3Cforme

CalVol

I'm cheating on my steady girl, Miss Delta, on an upcoming trip.

Delta was >$3k for a trip to PTY and AA is <$900. Pretty much an apples to apples comparison as far as times, stops, etc.

DL has generally been the cheapest for the routes I fly over the last few years. And, when not, I've been willing to pay a small premium to stick with them. But, holy cow!!!! Over 3K for LAX-PTY?!?

I assume the price will come down at some point. But, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. So, I'm down for a little one trip stand with a cheap mistress. I feel so dirty.

xliioper

Might have been nice if you had mentioned this is for F/J tickets. DL has a $991.66 RT Z fare on this route (fare code LNNF3SMQ, 7 day advance purchase, 3 day min and Sat night stay). What is in limited supply is bucket availability for said fare. On many dates, they are only have the J bucket open. If you look at the F/J pricing for LAX-ATL and ATL-PTY routes individually, it's not very difficult to see what they aren't really very interested in selling those $991 RT Z fares for LAX-PTY. Discount RT F fares for LAX-ATL go for $1100+ and discount RT J fares on ATL-PTY are $1300+. Makes much more business sense to sell those flights individually to the ATL-based DL hub captives than trying to match UA/AA $900 F/J fares for LAX-PTY. DL is not your girlfriend and the pricing on this route is nothing personal, it's just business. Flying another airline is not "cheating", it's just making a rational business decision.

CalVol

1. It was kinda irrelevant to my point that this was F/J since I was talking about the difference in price on an apples to apples comparison.

2. I'm quite sure you are correct about the why. I think most of us on FT know different buckets exist (even if unreleased). And, that the various carriers have their reasons for doing so. Again, it was kind of irrelevant to my point.

3. I suppose the only relevant thing I left out is that I've been flying this route for about 7 years and never seen the discrepancy this large...delta keeping the lower buckets closed 90 days out. Delta has, until now, been kind of competitive. Clearly, they are trying a different approach right now.

4. Not really relevant to my post. But, what the heck, some might like the info. I could fly Aeromexico for < $700 with stops in MEX....but the layovers are too long...yes, in J...oh, and at one point there was 787 availability.

5. Your response could be interpreted as lecturing, as if you thought this was a complaint.
A. This wasn't a complaint @:-)
B. if you weren't intending to scold me...
C. If your intent was to scold me:
1.) Please explain the need to do so...seriously
2.)

6. When out on a cheap date, should one wear Aqua Velva or Old Spice?

rjw242

Whoa, really? You just completely blew my mind. Thanks so much for putting that guy in his place, otherwise everyone on FlyerTalk would've started to think that choosing an airline is identically equivalent to being in a romantic relationship.

CalVol

Clearly, my humor and irreverence is lost on some. From now on, just to be sure, perhaps I should include the following disclaimer: "portions of this post are intended to be taken figuratively" or "The state of California has determined that taking everything you read literally might cause cancer."** LOL!



** This would be one of those times where caution should be used in reading something too literally.

rjw242

Love it when someone's lame joke falls flat, and then they blame the rest of the world for not getting it

CalVol

Exactly!!!!

Wai...whaaa... huh?!? LOL

mlin32

Yup. Lack of competition at CLT in general.

I've driven a few times, but don't like it. To do a 7h drive after a day of work is exhausting and annoying; I arrive after midnight in every instance.

At least I can snooze on the plane.

fotographer

noticed for the last week or so, everyone including AA is pricing flights to LHR or most other cities out of ATL for around $2000 or so, it would be cheaper for me to go to BOM than LHR. Not happy since I have ticekts to the FA cup final, but cant justify spending that much to get there.. anyone have any ideas why?

teddybear99

@:-) Demand to the FA cup final

fotographer

sure, why not, I would assume there are hundreds of Arsenal fans heading for the game from the states, but joking aside, cant seem to find a real reason why the fares are so high, with the flights showing 65% empty..

GO GOONERS

rjw242

Hundreds of extra passengers on a single date is certainly enough to spike prices, given that capacity is fixed.

Contributing factors could also be lots of Americans heading out for Memorial day around then plus high season for Europe travel plus close-in booking.

fotographer

thanks, I was kind of thinking the same but wanted to get your input

MIA-SAT

I have several trips that I need to take this year to Colombia. A trip on 2-4 until 2-7 from SAT to BOG results in a $1000+ difference between AA and DL and Aeromexico in non-refundable business. The difference between non-refundable coach on AA and non-refundable business on DL and Aeromexico is only about $500. (Love Google Flights.)

I had believed that fares tend to run in tandem with the legacy carriers, but maybe I was mistaken on international routes. Obviously weather, strikes, etc. can cause blips. But the wide differences that I have seen between carriers on international routes is causing me to rethink putting nearly all my travel on AA. (The differences are even greater if I consider routing from AUS or MEX.) What I perceive as increasing upgrade scarcity and a narrowing of the band between coach and business / first fares is also causing me to think about being more open on carrier choice. Rightly AA revenue management is trying to encourage more purchases of premium cabin fares, i.e., want first, buy first. But the flip side of this thinking is that once upgrades cease to be or become less of a driver for those who travel more, why not focus more on the price of a seat in a premium cabin? Add to this the devaluation of reward miles in terms of availability and number of points required to land the seat, it may more make more sense to become frequent flyer program agnostic.