Price Increases
Sep 27, 2018, 12:16 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,604
Price Increases
My return flight TPA/MSP o 4/15 and LAS/MSP on 5/28 have literally doubled in price
We fly the same routes the 3rd Monday in April and the Tuesday after Memorial day every year
$350 - $400 plus one way for the afternoon flights with one layover that we want
We fly the same routes the 3rd Monday in April and the Tuesday after Memorial day every year
$350 - $400 plus one way for the afternoon flights with one layover that we want
Sep 27, 2018, 12:41 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,604
Delta and AA are less, CP makes it slighter better than either of those airlines. I'm confident I will get at least 1/2 my points back via price drops before we take off
Sep 27, 2018, 6:21 pm
#4
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,459
Then why are you complaining here if you are certain that prices will drop before takeoff ( which is likely )
Sep 27, 2018, 6:23 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,604
It's hard to complain when you are sitting on millions of miles /points and not one was earned via a paid flight. lol
Sep 28, 2018, 4:40 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,050
Simply shifting your return dates by a single day (4/16 and 5/29) yields dramatically lower fares. As low as $137 on TPA-MSP and $92 for LAS-MSP. Not terribly surprising when you consider typical demand patterns. Lots less demand for return on a Tuesday (or a Wednesday when a long holiday weekend is involved) from leisure destinations. Have seen such patterns for many, many years when booking vacation trips for our family and have adjusted departures/returns to save dollars. Rather than fixating over what you paid in the past, you might want to think about being less of a creature of habit.
Sep 28, 2018, 5:20 am
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Why not merge all of these threads?
Better economy, higher fuel prices, interest rates up means carriers will wait a lot longer to release cheap fares and may not release as many as in the past. Especially on heavy travel days. If WN can sell a ticket for $500 or $400, which price do you think it will sell at? What about AA, UA, and DL?
Better economy, higher fuel prices, interest rates up means carriers will wait a lot longer to release cheap fares and may not release as many as in the past. Especially on heavy travel days. If WN can sell a ticket for $500 or $400, which price do you think it will sell at? What about AA, UA, and DL?
Sep 28, 2018, 12:18 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,604
Simply shifting your return dates by a single day (4/16 and 5/29) yields dramatically lower fares. As low as $137 on TPA-MSP and $92 for LAS-MSP. Not terribly surprising when you consider typical demand patterns. Lots less demand for return on a Tuesday (or a Wednesday when a long holiday weekend is involved) from leisure destinations. Have seen such patterns for many, many years when booking vacation trips for our family and have adjusted departures/returns to save dollars. Rather than fixating over what you paid in the past, you might want to think about being less of a creature of habit.
Both of my flights have already dropped in points , LAS dropped 8807, TPA, 2177 points..........not bad for 24 hours
My flight is April 15, the 3rd Monday in April. Easter is the following Sunday April 21
Last edited by flyer4512; Sep 28, 2018 at 2:26 pm
Sep 28, 2018, 1:40 pm
#11
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
I think we're seeing Southwest's load/revenue management system being more aggressive with initial pricing, and then adjusting down later to match demand over time. I don't believe it was always this way. Now there are more WGA's "sold out" earlier, or much smaller buckets available at the lower fares. With offering the ability to refare I'm not sure this really makes much sense -- but perhaps they grab enough people early on who do not ultimately refare to make up for any potential passengers they lose to other carriers by being uncompetitive.
Sep 28, 2018, 2:18 pm
#12
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DAY
Programs: Rapid Rewards, Skymiles, Hilton HHonors, SPG/Marriott Rewards
Posts: 4,944
I think we're seeing Southwest's load/revenue management system being more aggressive with initial pricing, and then adjusting down later to match demand over time. I don't believe it was always this way. Now there are more WGA's "sold out" earlier, or much smaller buckets available at the lower fares. With offering the ability to refare I'm not sure this really makes much sense -- but perhaps they grab enough people early on who do not ultimately refare to make up for any potential passengers they lose to other carriers by being uncompetitive.
Sep 28, 2018, 2:20 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,604
Even with the price drop WN is still $80 more than the 5 Delta nonstops on the same day.
Last edited by flyer4512; Sep 28, 2018 at 4:25 pm
Sep 29, 2018, 12:21 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: HH Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 10,458
I think we're seeing Southwest's load/revenue management system being more aggressive with initial pricing, and then adjusting down later to match demand over time. I don't believe it was always this way. Now there are more WGA's "sold out" earlier, or much smaller buckets available at the lower fares. With offering the ability to refare I'm not sure this really makes much sense -- but perhaps they grab enough people early on who do not ultimately refare to make up for any potential passengers they lose to other carriers by being uncompetitive.
Sep 29, 2018, 1:35 am
#15
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
No one, of course, suggested "give away."