Originally Posted by
mke9499
If you look at seat maps, a few hours prior to scheduled departure, you can get a fairly good picture (no pun intended).
The aircraft looks lopsided, with the first four rows sparsely filled, while the rear 80% or so is densely occupied. It's not very scientific, but there is a pattern. If customers
are upgrading to STRETCH for a fee, they could be doing it at the airport, at the last minute, therefore, not showing up on seat maps a few hours before departure.
I do remember being asked to upgrade (even after I already had) when I attempted to print my BP at one of their kiosks in MKE.
I wonder if they would ever consider making the pricing based on availability? Say at the 24 hour mark, it is full price, then around check-in time at the airport and based on how many people are checked in/STRETCH seats left, start offering it at discounted rates at the kiosks. IE, 5 open STRETCH seats and only 20 people left to check in for the flight, instead of offering it at $25 for those 20 people, put it up for $15.
Another pricing tactic would be to discount for multiple people, IE if there are 2 people in your party upgrade for $40 instead of $50 (assuming $25 is the base rate).
Anyway it seems like they will figure out a way that keeps customers happy while maximizing their profit. Like I said before, STRETCH isn't costing them much to have so any additional revenue they can gain there will hopefully keep their fares low.