Delta Non-Competes with Spirit on SAN-LAS
 

In January, Delta goes head-to-head with Spirit by startling nonstop service SAN-LAS. Silly me; I thought this was going to be good news.

A week or so ago, SAN-(LAX)-LAS rt was available as low as $163 until the end of the year on Delta, and the same for the nonstop beginning in January.

Now, the price is the same, but it books into "Basic Economy" (an E fare). The lowest Delta fare is now an E fare even if the underlying fare basis is higher than V, like an X for example. On the Delta app, you can select among First, Comfort Plus, Main Cabin, and Basic Economy on this route.

Meanwhile, Spirit's lowest fare is $98 rt. Delta is greedy or out of touch with the market. A price-sensitive consumer is going to go with Spirit instead of paying $65 more for an E fare on Delta. A Delta frequent flier is just going to be annoyed with having to pay more for the benefits that used to be included in the $163 price point. :(

Spirit? Where you have to pay extra for carryon bags, drink on plane, printing BP @ airport, etc?

Why bother?

I'm a Delta frequent flyer and not upset by this at all. Enjoy Spirit. When you have irrops you will understand Deltas value proposition. You are trying to compare apples to kumquats

Delta really doesn't compete on price with Spirit in very many markets. At least on a match basis. It'll usually set its price, even on an E fare, $20-$30 more than Spirit at a minimum.

I know a lot of people who won't fly the discount carriers due to hidden fees, safety concerns, etc.

DL obviously sees value here, or they wouldn't have gone out of their way to start a point-to-point between outstations.

Having flown Frontier very recently on a similar length flight - PIT/ORD, (+ RyanAir & EasyJet) I'd say that, if you're taking a short trip of a day or 2, and can carry on your bag, and you're not worried about an IROPS situation, Spirit should be fine, particularly if you want to spend the extra $$$ in LAS!

If your situation involves checking bags, and you're a DL Medallion, flying DL might make more sense.

LLCs work for me on trips where I'm tolerant for IROPs, not checking bags, and traveling alone. I don't care about seat assignments, and I prefer self-service technology, so I avoid nearly all extra fees. My 3 trips on LLCs so far have taught me that if I just lower my expectations for their operations, it's a pleasant trip. Every flight was running about 30 minutes late, and that worked for me. Lowering my expectations made me feel better, and the employees were all nice (maybe because I was also nice to them). My point is: LLCs don't compete for the same customer base with Delta. I consider a LLC for a weekend in Vegas to save money and I'm flexible. I fly Delta to weddings and funerals to make sure I get there on time or I have rebooking options if not. Given all this, I accept that I'm willing to pay more to fly Delta when I'm going somewhere that's time-sensitive. It all depends on the purpose for my travel.

Very well stated....

DL doesn't compete against NK. It's that simple.

Those fare comparisons are pretty much true on pretty much every route NK flies, whether it's up against UA, AA, or DL.

E fares are E fares. People who need to save, use them. At least they get a safe aircraft and IRROPS rebooking. Others stick with the standard fares and DL does quite well with them.

If your marketing data shows otherwise, maybe DL will drop its fares. But, DL does pretty well at pricing. So, my guess is that DL is right within a few bucks and DL will do just fine.

I'd never fly NK with it's paltry 28" pitch. I don't care how much cheaper they are than their competitors, I'm not ever flying NK.

OTOH, there are those who will give up creature comforts to save a few bucks. That's why they exist.

I've noticed that over the last few years, airlines have been less price-competitive. They don't immediately match prices when a LCC enters the market like they used to. Perhaps Delta feels that it is big and strong enough that some passengers will be willing to pay more to fly them, and they don't care about the rest. It's now about profits, not market share like it was a few years ago.

Agree with Widgets that it's for leisure weekend trips, for formal occasions I would still book Delta or others. But for domestic flights to visit friends and families, i don't see the huge damage of flying with Spirit. But in a honest opinion, LCC has also gotten more and more stingy on their fees and enforcement as the year goes on, so probably the reason why Delta isn't attempting to match the price anymore since their service standard has gotten further apart anyway.

I agree. From PHX UA and AA but not DL compete with Spirit and Frontier. As long as DL fills its planes (and it does, mostly), then all is good for them. In the mean time, having Spirit and Frontier around is good for the customer as it provides the option to fly for $54 from PHX to ORD on AA, about the same base price as their LCC competitors but without (most of) the fees. DL charges at least double that fare.

Hi -

Someone should tell Widgets that he is referring to a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), instead of a Low Cost Carrier (LCC).

I thot of that late last nite when I saw it, but I don't like to correct other peep's spelling errors.

;)