Is Flying Alaska Airlines Getting Expensive?
Feb 22, 2020, 2:43 pm
#92
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold; Hilton Diamond; National C ar Executive Elite
Posts: 732
March 27th: https://shorturl.at/abgxC
Fortunately I purchased this fare when it was less expensive, but I checked back later (because I was thinking of making a change), and was shocked to see this difference.
Fortunately I purchased this fare when it was less expensive, but I checked back later (because I was thinking of making a change), and was shocked to see this difference.
Feb 22, 2020, 4:43 pm
#93
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVP , Delta Gold Medallion, "Credit Card" status for various hotels
Posts: 672
IMO it is very likely that AS employs higher “companion fare” pricing, especially on SEA flights to leisure destinations, especially during holiday periods.
I recently flew LIH-SEA the Saturday after New Years and ended up buying a Y fare with a companion fare. I kept checking and the price never went down. I booked it 10 months in advance, after checking the price as soon as the date became available. If they are selling out an entire plane of Y fares, I’d assume a significant number of passengers were on a companion fare.
I recently flew LIH-SEA the Saturday after New Years and ended up buying a Y fare with a companion fare. I kept checking and the price never went down. I booked it 10 months in advance, after checking the price as soon as the date became available. If they are selling out an entire plane of Y fares, I’d assume a significant number of passengers were on a companion fare.
Feb 22, 2020, 7:35 pm
#94
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
IMO it is very likely that AS employs higher “companion fare” pricing, especially on SEA flights to leisure destinations, especially during holiday periods.
I recently flew LIH-SEA the Saturday after New Years and ended up buying a Y fare with a companion fare. I kept checking and the price never went down. I booked it 10 months in advance, after checking the price as soon as the date became available. If they are selling out an entire plane of Y fares, I’d assume a significant number of passengers were on a companion fare.
I recently flew LIH-SEA the Saturday after New Years and ended up buying a Y fare with a companion fare. I kept checking and the price never went down. I booked it 10 months in advance, after checking the price as soon as the date became available. If they are selling out an entire plane of Y fares, I’d assume a significant number of passengers were on a companion fare.
Some very small number of couples will be clever and get 2 cards (1 each) and make 2 companion fare trips per year. Understand that people who open 6 credit cards to get 6 companion fares a year are rare (outside of FT, anyway).
I'm not sure how you make the logical leap from "price is high" to "plane is full of companion fares".
Feb 22, 2020, 8:53 pm
#95
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVP , Delta Gold Medallion, "Credit Card" status for various hotels
Posts: 672
How do you figure that any one flight has a high percentage of companion fares? Most customers (by far) have 0 companion fares per year. The second most common number of companion fares is 1 per customer. And a significant number of those probably expire unused. There are many flights per day to many leisure destinations. This causes the ones that actually get used to be spread out over lots of flights over the course of a year.
Some very small number of couples will be clever and get 2 cards (1 each) and make 2 companion fare trips per year. Understand that people who open 6 credit cards to get 6 companion fares a year are rare (outside of FT, anyway).
I'm not sure how you make the logical leap from "price is high" to "plane is full of companion fares".
Some very small number of couples will be clever and get 2 cards (1 each) and make 2 companion fare trips per year. Understand that people who open 6 credit cards to get 6 companion fares a year are rare (outside of FT, anyway).
I'm not sure how you make the logical leap from "price is high" to "plane is full of companion fares".
If anything, it’s a SEA thing. Don’t underestimate the number of people here with an AS credit card, the loyalty to AS, and the popularity of escaping this depressing hellscape to warmer destinations during the holidays. Lots of people are going to use their one companion fare on that Hawai’i flight during the holidays, AS knows it, and prices accordingly.
Feb 22, 2020, 9:22 pm
#96
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold; Hilton Diamond; National C ar Executive Elite
Posts: 732
I am guessing competition out of PDX isn’t great enough to force AS to lower prices. I think it expensive to have to fly out of regional airports with minimal competition. I hear PDX is a lovely airport!
Feb 23, 2020, 3:05 pm
#98
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold; Hilton Diamond; National C ar Executive Elite
Posts: 732
choosing LAX is probably skewing your pricing experience. LAX is a mega hub for
both AA and DL so I can imagine they want to drive business that way. AS sometimes wants to route me to LAX to catch an AA flight when I’m going East, so I’m not surprised with your SEA-LAX results... maybe try something more level like SEA-JFK or SEA - DEN... that might be more representative.
I’m also thinking maybe all the saver fares are gone from AS on those legs...
both AA and DL so I can imagine they want to drive business that way. AS sometimes wants to route me to LAX to catch an AA flight when I’m going East, so I’m not surprised with your SEA-LAX results... maybe try something more level like SEA-JFK or SEA - DEN... that might be more representative.
I’m also thinking maybe all the saver fares are gone from AS on those legs...
Last edited by dayone; Feb 24, 2020 at 7:33 am Reason: Redact quoted image for readability.
Feb 24, 2020, 9:17 am
#99
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 149
AS has to compete with only B6 and even saver fares about about 70$ more than B6
Feb 24, 2020, 7:41 pm
#100
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: MVP Gold, Marriott Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 169
I know it’s one of the most expensive times to fly to Kona, and I expect to pay more, but the prices over Thanksgiving are absurd. If you want to fly direct from Seattle, its currently $999 OW in coach as compared to $1200 in first class. All three daily flights appear relatively empty (I know the prices are driven by forecast and more than just sold). This is compared to $850 RT on Delta and $1050 RT in Hawaiian. These absurd pricing anomalies happen far too often. I’m fine paying a premium for Alaska and my loyalty, but I hate feeling gouged.
Feb 24, 2020, 7:58 pm
#101
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: NYC
Programs: AS 75K, DL Platinum
Posts: 631
How do you figure that any one flight has a high percentage of companion fares? Most customers (by far) have 0 companion fares per year. The second most common number of companion fares is 1 per customer. And a significant number of those probably expire unused. There are many flights per day to many leisure destinations. This causes the ones that actually get used to be spread out over lots of flights over the course of a year.
Some very small number of couples will be clever and get 2 cards (1 each) and make 2 companion fare trips per year. Understand that people who open 6 credit cards to get 6 companion fares a year are rare (outside of FT, anyway).
I'm not sure how you make the logical leap from "price is high" to "plane is full of companion fares".
Some very small number of couples will be clever and get 2 cards (1 each) and make 2 companion fare trips per year. Understand that people who open 6 credit cards to get 6 companion fares a year are rare (outside of FT, anyway).
I'm not sure how you make the logical leap from "price is high" to "plane is full of companion fares".
And the other poster was spot-on that everyone here wants to escape to the same destinations each winter to escape the rainy darkness.
It totally makes sense AS will price certain routes with the pass in mind. For example, holiday flights, or leisure winter routes.
Best part is it just leads casual travelers to think they’re getting an even better value, since they have no concept of what “normal” fares are. Just they they’re saving $$$.
Feb 24, 2020, 10:12 pm
#102
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
IIRC you don’t live in SEA. Everyone here has the credit card. EVERYONE. Even random people who fly 1-2x per year.
And the other poster was spot-on that everyone here wants to escape to the same destinations each winter to escape the rainy darkness.
It totally makes sense AS will price certain routes with the pass in mind. For example, holiday flights, or leisure winter routes.
Best part is it just leads casual travelers to think they’re getting an even better value, since they have no concept of what “normal” fares are. Just they they’re saving $$$.
And the other poster was spot-on that everyone here wants to escape to the same destinations each winter to escape the rainy darkness.
It totally makes sense AS will price certain routes with the pass in mind. For example, holiday flights, or leisure winter routes.
Best part is it just leads casual travelers to think they’re getting an even better value, since they have no concept of what “normal” fares are. Just they they’re saving $$$.
Exclude all those people and you have, what, 50k cards in SEA? Spread out over the ~20M pax AS transport in and out of SEA every year, and you are left with an insignificant number on each flight.
Feb 24, 2020, 11:08 pm
#103
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: NYC
Programs: AS 75K, DL Platinum
Posts: 631
Everyone does not have the card. Maybe people in your group of friends have the card. Children do not have the card. People with terrible credit do not have the card. People with no credit do not have the card. People who don't fly (not even 1-2x / year) do not have the card. People who only fly DL do not have the card. People who make one international trip a year and never take a domestic flight do not have the card.
Exclude all those people and you have, what, 50k cards in SEA? Spread out over the ~20M pax AS transport in and out of SEA every year, and you are left with an insignificant number on each flight.
Exclude all those people and you have, what, 50k cards in SEA? Spread out over the ~20M pax AS transport in and out of SEA every year, and you are left with an insignificant number on each flight.
Obviously people who never fly don’t have the card. They also never fly. So they don’t impact the prices.
Feb 24, 2020, 11:10 pm
#104
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,381
Everyone does not have the card. Maybe people in your group of friends have the card. Children do not have the card. People with terrible credit do not have the card. People with no credit do not have the card. People who don't fly (not even 1-2x / year) do not have the card. People who only fly DL do not have the card. People who make one international trip a year and never take a domestic flight do not have the card.
Exclude all those people and you have, what, 50k cards in SEA? Spread out over the ~20M pax AS transport in and out of SEA every year, and you are left with an insignificant number on each flight.
Exclude all those people and you have, what, 50k cards in SEA? Spread out over the ~20M pax AS transport in and out of SEA every year, and you are left with an insignificant number on each flight.
Feb 24, 2020, 11:18 pm
#105
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
I was looking at Seattle population numbers and it said 750k (that's where I got the 50k estimate from); I guess that wasn't metro.
The point is that the companion passes get did out over many different flights. AS flies to many different leisure locations; some of them multiple times per day.
Also, AF is not a good estimate of revenue. There are plenty of no-annual-fee cards and I'm pretty sure the lenders get revenue from them!