Economy costlier than Prem Econ
Aug 24, 2014, 12:04 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: TK Gold, Alitalia Gold, AB Gold, MPC, SPG Gold, IHG, Marriott Silvr, BW Plat, AA, BA, JP
Posts: 244
Economy costlier than Prem Econ
Just was looking at JFK to YVR (CX 889) for Sept 2 One way....Economy standard (booking in H) is USD 709 while Premium Economy Standard (booking in E) is USD 567...
Miles earned is Higher in E than H.
Dont fully understand the pricing rationale behind this...
Any ideas??
Miles earned is Higher in E than H.
Dont fully understand the pricing rationale behind this...
Any ideas??
Aug 24, 2014, 12:26 am
#2
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Silver/ows, CX AsiaMiles (not even GR anymore!) missing my GO days
Posts: 1,581
This isn't that unusual an issue in the airline world. If you look at the conditions for the fares, you'll discover that the H fare is probably less restrictive in terms of changes permitted, fees, etc than the E fare. So pax can opt to book the E in this case if they want to, at the price of giving up flexibility they'd have with the H in exchange for the more comfortable seat at that price.
Aug 24, 2014, 5:22 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Up in the Air
Programs: OW Emerald
Posts: 524
Exactly.
For close in flights, I frequently see Economy close to selling out with only a couple full fare refundable Y fares available where as Prem Econ often still has the cheapest E fare buckets available. Thus PremEcon is cheaper than Econ... if you must travel on that specific flight and don't need the increased flexibility rules of a higher fare class, then it's a no brainer to buy PremEcon for cheaper than Econ.
If buying tickets far in advance cheapest PremEcon fares tends to have a big 50-70% price premium over the cheapest Econ fares though.
For close in flights, I frequently see Economy close to selling out with only a couple full fare refundable Y fares available where as Prem Econ often still has the cheapest E fare buckets available. Thus PremEcon is cheaper than Econ... if you must travel on that specific flight and don't need the increased flexibility rules of a higher fare class, then it's a no brainer to buy PremEcon for cheaper than Econ.
If buying tickets far in advance cheapest PremEcon fares tends to have a big 50-70% price premium over the cheapest Econ fares though.
Aug 24, 2014, 7:13 pm
#6
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: MPC,CA,MU,AF
Posts: 8,171
In fact, even lowest (promotional) fare business is usually higher than full fare economy. It is not unusual. As said by another poster, there can be reasons why people will still take the more expensive economy fare, e.g., corporate policy. My company is like that too, but they only distinguish economy, business and first. They treat premium economy as economy and let our TA apply the lowest logical fare (economy or premium economy) for employees traveling on economy class.
Aug 24, 2014, 10:05 pm
#7
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: HKG/HND/OOL
Programs: QF Emerald. SQ Gold.
Posts: 3,170
flexibility comes at a cost. I too faced with similar situation... E class to SYD being cheaper than K class... ended up buying K class but I changed flight about 3 times so cost of change etc far outweigh the E fare plus restriction...
Aug 25, 2014, 8:21 pm
#8
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 6,978
Aug 25, 2014, 9:06 pm
#9
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: MPC,CA,MU,AF
Posts: 8,171
Hopefully the bean counters can soon realize that they may actually save by counting PE as Y. By viewing them as separate, both the company and the employees may lose out, and the airlines can make more money.