Sometimes it seems like people (in general) take monetization to be a dirty word, a negative development.

How about a show of hands: who works for a company or institution or whatever which would NOT like to bring in more revenue?

+1 - I thing that FT should have a rule that you have to take a paycut by the percentage of your company's profit margin and forward that to people with shiny plastic cards saying that they are "elite" before you are allowed to use the word, "monetization" in a critical manner on FT !

Seriously, I am no DL fan by any means, but it is a for-profit business and the notion that it ought to be handing out UG's to freeloaders who paid for coach tickets ahead of revenue pax is absured and probably violates its directors and officers' fiduciary duty to shareholders.

Yes, restricted seats in FC are often roughly the same price as full Y tix, but the difference is flexibility. Look at any search engine and you will see that flexibility (refundable/changeable) is often 9-10x the price of the cheapest ticket. It's not surprising that there is not much of a $ difference between a fully refundable/changeable Y seat and a highly-restricted seat in F (which can't likely be changed even for a fee because there won't be any left within a few days of travel).

^

Although I don't work for a company per se, I understand the point.

To further expand on the point, I have yet to miss an upgrade in 2011-12.

^ F has always been monetized, just because it's sometimes available for relatively small cost on a given flight doesn't necessarily make it a bad thing. Some folks would be crushed to know that airlines don't have elite benefits because they care, at the bottom of their heart, about making you happy or feeling valued! It's all meant to hopefully result in increased shareholder value by driving traffic their way...and because everyone else does it. If the airlines could all agree among themselves to drop elite programs, and trust the other guys not to renege on the deal, I'm sure they would do it in a heartbeat.

[QUOTE=84fiero;17766269If the airlines could all agree among themselves to drop elite programs, and trust the other guys not to renege on the deal, I'm sure they would do it in a heartbeat.[/QUOTE]

IMO, none of the airlines want to eliminate their FF programs because that would drive even more cost cutting as pax look only for the least expensive flt, enough of a problem today with the programs.

OTOH, I do believe all of them would love to go to a rev-based system kind of like WN and some of the intl carriers but that's where none of the legacies wants to be first and definitely wouldn't trust the others to follow through as well with something similar.

I believe you would fall into the whatever category. ;)

The UA MP program for 2012 essentially moves from a mileage to a spend program for purposes of domestic UG's, but priotizing fare basis over status at the high-end. GS is still first, but that's essentially a "spend" status. For 1K and below, a 2P in Y beats a 1K in B.

Means that the guy who pays $1,800 OW for his TCON in Y as a 2P gets an F seat ahead of a 1K paying $300 for his seat in S(teerage). While the word $ spend is written nowhere, UG's will shortly be spend-based.

No different than DL -- an FO on full Y beats a DM on B. But a DM on T beats an FO on B and my understanding its the same on UA/CO.

As a DM who rarely buys above K (unless a sale or mistake) I don't have a problem with this.

I also wouldn't have a problem with the minimum spend/trips qualifications for each level that UA/CO (at least at the levels announced). I don't think you'll see that with DL because they seem to want elites who get their status without flying.

Not the case on UA once the 2012 MP program kicks in sometime after Q1. A 2P in B will beat a 1K in M or below. Practically speaking, I would be surpised if there are UG's for 1K and below if they aren't flying in Y/B (or M for 1K's). Deep discounters likely to see F only on routes which don't attract high-paying customers.

Before 1978 deregulation, I often took advantage of the even trade value of a coach ticket for a red-eye first class ride back home to Boston. If my company had known I was willing to ride a red-eye, I would have been given a red-eye coach ticket. Of course, I was ONLY willing to do the red-eye if it was up front.

I joined the Delta Frequent Flyer Program in 1984 and they did exactly the same thing as Republic. I think the cost was a little higher and based on distance.

Back then, many, if not most, tickets were full Y. If you flew the "Early Bird" or "Owly Bird" (DL's marketing name for night coach), the fare basis would be YN which would still qualify for the paid upgrade. The only catch was that you had to be a member of the FFP in order to take advantage of it. To make it even sweeter, the FFP gave you credit for cabin flown rather than cabin booked so you got double miles.:cool:

I took advantage of it several times back then.

FCM dead/failed on some routes?
 

So I'm in the process of booking some trips for the next couple months, and suddenly I don't see any FCM type fares being offered for BOS-SJC or BOS-SFO. Lowest Y is in the $300-$400 range, but DL is not showing the 'uprgade to first class for 300 more each way', and if I actually try to book F, it comes back from in the $1600-$1900. I checked both close in and 2 months advance booking.

The last several months of 2011 DL was presenting P fares under 1k on these routes. Did FCM fail on some routes or is DL playing games with which routes it is offered on? Not that I'm complaining, but it seems kind of strange that it was in full force for a few months then is suddenly gone.

Maybe route by route? I am still getting several great P fares out of DTW.

Paraphrasing Twain, news of their demise is greatly exaggerated.

ExpertFlyer still shows a variety of -UP fares filed BOS-SJC. ITA stills finds itineraries.

Itinerary

Boston (BOS) to San Jose (SJC) - Wed, Feb 29
Boston (BOS) to Minneapolis/Saint Paul (MSP) - Wed, Feb 29
Delta 829 Dep: 11:28AM Arr: 1:45PM 3h 17m Airbus A320 First (P)
Layover in MSP 3h 40m

Minneapolis/Saint Paul (MSP) to San Jose (SJC) - Wed, Feb 29
Delta 2279 Dep: 5:25PM Arr: 7:45PM 4h 20m MD-90 First (P)


San Jose (SJC) to Boston (BOS) - Thu, Mar 8
San Jose (SJC) to Minneapolis/Saint Paul (MSP) - Thu, Mar 8
Delta 2185 Dep: 12:30PM Arr: 6:17PM 3h 47m MD-90 First (P)
Layover in MSP 1h 3m

Minneapolis/Saint Paul (MSP) to Boston (BOS) - Thu, Mar 8
Delta 868 Dep: 7:20PM Arr: 11:04PM 2h 44m Boeing 737 First (P)

Cost per passenger (including taxes & fees) $902.21
Total cost for 1 passenger $902.21

Maybe it's not FCM but good old revenue management via fares...