ORDnHKG

PR had just restarted JFK service 2 days ago (March 15th) via YVR 3 times a week using 343 (from JFK Mon, Wed, Fri, from MNL Tue, Thurs, Sat), so I was thinking finally it has a competition on CX, but when I went to the PR site and price out to see how much is JFK-YVR cost to see how much cheaper compare to CX, it shows an error.

So my question is PR doesn't sell this segment alone like CX does ? I thought PR has 5th freedom right, and I remember someone either on FT or Anet had written a trip report in Y when PR had LAS-YVR (the person only flew this segment, not onward to MNL)

Mabuk dan gila

You can book it on just about any online ticket agency. Travelocity, Orbitz, et al

YVR Cockroach

Quite sure it does. Way way back, PR even operated YVR-EWR (IIRC) as a 5th freedom.

Guy Betsy

Example of fare:
JFK-YVR return

PR : $512.22 incl tax
CX : $513.56 incl tax

ORDnHKG

I checked earlier and saw the same fare, it is quite disturbing that PR doesn't offer substantially cheaper fares compare to CX, and I believe the 343 with PR that use for JFK don't even have PTV in Y !

Guy Betsy

Yeah - and they even have a huge fuel surcharge tagged on too. Considering that ex-MNL, they're not allowed to charge that anymore..

moondog

They probably only have about 50 seats to sell on that leg. And, it is nonstop to JFK. Not sure why they would need to offer any deals.

Guy Betsy

For them to price match with CX is stupid enough already. They do not have the same product so I guess they're banking on their flight times over CX's. After a few months they may need to rethink their strategy if they're not selling any seats on that route.

ORDnHKG

Unless they forgot they are not the only airline on the same route, and the other airline is not the same 3rd tier airline like UA or AC, but their competition is CX.

Given the same price, would a frequent flyer or even once a year flyer choose PR over CX ? I don't think so. In a matter of fact, given the reputation of PR, and the substandard product, PR would probably see the 50 seats unsold rather than filled !

I am not sure about they only have 50 seats to sell on that leg though, as many Asian carriers all have low price for JFK-MNL, the CX one stop option at HKG or NH one stop option at NRT are more ideal to connect than YVR anyways, not to mention both CX and NH have much higher quality than PR, so more than likely the majority of pax will terminate at YVR rather than onward to JFK !

moondog

I base the 50 seat guesstimate on my experiences with CX888/889.

If PR doesn't get takers at that price, I predict they will adjust fares. They are also charging a steep premium (in economy, though not in business) for MNL-JFK. One of my friends was about to buy it until I told him about the YVR stop (and how much it sucks on CX eastbound). Now, he's flying MU for half the price.

m.y

The number of seats PR can sell on YVR-JFK is also limited by the air bilateral which states:

The frequency for the exercise of fifth freedom rights on each route sector shall be restricted to a maximum of four (4) flights per week in each direction. Fifth freedom traffic carried on each route sector shall be restricted to no more than fifty percent (50%) of the aircraft capacity used on that route sector, calculated on an annual basis.

https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/philippines

So PR can't just have a full plane of passengers getting off at YVR, and expect YVR-JFK passengers to fill the plane to JFK.