r22r44bell47

We all know that the cheap seats sell first, then the more expensive and so on until you get to Y, J and F.... but why don't the prices come down again when its obvious that all the seats in a given class are going to sell? On my last two trips to Tokyo I've checked the price to upgrade my return flights from CW (booked in J rather than C or D, 'cos I'm useless at planning) to F when I OLCI. Without exception it has been ~£2000 one way. So I'm not going to treat myself. Also both times CW (or perhaps WT or WT+) has been overbooked and I've ended up in F anyway - along with 3 or 4 other lucky folks. And both times, despite all us common folks gatecrashing the F party, there have still been around 3 empty F seats. So why not drop the price of a paid upgrade to something attractive when its most unlikely that all the F seats will be sold. Surely, Mr Walsh, a few hundred quid is better than giving them away??

SteveinA2

Wish you worked for a competitor of mine...with logic like that you'd put any business out of business

r22r44bell47

Really - if available I may have paid say £500 for a late breaking upgrade to F, perhaps at T-24. I checked and wasn't willing to pay £2000. So instead I paid nothing and got it. Why is £500 in the bank better than nothing?

SteveinA2

Businesses look to maximize revenue. While it may appear a good deal in an isolated case, offering J to F upgrades might gain $500 a person, but who would buy F in this case?

Your comments are internally contradictory - you say don't buy I D or C fares, so you pay $2-$3,000 more for J. Don't you think others don't hunt for A fares and buy F at $3,000-$5,000 more?

Giving free or cheap upgrades would not match the revenue from one person like you buying F

KenJohn

There is value to other First / Business pax who get better service for crew when the cabin in not full. Every wonder why US airlines are always full and all the pax just criticise their service. Crew may be less rushed off their feet and deliver better service (like top-ups of warm nuts) if the F cabin was not always full.

SQ is one of the profitable airlines in the world. They do not upgrade unless they really have to, like when they are overbooked in Y but not in J or F. So cheap upgrades are not necessarily the route to more profit/revenue. You do not devalue the F product.

SQ makes pax pay a premium to fly in their new F and C seats - and such is the hype of the service and product - people do! SQ does not even give out amenity kits to C pax without any drop in loads.

CX, another airline that pax rave over, also do not regularly upgrade.

I have seen SQ F when the cabin is full. Service levels do drop substantially.

On the other hand, I have been in MH F all on my own with three crew members to service me. I have also been in CX F and SQ F where there were only a compliment of 4 pax. It makes you realised why premium pax are will to pay top dollar for that kind of service. We constantly talk about that WOW factor and being made to feel special when flying FIRST. This is not going to happen if you allow a hand full of chavs upgrading at the last minute.

Proof
While airlines allow top tier FF to upgrade at the gate? How close are they to filing Chapter 11? Compare that to SQ, CX or BA that do not allow top tier FF to upgrade (unless you are BA Prem, of course).

Cap'n Benj

Its an interesting one, there must be some reason why they don't do it though, Im sure they must have considered it.

I suspect they feel that it may well hit the numbers who buy the full priced tickets in the first place fearing they will try their luck and wait and see if they can get a cheap upgrade.

Flying Doctor

You can request on board a one way J to F for £750 subject to availability.
FD