictable loads to fill the aircraft as much as possible)
Ohh just as a throwaway comment..
did you know that 7-11 stores use predictive systems like the airlines to predict how many donuts to order (based on weather, day of the year and previous selling history)
How long until we see time based discounting of donuts? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif