kokonutz

Can't decide if that belongs in the click bait thread or the manufactured controversy thread.

Both, I suppose.

OTHO, that post is still better than his one begging for uber referral credits.

nsx

Maybe I'm just irascible this morning but I posted this comment:

kokonutz

@JulieEXP: if this place is such a cess pool why do you come here?

RFDMinnesota

Awesome!

CMK10

Just saw your comments, good for you! ^

kokonutz

More VFTC today.

kokonutz

Oh, man, the SECOND I saw the email from AA about new PJs my very first thought was: Gary will be SO HAPPY!

So I went and looked: http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....skid-slippers/

Alas, he disses the non-skid socks.

kokonutz

Is Gary a VFTW hypocrite on dynamic pricing?


kokomutz said,

Why should there NOT be dynamic pricing for award travel? It exists for revenue tickets: as supply dwindles price increases.

This is far more of a free market approach to awards than the current Soviet-style fixed price for awards where your only options are pay one of two fixed prices for bread or there is no bread at all.

Gary Leff said,

@kokomutz – Oh I don’t know, posted pricing is very common in free market economies and in private businesses. Very few businesses have variable pricing to the degree that airlines do, one of the most highly regulated businesses in the country. When I go into Whole Foods they have lots of different items, but they have one price for each. I don’t think pricing model as it applies here is especially ideological.



Kokomutz said,

But that’s exactly my point: airlines have uber-dynamic pricing (see what I did there: ‘uber,’ whose dynamic pricing model you vehemently defend) on the revenue ticket side. Why WOULDNT they on the award ticket side?

It works for revenue tickets. It works for uber. Why not award tickets?

Gary Leff said,

@kokonutz uber tells you clearly the multiple of the usual price upfront, they tell you the usual price published on their website, they’re super transparent. Here so far Delta has said “nothing has changed” except that they’ve taken away information.





To me, Delta SkyMiles reward ticketing is following the airline revenue ticket approach and Uber: a base price of 25k miles...unless we think we can charge more...in which case we will.

I mean: either dynamic pricing is innovative and wonderful or it sucks, right?

nsx

No. I'll take Gary's side here.

For the past couple of years, during the absorption of AirTran, Southwest had BOTH dynamic pricing and a semi-secret classic fixed rate redemption. The latter required a "two step" move of points from Southwest to AirTran and back. Sadly, this is no longer possible.

At the time I recommended to Southwest that they find a way to continue to offer flat rate, capacity controlled redemption. Flat rate redemption fills empty seats for last minute redemption. Points redemption pricing for last minute flights on Southwest is so high that it's literally cheaper to redeem for gift cards and just buy the ticket for cash. That's lose-lose, because it costs you more money and it costs Southwest more money.

The airline that openly offers both dynamic "any seat" redemption and classic fixed rate redemption will in my opinion win the FF program competition. Offering the choice should satisfy everyone. On Southwest I have found it reassuring that when a flat rate seat is not available (using one of my banked Standard Awards) I can often use a somewhat higher value of points for a fare-based redemption.

sbm12

Whatever generates more personal gain is wonderful. :-:

kokonutz

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....-cards-online/

In the same post:

- Look how bad it is that Delta appears to be going to dynamic pricing on their award tickets (complete with FNC appearance).

- Look how wonderful dynamic pricing company Uber is.

From what I have seen that's precisely what Delta is doing: saying that 25k is the minimum for a domestic coach award...unless it costs more for the day/flight you want to travel on.

So just like Uber has a base rate that Uber can increase as market conditions dictate, Delta has a base rate that Delta can increase as market conditions allow. Both companies inform the customer of the actual cost at time of ordering the service. It's up to the consumer to decide if the rate charged for that service at that time is truly a 'market rate' or not.

Could Delta abuse this system by never offering a 25k ticket? Sure, just like in some cities Uber is never below 1.5x or higher pricing.

But somehow Delta bad, Uber good.

And smb12 knows why.

nsx

Delta's supply is fixed. Uber's supply expands a lot as the price increases. That's the difference.

Jabarie MacQuarrie

Moreover, if you don't like Uber's prices you can spend your money on something else, whereas Skymiles can only be spent within the Skymiles program, so for the program to make sense there needs to be some sort of credible guarantee that you'll actually be able to redeem a certain amount of Skymiles for a certain award.

Otherwise it's like going to one of those arcades where you earn tickets for high scores in skee-ball or pop-a-shot (do those even exist anymore?) and redeem them for some crappy toy, except that there are no prices listed for any of the toys and they won't tell you the prices until you've accumulated a stack of tickets and are ready to redeem them. Who would be dumb enough to fall for that?

kokonutz

Delta can add more or larger planes any time they want to/deem it to be in their best interest.

And I would argue that it's not that Uber's supply expands as the price increases, but that demand slacks. Or at the very least both.

Same with Delta dynamic pricing. Just like it does with their cash tickets.

All of us. @:-)

After all, there is no guarantee that you will EVER find an award ticket you actually want. Even if you pay for Gary's booking services, he does not guarantee you that he can find anything you actually want.

nsx

Delta can't add more seats within minutes by increasing prices. Uber can. Drivers can and do decide to put in an extra shift very late at night New Year's Eve because of the rate premium. That's where the extra supply comes from. It's real. If not for this large effect I would agree with your analogy.