Originally Posted by
canadiancow
Or just don't use terms that suggest "tons of extra money", when the reality is it's a small surcharge.
Small surcharge? I just did a dummy booking YVR-EZE on a 77W for a two-week trip next January. I tried a number of date combinations to ensure I was seeing a realistic fare. The smallest difference I could find between a Tango and PY fare was more than $1500 and purchasers are still sitting in Y on the domestic legs. I can certainly see why most people don't or can't pay for the increased seat pitch.
We have no idea how far in advance the guy in the article bought his fare, how much he paid or what his options were in terms of cost per seating class. But many people do not see the value in paying $75/hr for 6 additional inches of legroom.
Please don't try to dismiss the upgrade from Y to PY as merely anteing up a 'small surcharge'. That's rarely the case at all.
Addendum: just checked out the new YVR-BNE service. The return fare in economy is less than a single direction in PY. Same for Heathrow: the 'small surcharge' for a PY seat vs a back-of-the-bus seat is more than double. Admittedly, my selections are highly unscientific in nature, but that's fitting for a guy like me who doesn't grasp the concept of exponential growth.