Why are domestic business fares so expensive?
Aug 2, 2019, 2:02 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Montreal
Posts: 586
Why are domestic business fares so expensive?
Why are AC business class fares so high for domestic? I've never been able to justify paying cash for J within Canada. Taking a brief look at the calendar, I'm consistently seeing roundtrip prices from $2k upwards to BC and AB, $1.3k to YWG, and $1,000 to YOW from YYZ. These prices are pretty insane compared to most of the domestic US city pairings and they have more premium transcon services too. Is the lack of competition in Canada that bad?
Aug 2, 2019, 3:04 pm
#3
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Halifax
Programs: AC SE100K, Marriott Lifetime Platinum Elite. NEXUS
Posts: 4,562
AC Domestic (TB & Sun) Business is generally accepted as superior to the US carriers. So that accounts for about $20 in the difference.
The rest is competition, business, economic forces.
But mainly the punchline to the koan about the MBA professor after listening to a pricing exercise. "Your all wrong. Charge what the market can bear"
The rest is competition, business, economic forces.
But mainly the punchline to the koan about the MBA professor after listening to a pricing exercise. "Your all wrong. Charge what the market can bear"
Aug 2, 2019, 3:07 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE 1MM, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 3,396
AC Domestic (TB & Sun) Business is generally accepted as superior to the US carriers. So that accounts for about $20 in the difference.
The rest is competition, business, economic forces.
But mainly the punchline to the koan about the MBA professor after listening to a pricing exercise. "Your all wrong. Charge what the market can bear"
The rest is competition, business, economic forces.
But mainly the punchline to the koan about the MBA professor after listening to a pricing exercise. "Your all wrong. Charge what the market can bear"
If I had to guess, I would guess that the domestic J cabin is, on average: 40% upgraders, 20-30% connecting to international J, and only 30% or so paying for an actual J, C, D, P, or Z fare.
Aug 2, 2019, 3:30 pm
#6
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE 1MM, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 3,396
Aug 2, 2019, 4:19 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM
Posts: 23,293
Because the market can bear it...
Almost noone paysfor these with their own money, and clearly OPM is willing to pay this much for their workers/clients - good on AC for capitilizing on this!
Almost noone paysfor these with their own money, and clearly OPM is willing to pay this much for their workers/clients - good on AC for capitilizing on this!
Aug 2, 2019, 6:01 pm
#9
formerly Sleepy_Sentry
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 614
There’s a sizable number of people who rarely fly internationally and have money. They’re happy to pay more for the feeling of getting the best. Spending $2k for a transcontinental flight is pretty accessible financially for many people.
Aug 2, 2019, 6:21 pm
#10
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,302
And there's currently a 638 CAD one-way P fare YYZ-SFO. It's not like better deals don't exist.
Can I get YYZ-YUL as cheap as SFO-LAX? No. But I can do YYZ-SFO cheaper than NYC-SFO.
Aug 3, 2019, 9:31 am
#11
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Ideally YOW, but probably not
Programs: AC SE*MM
Posts: 1,822
There are companies that allow J for some employees on any length of trip, and people seem to be happy burning their employers money on J going YOW-YYZ, hence the market will bear it (pretty much the rest of the people in J going YYZ-YOW are connecting to international J, eUps and crew).
Aug 3, 2019, 11:34 am
#13
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: LotusLand...
Programs: AC Elite50k, BAEC Blue, Amex Plat, RBC Black Tin Visa
Posts: 635
Pretty much this.
There are companies that allow J for some employees on any length of trip, and people seem to be happy burning their employers money on J going YOW-YYZ, hence the market will bear it (pretty much the rest of the people in J going YYZ-YOW are connecting to international J, eUps and crew).
There are companies that allow J for some employees on any length of trip, and people seem to be happy burning their employers money on J going YOW-YYZ, hence the market will bear it (pretty much the rest of the people in J going YYZ-YOW are connecting to international J, eUps and crew).
Aug 4, 2019, 7:24 am
#15
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Vancouver
Programs: AC SE100K 1MM, FB Platinum, Bonvoy Platinum Elite, IHG Gold Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,602
Keep in mind that YUL/YYZ to YVR are both around 5 hours while YUL/YYZ to LHR/CDG are both about 7. The stage lengths are not massively different. Just because it’s domestic doesn’t mean it isn’t a long ways.