<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Rssrsvp:
diesel33, your example is not a fair comparison. How about comparing airline tickets to traveling on the Long Island Railroad, Metro North or New Jersey Transit? They have peak & off-peak fares. I believe that the tickets have a one year expiration date on them. You can use that ticket for travel to destinations in the "zone" that it was purchased for whenever you wish. The only restriction is that an off-peak ticket be used for a off-peak train (peak tickets can be used anytime).
These commuter railroads compete against commuter bus lines, people driving their own cars to work, and to a lesser degree the NYC subway system.
Now what would happen if these railroads were to just sell tickets for individual departure times on a certain date, and you had to pay a service fee to take another train on that date? Or if you didn't use that ticket at all and lost the value of it. I for one, would be seeking a more user friendly and less expensive mode of travel. This is exactly what the major carriers have done. Southwest, Airtrans & Jet Blue are laughing aloud right now and they cannot believe the stupidity of these moves. This is going to backfire and result is a large number of elite flyers switching to the no frills discounters. There is only so much that individuals and companies are willing to pay for travel.
[This message has been edited by Rssrsvp (edited 09-08-2002).]</font>
You make a good point re: if the metro were to sell tickets for a particular departure time then you would find other means of transportation.
As far as my example of airline tickets vs. sportign events etc., I just mentioned that because it has popped up in serveral threads as a comparison. It's not my "original" idea.
[This message has been edited by diesel33 (edited 09-08-2002).]