Originally Posted by
IAH-OIL-TRASH
Looks like the “revenge” travel trend has abated to/from Hawaii. Upgrades between West Coast and Hawaii look much easier this year than last two years. Hotels and UA were (and still are) extracting higher-than-inflation booking costs and the declining traffic this year ate making more F seats available for upgrades.
As a 1K, I was buying F tickets for most of last two years on most flights as the most popular day/times were almost selling out. Seemed like only GS were getting upgrades, and even then, some were still in back. Different story this year. My 753 to LAX Sunday morning has 10 seats open and my 773 SFO-HNL the following Sunday has 19 open - both flights during weekends in summer. Hotels and UA got greedy and now the bad taste they left is hurting. Maybe F fares will drift down. Coach prices still remain reasonable.
I'm seeing similar trends...not to/from Hawaii specifically but more broadly in the US domestic market. Flights that were full the last two years (or only higher fare buckets available) are now often cheaper and in some cases heavily discounted. Discounted front cabin fare buckets open a week before departure on routes that have been unheard of the last two years. Fingers crossed that more traditional patterns of demand are emerging. International (TATL in particular) is still nuts, but I feel those days are numbered as well...