Originally Posted by
hobo13
Sure, there is a natural limit to the number of oversells, but this thread is more about reducing VDB's than increasing them. I'm simply saying that the status quo has worked for UA, so why wouldn't it work for CO???
Because CO lacks the infrastructure to rebook and process volunteers efficiently. Having 10 VDBs at an outstation with light staffing could tie up that outstation's staff tremendously because the business process and systems are cumbersome.
My last CO VDB a few months ago, they asked for and were manually inputting my address -- the very same address that's in my OP profile and hasn't changed in 10 years. UA or DL never ask for that -- they just link it to my MP/SM, and it's all in the system.
Seriously, it took me 10 minutes to get processed and rebooked (staying on CO metal at that) with that VDB. With UA or DL it takes 1-2 minutes tops.
So to your point, while CO would surely love to sell a couple extra Full Y fares, if it means delaying and misconnecting/mishandling the next plane load of customers (not to mention all the downline delays and related fallout), it's probably not worth it from their perspective.
Originally Posted by
sbm12
If IM/RM is doing their job best then the Y seats that are going to sell should be held for them by not selling the GLSTK seats in the first place rather than bumping those customers. Even with the breakage on the VDB funny money you're still spending more than you should be generally with little RoI. Finding that balance is the goal and if the company is not bumping but also not limiting Y seat sales at the end then they're doing something quite right.
I understand that, and that's part of it. But the other part that's outside the company's control is the hub conditions and potential for delays/misconnects/other issues.
SFO in winter is a perfect example. The airport is often delayed in certain hours. Does one account for that and assume there will be misconnects and oversell accordingly? Or do they use a perfect world scenario and then oversell only slightly?
It's this sort of unpredictability that UA tended to be aggressive in. Oversell the plane by 10 or so, there's likely going to be fog/weather/inbound RJ or prop cancels/other delays. When they were right, they win because they sold extra tickets. When they were wrong, well, they're VDBing a bunch of people.