Originally Posted by
Telfes
Moreover, I'll put myself in the penny-pinching category, but there is no way I would choose UA because it was $15 cheaper for a TATL ticket -- I'd rather pay the extra $15 and get my crappy food and not have to think about bringing something or wondering if I'll get anything or if they'll run out (not just of my choice, but of food). Total crap. If you're going spend $1000 to fly to Europe, is another $15 going to break the deal? How utterly ridiculous.
I believe the problem is internet travel sites like Expedia & Orbitz that list by price - if your price is $15 higher than other carriers then you appear way down the list, possibly on page 2 or 3, and your traffic falls off. That's what happens if you get sucked into commodity pricing - ultimately the survivor will be the airline with the lowest cost because that's the one that can keep on going longest. It was the job of the managers to build brands and stop themselves getting into this commodity pricing mess - a role the UA managers seem spectacularly ill equipped to handle.