Originally Posted by
GUWonder
If surge pricing motivated neither a reduction nor decline in the number of Uber cars on the road during surge pricing periods, wouldn’t that mean surge pricing motivated an increase in the number of cars gotten onto the road during such periods? I have gained with Uber’s entering the deregulated Swedish market for taxis and other car service.
About airlines “back in the day” before all these governmental waivers and favors legalizing what otherwise would have been illegal collusive behavior by the TATL-flying legacy majors, there truly was more competition; and that “truly more competition” showed up in the value customers got from the airline loyalty programs.
LCCs don’t only compete on price, some also compete on service and other aspects.
Any legacy major player in the sector who has to count on relative opaqueness of pricing and on lack of LCCs in order to sustain or improve its service offering and the value it provides customers has only itself to blame for running a rat race to the bottom and letting slip its major incumbency advantages. No competitor forced SK to gut the value of rebate currency dynamics of its loyalty program for those who fly SK flights — SK did that all on its own.
So more competition and the value thereof showed up in what the customers got from the loyalty programs? Then Japan is the epitome of competition, as I have never gotten greater value from my FFP than what I get from JAL....
Opaquenes of pricing isn't that a fundamental part of getting great value from an FFP? You need to study all of the intricacies of each FFP to be able to understand what part of your pricing comes back in form of rebates to be able to compare your price with the competing airline. Admittedly that was less difficult when it was pure flown distance times cabin bonus, and no factors of which specific booking class you were in.