the new standby fee
Sep 18, 2002, 8:17 pm
#226
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,748
RobertS975,
Flights at specific times carry a premium. If Delta were to offer LAX-SFO (yes, I know they no longer fly this route) flights every hour on the hour, flights at 8AM and 9AM would usually cost more than flights at 1PM and 2PM. Most frequent business travelers are smart enough to know they can book the 1PM or 2PM flights at a discount and then go standby for the 8AM or 9AM (especially if they’re elite and are put at the top of the standby list). By charging a $100 fee, DL will be forcing these travelers to purchase the more premium flights they desire. Even though I used LAX-SFO, this is actually pretty common. While I agree $100 is a bit excessive, I don’t oppose a standby fee. Remember: WN prohibits standby on virtually all discounted fares.
Flights at specific times carry a premium. If Delta were to offer LAX-SFO (yes, I know they no longer fly this route) flights every hour on the hour, flights at 8AM and 9AM would usually cost more than flights at 1PM and 2PM. Most frequent business travelers are smart enough to know they can book the 1PM or 2PM flights at a discount and then go standby for the 8AM or 9AM (especially if they’re elite and are put at the top of the standby list). By charging a $100 fee, DL will be forcing these travelers to purchase the more premium flights they desire. Even though I used LAX-SFO, this is actually pretty common. While I agree $100 is a bit excessive, I don’t oppose a standby fee. Remember: WN prohibits standby on virtually all discounted fares.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RobertS975:
So, FastFlyer, DL wins by letting the seat go out empty, by your logic? If so, then that is the ultimate example of cutting off your nose to spite your face! That later flight might be cancelled, delayed etc, making more problems for DL, when they could have put me in an otherwise empty seat, and I'd have been out of their hair! Your yield management argument is flawed... most of the time, the fare class would have been available, ot there wouldn't BE EMPTY SEATS!
</font>
So, FastFlyer, DL wins by letting the seat go out empty, by your logic? If so, then that is the ultimate example of cutting off your nose to spite your face! That later flight might be cancelled, delayed etc, making more problems for DL, when they could have put me in an otherwise empty seat, and I'd have been out of their hair! Your yield management argument is flawed... most of the time, the fare class would have been available, ot there wouldn't BE EMPTY SEATS!
</font>
