SFO777

Last week I flew AUH-JFK in the Apartments on an AA award ticket. I arrived at AUH from Dubai some 5 hours before departure and inquired about the possibility of buying up to The Residences since it was unsold and available on our flight today, as it is most days.

This request was above the pay grade of the Business Class check-in agent (there was no one at the First Class check-in desk at 5:15am), who excused herself and disappeared to consult with a manager. A few minutes later, a more senior agent returned to advise that yes, indeed a buy up was possible but I would not receive the full treatment like personalized menu and any special orders, since they wouldn't have enough time. If that was OK, she'd consult with another department and advise the price.

batmandds and I waited in the comfy nearby seating area while someone at Etihad decided how much they might charge. We both agreed that $2,000 maybe $2,500 would be the most either of us would pay. Another 5 minutes and she returned to inform us that yes, indeed they could upgrade me to The Residence and the cost would be... 77,000 AED.

She explained that it was so high because they would be charging the difference between the fare I paid and the basic Residence fare. Since I was on an AA award ticket, they apparently considered that next to worthless.

From a related thread, it seems that hardly anyone buys The Residence at the current pricing anyway. Considering EY's current financial plight, one question is why keep the price so high if it you can't sell it? Another is why not monetizing the product by offering reasonable day of flight, last minute buy-ups and make some money. It's basically a one person suite as the bed is really too small for two people.

Anyone else had any experience trying to buy-up to The Residence?

daniellam

The AED 77,000 price is already discounted as the regular price is about AED 82,180 one-way.

Had you been travelling on an ex-AUH paid F ticket, the difference would have been between AED 25,000-40,000.

Often1

EK has made it clear that it has no interest in discounting the Residence. It simply does not staff or cater for it unless someone pays for if and it is located such that it is not taking up what would otherwise have been saleable space.

I suspect that the only thing "above the agent's paygrade" was calculating the value of the award ticket so as to apply the proper upgrade cost.

It appears that the award ticket was valued at roughly AED 3,000 (US$ 816) for the segment, which seems low. But, I also have no idea whether that was an error or a conscious effort to discourage award upgrades,

justforfun

Yes, you should have been grateful for a 6.3% discount.

akalra1187

Not saleable on EK because they have a second shower there, not saleable on QR, SQ, BA, QF because they have seats there, but one very minor but very prudent correction, it is saleable on Etihad.

Totally agree with SFO777, if EY is in financial plight, it would be good to sell on the day upgrades (as many profitable airlines do), for all cabins not just F-Reseidence, but also Y-J and J-F, at a reasonable rate to generate extra revenue rather than looking to cut costs at the customer's expense in an archaic management style.

RealityBites

The Residence is a unique product differentiator (aka flagship product) for the overall Etihad brand. In marketing terms, it is never a good idea to significantly discount the flagship product.

SFO777

That all sounds good but when virtually no one buys the product, something is wrong. Any sane company would rethink the pricing and entice people to try it and make some money at the same time. But not EY. They've actually moved the other way by recently adjusting ex-CAI pricing, the last market where there was reasonable pricing.

akalra1187

As SFO777 replied you, that would be all well and good if they weren't making ridiculous cuts in J and F at the expense of the customer. It's like a reputed London hotel like the Connaught, sure they have deluxe rooms, and basic suites but if a special suite (e.g. Connaught suite) is empty they won't hesitate to upgrade a guest booked in a standard suite at a reasonable price.

RealityBites

It appears to be often bought on sectors between AUH and SYD/MEL.

..... stick to their marketing strategy rather than rely on random advice in web forums.

Continually whinging is becoming quite tedious.

RealityBites

There are numerous hotels any many major city market that offer "presidential" (or similar) suites... they are not a not a intrinsically a unique value proposition.

SFO777

Ah, no doubt that's why EY is such a profitable airline.

RealityBites

In fact the article clearly indicates why quite clearly...

"revealing the full extent of the pressures facing Persian Gulf carriers as they grapple with the impact of terrorism on global traffic flows and a low oil price that’s crimped local travel."

... which has nothing much to do with their marketing strategy.@:-)

SFO777

Really? Between now and mid-October, AUH-MEL is P0 on just one day (tomorrow). AUH-SYD shows 3 days.
Granted there might be a last minute rush to snap up those bargain Residence seats , but I'm pretty sure that a 5% load factor (4/80) isn't very good.@:-)

agjil

I just looked up how much 77,000 AED is in USD and it made me chuckle.
I've read a couple of trip reports about the Residence and it really did not look that much better than the Apartments...either the Residence is too overpriced or the Apartments are too underpriced.

akalra1187

Apartments are normally priced, Residence is overpriced.