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Old Jun 29, 2017, 7:03 am
  #1  
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Delta response to United Flash sale

Just wondering if anyone has seen any pricing response to the United flash sale.

Thanks
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 8:03 am
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I assume you are referring to this. I don't see anywhere where they refer to it a "flash" sale

https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/con...fare-sale.aspx

It seems to be pretty much a straight-up match (with a few minor differences) of an existing WN fare sale that ends today. Of course, the UA prices are BE fares, while WN's are not. Compare and contrast --

https://www.southwest.com/html/promo...FAIR_CNS170620

Don't see anything spectacular. DL will generally match on the routes where they go head-to-head non-stop. Some of the "sale" fares are kind of amusing. ORD-DEN is listed at $155 one-way, but you can find fares as low as $50 on AA/UA (NK/F9 matches). WN doesn't seem quite as desperate as their lowest WGA fare on MDW-DEN is $115 one-way (which is still lower than their advertised "sale" fare of $155).

Last edited by xliioper; Jun 29, 2017 at 9:49 am
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 8:39 am
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Originally Posted by LBJ
Don't see anything spectacular. DL will generally match on the routes were they go head-to-head. Some of the "sale" fares are kind of amusing. ORD-DEN is listed at $155 one-way, but you can find fares as low as $50 on AA/UA (NK/F9 matches). WN doesn't seem quite as desperate as their lowest WGA fare on MDW-DEN is $115 one-way (which is still lower than their advertised "sale" fare of $155).
Unsurprising. The notion of WN being a LCC as far as pricing went out the window a looooonnnggggggg time ago. The kool aid is still strong, though.
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 10:35 am
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Originally Posted by ekozie
Unsurprising. The notion of WN being a LCC as far as pricing went out the window a looooonnnggggggg time ago. The kool aid is still strong, though.
In all fairness, WN never stopped serving free snacks when the major airlines did and they continue to have no cancellation fees and pax get two complimentary checked bags.
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 10:38 am
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Both Delta and Alaska (and I would guess United and American) have been matching these prices since last week on direct-competing routes.
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 11:00 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by fly747first
In all fairness, WN never stopped serving free snacks when the major airlines did and they continue to have no cancellation fees and pax get two complimentary checked bags.
While last two are correct, when did majors charge for snacks? Snacks were always free, it is meals that went to buy on board, which WN has never had free or for sale AFAIK.
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 11:10 am
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
While last two are correct, when did majors charge for snacks? Snacks were always free, it is meals that went to buy on board, which WN has never had free or for sale AFAIK.
I think the point was that both American and United (but not Delta) eliminated free snacks in coach for a number of years (also NW and US prior to merging). AA and UA returned to serving them early last year. Ultimately, I don't really see the point of bringing it up though. I think customers are looking at what they are getting today, rather than what they did or did not get in the past.

Last edited by xliioper; Jun 29, 2017 at 11:19 am
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 11:13 am
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
While last two are correct, when did majors charge for snacks? Snacks were always free, it is meals that went to buy on board, which WN has never had free or for sale AFAIK.
Yes, snacks were always free. Even when there were no snacks.
But it also depends on how you define snacks,as they definitely sell things like cookies and chips that cost money. Southwest is literally peanuts
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 11:17 am
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Originally Posted by fly747first
In all fairness, WN never stopped serving free snacks when the major airlines did and they continue to have no cancellation fees and pax get two complimentary checked bags.
Also in fairness bag fees have come down. So a $50 ticket on United, with 2 checked bags at $25 + $35, is still cheaper than a $129 ticket on Southwest.

Oh, and Southwest has some consumer-friendly policies. Like letting you change your ticket for free. Letting you check-in bags past the cut-off time (last time Delta made me rebook my flight, cause it was 1 minute past cut-off for checked bag).
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 11:32 am
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Originally Posted by LBJ
I think the point was that both American and United (but not Delta) eliminated free snacks in coach for a number of years (also NW and US prior to merging). AA and UA returned to serving them early last year. Ultimately, I don't really see the point of bringing it up though. I think customers are looking at what they are getting today, rather than what they did or did not get in the past.
^^^^
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 12:22 pm
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Originally Posted by s0ssos
Yes, snacks were always free. Even when there were no snacks.
But it also depends on how you define snacks,as they definitely sell things like cookies and chips that cost money. Southwest is literally peanuts
On longer flights you get a bunch of Nabisco snacks, so more than peanuts and what AA/UA have essentially matched to.
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 1:03 pm
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You can change your ticket for free on WN, but usually the only available fares are the higher ones. So no change fee, but an added fare collect is almost in the cards.
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 1:12 pm
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Originally Posted by LBJ
I think customers are looking at what they are getting today, rather than what they did or did not get in the past.
I find a lot of my friends and coworkers still have the impression that WN is the cheapest tolerable (read: non-ULCC) airline, and a few even book directly without doing a price comparison. One woman was downright dumbstruck when I showed her that flying AA PHL-MCO was cheaper than WN, even after taking into account checked bag fees.
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 2:18 pm
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Originally Posted by RobertS975
You can change your ticket for free on WN, but usually the only available fares are the higher ones. So no change fee, but an added fare collect is almost in the cards.
Nope, not true at all. If you are talking about close to departure then yes. But far out you can even get money back (in form of credit) if they have a sale later
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Old Jun 29, 2017, 3:17 pm
  #15  
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Originally Posted by s0ssos
Yes, snacks were always free. Even when there were no snacks.
But it also depends on how you define snacks,as they definitely sell things like cookies and chips that cost money. Southwest is literally peanuts
I distinctly remember a transcon United flight circa 2010-ish in economy without any complimentary snacks (not even pretzels or peanuts - though there was a beverage service). The only non-liquid item we got was a single mint, and that was on a regional plane after making a connection...

IIRC DL kept a complimentary snack service during that time, even if it was just some pretzels or biscoffs - but that was enough for me to be satisfied. As most routes I was flying then had comparable prices between Delta & United I quickly became a big fan of DL. Even little things in the soft product matter!
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