Now i know that rev management will zero out cheaper fare classes based on really complex and mysterious rules, but do they ever just get rid of them completely?

For instance, using Sabre fares on KVS, a few routes I have been following would have fares all the way down to X and L. I just looked now and the cheapest fare is V on the same routes, no matter how far out I search. So the fares and rules are no where to be found. Checking the availability on the fares still shows more than enough seats in all of the buckets including X and L.

Does CO remove many of the cheaper buckets on the weekends when most people do their travel shopping? Has anyone witnessed this before?

oh, an example of one of the routes i seen this happen in was JFK/LGA-SNA

It appears that CO has zero'ed out fares less than V for future flights for next year. It appears that either revenue management is holding back the seats in hope of selling the seats later at higher fares - OR something else IS IN THE WORKS.

When I look at many seat maps for early next year (winter flights) the flights are almost empty. Now one can say - many do not reserve seats in advance - but when the flights are empty - that means regular FFs are not booked either. At this point it makes no sense to book a ticket for early next year (or any time next year). Something is going on. The fares quoted for next year will be available for next year since they are high and the seats are empty.

Maybe there is consolidation in the works - and CO does not want to be in the position of selling cheap seats. This does means though that if you are flexible on times - you likely we get some real bargins after the first of the year.

I don't think they've zeroed everything out per se. CO is notoriously tight with their inventory, and they may have clamped down further, but there is cheap fare bucket availability.

Example:

6/20 LGA-SNA
Continental Airlines 633
Boeing 737-800 6:00 am
New York, NY (LGA) 8:31 am
Houston, TX (IAH) A9 D9 Z7 Y9 H9 K9 N9 B9 O9 V9 U9 Q9 I9 S9 W9 T9 X4 L4 non-stop 90% 1416 3:31
Continental Airlines 559
BOEING 737-700 9:20 am
Houston, TX (IAH) 10:36 am
Santa Ana, CA (SNA) A9 D9 Z7 Y9 H9 K9 N9 B9 O9 V9 U9 Q9 I9 S9 W9 T9 X4 L4 non-stop 80% 1347 3:16

And I have found pretty good availability in L during
some shopping (during the last two days) for the
PHL - SFO/LAX/etc sale that is going on now. Was
able to book in late January or middle of February
pretty easily in L class for about $200 all in.

LGA-SNA has gone from a lowest bucket of $200 L class to a $459 V class, maybe CO is getting rid of the cheap seats while people spend their holidays booking travel?

More than doubling fares seems a little extreme though, especially since these flights are wide open and there is lower (X and L) avail on all legs.

I think I read somewhere that lower fare buckets aren't released really far in advance. The logic (?) behind this is that people who buy their tickets 8 months in advance are usually going to some sort of scheduled event (wedding, graduation, spring break, etc.) and have limited flexibility, and thus, might be willing to pay a higher price for a guaranteed seat.

When I look up these flights the cheapest fare available is V class at $431.30 RT (w/5% discount) plus TAX. Now they might have inventory for L for example but there may not be any L fares. I think the key is "fares offered" not necessarily inventory buckets. No reason to buy a V class ticket on this route at this time.

I have seen a few of the cheaper fares show up Jan/Feb - but not beyond.

I might also add - that on the flights listed above for June 20th LGA-SNA, not one seat has been assigned in either F or Y on either segment. There are some blocked seats - but not assigned and I would bet - zero seats sold.

I thought it is fairly normal for the cheap fares to not so up show far in advance, and only released when it gets somewhat closer to the travel dates (2 months ahead, something like that). It doesn't seem so strange to me.

well i was actually looking at specific flights in Jan, which is rather close. On friday the L fare of about $200 existed. The weekend came and V became the cheapest fare out of no where. This leaves CO as the most expensive option for these routes than any other airline. (over twice as expensive in some cases) Maybe their trying to raise fares industry wide on these routes?

A few years ago they used to sell the few L fares for example at 330 days out - so if you booked ahead you got it.

Then they changed so they released them on a periodic basis - when they wanted to increase cash quickly (sort of a lottery system as far as the customer was concerned). The fares could change drastically throughout the day and disappear in the middle of the day.

But for this coming year - they have not released any low fares (as far as I can tell) more than a few months out - not even the lottery system I mentioned above. As such, advance bookings are down (by looking a seats maps - with no seats sold for many flighta at the start of the summer season. I believe the new system is holding back seats in hope of selling as many at V + fares, then as the time get close they will dump seats on the less popular flights. Now AA has not be doing this - so it remains to see if CO is going to be successful with this new revenue management concept.

thats very interesting, it seems like quite a gamble considering AA prices are less than half that of COs now. I have paid premiums in the past to stick with CO, but with a difference that large it would be hard to find many people who wouldnt jump ship to AA if they need to fly these specifc routes.

I have been tracking a flight for the May timeframe for some time now. I have a fare watcher on Orbitz. AA has come in as low as $129 RT + Tax for coast to coast via either ORD or DFW. Now this is real cheap and the airlines are loosing selling at these prices. I have not jumped at any of the AA fares - sometimes $179+tax, waiting for someTHING less than $500 RT on CO.

A few weeks ago CO even put a "Y" fare RT as low as $600+tax RT on this route (which was fully refundable and instantly upgradeable). That $600 Y fair only lasted a few hours then jumped back up to $1300 for the Y fare. This is coast-to-coast via IAH or EWR. I likely should have jumped at this $600RT Y fare and got the Y upgrade on all segments now. - since it was fully refundable.

Anyway CO is doing lots of funny stuff with revenue management at this time and I hope it does not backfire.

and mysteriously the L fares are back on sabre, but i cant get it to price out on CO.com just yet, maybe it takes time to trickle down...

maybe they just jacked prices for the weekend?

i also noticed that every major US carrier now has this route priced about $189-$199+, interesting volatility

I noticed this same thing last year. They seem to lock down the fares until after 1/6 or so, and then release the lower fare classes after the new year rush is entirely over. The cynic in me says this is to keep people like me from benefiting from the inevitable random mileage bonus they offer in December for booking flights in that month. I'd like to see my family in the slow period of Jan and Feb, and the fares area always dirt cheap...but now I have to wait until the bonus is gone. Oh well.

It's much more likely that the fares are higher during the holidays because more people are sitting at their computers thinking about booking trips. This means not just FTers but less price sensitive people are thinking about 'that Europe trip in March'. By the time we get to January 10, it's only FTers checking the fares again, so the revenue-maximizing price is lower.