royevans75

PM here who never flies transcon. Want to use a RUC for JFK-LAX on a Monday. I can take the 1:50, 3:30 or 4:55 departure. All look to be 763's.

For those who fly this route frequently, can you offer any advice as to which one might give me the best shot?

Thanks!

Billy Mumphrey

I don't fly JFK-LAX anymore, but I'd guess the 1:50 would be the best shot. It takes up more of the work day than the later flights. The last few times I flew this route I was able to confirm RUCs about a month in advance, provided they weren't peak times. Probably changed now though.

Ben_NYC

I fly JFK-LAX on a regular basis and I'd agree, your best bet is in the afternoons for the reason mentioned by Billy above. To give you a sense of what the loads might be like, take a look at the seat plans for this Monday's flights, then keep an eye on these flights over the next several days. that will give you a sense of what the load is currently and how it fills up with late buyers. It isn't a perfect approach, but over time, I've found it to be a useful indicator.

royevans75

Thanks very much guys

daloosh

I've had trouble clearing RUCs early to/from LA no matter the time of day, but I would agree 1:50 is better. When you get to the late afternoon, you are going to compete with people who realized they were done early and are trying to SDC or buy an earlier flight out.

Last RUC I used was LAS-JFK, with plenty of apparent availability in D1, but it did not clear until the morning of a noon flight, even tho I applied the RUC months in advance.

mfFrom35K

I have had good luck on the 3:30 flight a few times. Often seems to be some no shows or last minute Same Day Changes to a later flight on that one. I always book the 3:30 when I can if I want to use a RUC. I think there maybe more connections from Europe on the earlier flight at 1:50 as that one has not worked as well at least for me.

royevans75

That's interesting, thx.

nystateofmind

The 1:50 versus 3:30 is a toss up and on any given day it is impossible to say which would have better odds. I would figure out what time would a connecting flight need to arrive to meet MCT and look on a site like flightradar24 to see what flights can only connect to 1:50 and 3:30 flights. In terms of business people, the 3:30 is more likely to have them because if your meeting ends at 1/1:30 you can still make that flight, but it will also have more no shows or reschedules because a meeting ran long (to make the 1:50 you have to be done by Noon at very latest which seems unlikely for a Monday)

13thandseven

While it's possible, realistically I wouldn't get too excited about an RUC clearing, even at the gate.

IMO the bigger issue (more so than departure time) is that you'll be a PM on an RUC. That already puts you behind any DMs using GUCs and RUCs. JFK-LAX is an elite-heavy route with a heavy-paid D1 cabin, with a lot of last minute paid D1 seats. In addition to all of that, as someone else mentioned, you'd also be competing with SDCs from (paid) D1 on other flights 24 hours out. In sum, upgrades are rare, even for DMs.

I doubt this would be much of an issue on a Monday. But now I'm curious - I wonder how many seats to Europe DL sells to/from LAX connecting through JFK, especially in D1. Surely almost all of those routes would be better served via LAX-CDG/AMS/LHR-XXX?