I just purchased 3 business class tickets, NYC to DEL, but not on CO. For several reasons I would have *liked* to purchase tickets on CO, but they are just not competitive in this market, and I don't understand what they are thinking.

It appears that the cheapest available AP, Sat-night stay fare (Z class) on Continental goes for about $5400 all in, EWR->DEL. But numerous other airlines are now selling their business class seats at $4000 or less on this route; the most inexpensive is Quatar at less than $3000. Factor in the fact that (for example) Quatar's hard J product and catering are among the best in the world and are much better than Continental's (though I admit that Quatar's in-flight J service is mostly just average), why would anyone pay thousands more for Continental? True, on all of the sub-$4000 flights, you have to connect in Europe or the middle east and Continental has a direct flight, but that adds only 3 or 4 hours to Continental's 14+-hour trip time. Furthermore, many people would consider a short connection to be a benefit rather than a drawback on such a long flight.

CO is not even competitive if you look at the cost to upgrade using OnePass. They are selling economy seats for $1000+. If you add in the $1000 in upgrade fees plus 80,000 miles to upgrade (and my guess is that very few non-FTers have 80,000 miles sitting around), you still have a very expensive ticket. Why would anyone pay $6000+ in addition to 240,000 miles for three tickets, when you can purchase a better product for $8000 outright?

I guess one explanation for the very expensive fare on CO is that somehow, the market supports it. But that does not appear to be the case. I checked a couple of times recently and it appears that CO is sending flight 82 to DEL out half empty in J. For example, tonight there are 29 people booked in J (out of 50 seats), with one preson on the upgrade waitlist. The flight heading back (I think it's in the air right now) has 14 empty seats in J.

Am I missing something? I understand that airlines make a significant chunk of revenue from J, but if people are not buying what you're selling, and the competition undercuts you, you have to cut the price, right?