Originally Posted by
ijgordon
I think you have to be careful. You may be surprised how many folks out there will just buy first class tickets for the entire family, or use miles for upgrade.
For example, on EWR-FLL/PBI, where CO has some 15 daily flights, many of them are already sold out in F before/after Thanksgiving.
Not a great example as CO's fare structure in EWR-Florida has the A fare $40 higher than Y. During high leisure demand periods (read: holidays) savvy travelers purchase A fares as it is a great bargain, particularly on BusinessFirst equipped aircraft. CO sets A class equal to F cabin capacity in these markets, so first class will sell out early.