Originally Posted by
Tango
This is a statistic that has been reported in trade publications. I stand corrected to state that only 10% of Domestic First Class passengers paid the going F fare rate. Everyone else used miles, free upgrades, coupons, stickers or bought a YUP fare (buy selected coach fares that give you an automatic upgrade into First). Does this number really surprise you?
The numbers are even worse for international F class. The airlines that operate 3 cabin class aircraft sell very few true F class fares. The published F fare from the USA to SYD is close to $25k. You really think the airlines are selling many of these seats at this price?
With your exclusion of A fares, I suppose it could be close. I'm still curious as to how that stat was gleaned, as Delta (maybe the others) does not disclose this kind of thing. I do not, however, think it's a particularly meaningful or telling statistic.
Delta sells a lot of discounted A fares that book into the FC cabin. Those people pay a premium to be up front. Additionally, why is this just limited to domestic flights? DL sells plenty of seats in their BizElite cabin on international flights and those folks expect onward connections from JFK or ATL to be booked in the premium cabin, too...assuming there is one on the plane (does the 10% stat include these?). Finally, one of the perks of SkyMiles Medallion level membership is the shot at an upgrade. That is an incentive to attract my future loyalty...and it works.
Given a choice, I would probably select a 737 without a FC cabin over an RJ, but I would not choose a 737 without a FC cabin over a 737 with one...especially with a shot of upgrading. Add in cattle call boarding (or paying extra to avoid it) and I might just choose the RJ (depending on other factors, such as flight time).