what really astounds me is when i think about all the big important business meetings they must have had when they not only came up with this idea but ended up following through with it...i can understand entertaining the idea, but don't you think a group of executives and professionals at continental would have the insight (and foresight for that matter) to realize everything we've been talking about over the last two weeks and conclude that maybe it's not the wisest business idea?? i wish i had access to their business figures to see what percentage of their customers pay full fares, because maybe there's something that the rest of us don't really know and there may indeed be this market of people who are too financially irresponsible (or have money to burn....hence the "contribute to my tuition" remark) to realize that they're paying $1200 for a ticket when everyone else is paying $200 for the same exact seat, same meal, same hassles, and so forth.
and maybe i'm having a little george bush "fuzzy math" problem....but i pay on the average $250 for my cross country non-refundable tickets. if i have to cancel the flight, i might not get a refund but i'm only out $250. and if i need to change the flight (which i presume is one of the benefits of having an unrestricted ticket)--that would be a $100 change fee, plus any difference in fare (just to be extreme, let's pretend the same itinerary is now $550...and i'm not used to seeing fares rise by $300 for the same flights typically, but i might be wrong). so even on an unrestricted ticket, i could change my itinerary like anyone else, but even still, the ticket only adds up to 250+100+300= $650 total. even if i made ANOTHER change, with penalties it still wouldn't cost as much as an unrestricted fare. so, back to my original question.....why would anyone (except in certain unique circumstances) buy a full fare ticket, and regardless, what percentage of continental's business actually comes from such people???
sorry, but i've been thinking about this whole program change for the past two weeks and it's just mind boggling....