UVAhoo06

Now that the DL West Coast Shuttle brand has been eliminated between LAX and SFO, I've noticed that the prices have shot through the roof on this otherwise competitive route. As someone who flew regularly on this West Coast shuttle, prices generally ranged from $120-$220 for economy r/t, and there wasn't E class offered. Now that this route is no longer a shuttle flight, E class has also been introduced. To "upgrade" from E to Main Cabin costs $25 each way! My upcoming ticket to LAX from SFO is about $270 r/t. As a DM, I appreciate the UG and the great SFO SC and staff (for the most part), but this price is much higher than other competitors.

Has anyone noticed the same thing? Or, am I just booking my flights too far in advance (or perhaps too close to departure)? Even with a 3-week or 4-week advance purchase, the prices are quite high. I'm also wondering if I should just book E fares on this route because it's such a short flight. On the other hand, what I love about the SFO-LAX flights is the frequency. Whenever I show up early to the airport, I can at least standby (and usually clear) for an earlier flight that leaves before my confirmed flight.

jdrtravel

I"ve noticed this as well. It's like they gave up trying to compete and are just going to make their money from those of us that fly them. I refuse to ever book E fares for several reasons, but as you say, on this route, being able to SDC is important.

jordyn

I don't fly this route a ton, but I've been looking at the route for travel over the next couple of weeks and generally fares still looked quite reasonable to me (I booked SJC->LAX->SFO for well under $200, and the LAX->SFO flight was the cheap one). I was booking about 2-3 weeks out.

FWIW, AA's flights seemed to be a bit better priced--often AA had a "regular" economy fare for the same price as a DL E fare, and AA only seems to have a $10 difference between Basic and regular economy on this route.

UVAhoo06

I totally agree -- DL seems to have given up on competing with all the other competitors on this premium route. I usually leave from work and go right to the airport (on a Friday), and flights in the late afternoon and evenings don't seem competitively priced, especially now that they've eliminated free booze and LUVO snacks.

As someone who's flown this route on DL for over 4 years, it's hard to break a bad habit (of spending way to much on DL :P). A part of me thinks that Southwest might be a good competitor that I should try out on this route -- or, if someone else has other airline suggestions for this route, I'm all ears!

To be fair: I fly between LAX and SFO on the weekends.

3Cforme

There are round trip Delta not Basic Economy fares from $139. Learn the disqualifers in the fare rules. Learn some ITA Matrix tricks.

jdrtravel

On this route I actually prefer an RJ like some of the DL and UA flights offer, because it's just quicker to board and get going. Once you introduce a 737 I feel like you are adding 15 minutes to the boarding process. I also really like the easy upgrades to F and especially like the single A first class seats.

The Situation

I noticed the same thing on the SEA-LAX former shuttle route. There are a few flights at oddball times are that reasonable, but now any flight that might be somewhat useful is ~$285 each way! It really is like Delta has said, we give up on trying to be competitive, we think we have a lock on a loyal set of customers, and we are going to test the waters to find out where they break as we cut costs any way we can in ways that mostly impact the highest paying, most loyal customers.

apodo77

Go on.........

UVAhoo06

Agreed -- there are some oddball flight times that are reasonable (i.e., 7:00 AM). I want to think that I'm somewhat savvy with ITA matrix, but even as I play around with fare classes, for instance, DL isn't selling V or X fares for flights leaving at reasonable hours such as 5 or 6pm. (Full disclaimer: I realize that seat maps don't necessarily reflect actual flight loads). Even as I look at possibly booking one-way tickets and/or nested tickets, it still prices out the same. Each of the fares that I've looked at are priced as one-ways (rather than roundtrip fares).

If folks know of other ways to find less expensive fares on DL, I'm all ears.

ajggiant

Unless you're flying Saturdays I'm not seeing the same issues. See screenshot below from Google flights. The filters are one-way, non-stop, LAX-SFO departing between 5 pm and 6:59 pm (so just the 5 pm and 6 pm flights). Since Google flights can't filter out E fares, I'd assume all are, and add $25 to each. But, certainly most days are much cheaper than $270 each way. By the way, I'd never purchase E fares for this flight. But I have started to buy E fares on my weekly non-stop to NYC because: 1) there is one-flight a day, no chance to standby 2) it is a CRJ200, a plane where the first row may be a penalty and only upgrade is when someone doesn't sit next to you and 3) the fare is under $200 so if I ever do have to change, I'm throwing away the ticket anyway.

Statman

Southwest airlines is your friend for this route.

MSPeconomist

In response to post #10 above:

What a sensible approach to E fares!

It's surprising to see a couple weekends where the Saturday evening fares are so high. I'm wondering whether this reflects some sports event.

UVAhoo06

I usually fly out of SFO on Friday on the 5:50 PM and then return on Sunday between noon and 3:00 PM. For example, on Fri, 2/2, the 5:50 PM flight prices out at $154 in E class ($179 in Main Cabin), but I'd be willing to take the 7:50 PM flight for $99 (though it's $124 NOT in E). The return on Sunday, 2/4 is $154 in E for more "reasonable" departure times. Total cost for non-E trip, roundtrip is $278 for 7:50 PM to LAX and then noon flight on the return.

jdrtravel

[QUOTE=ajggiant;29325247]. But, certainly most days are much cheaper than $270 each way.


Note that OP said $270 r/t and a different poster said that fares were $285 each way LAX-SEA. $270 r/t is high for advanced booking on this route, and least relative to what fares have been like, when it was possible to find advanced fares (not E) around $100 r/t.

xliioper

The V fares on DL have a 21-day advance purchase requirement while the cheapest fares on AA/UA don't have one. There are a couple different DL X fares -- one with a 14-day advance and another that is $10 more with no advance. You can find these requirements in the fare rules on ITA Matrix.
All the fares on this route are one-way fares, so nesting tickets does not make any difference. It can only help in cases where there are cheaper roundtrip fares available with mininum/Saturday night stay requirements.