Sky high fares
Jun 18, 2022, 6:49 am
#16
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: BWI
Programs: Marriott LTT, WN A, Hertz PC
Posts: 575
Jun 19, 2022, 12:21 am
#17
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,605
Jun 19, 2022, 1:49 pm
#18
Join Date: May 2012
Location: DCA, lived MCI, SEA/PDX,BUF (born/raised)
Programs: Marriott (Silver/Gold), IHG, Carlson, Best Western, Choice( Gold), AS (MVP), WN, UA
Posts: 8,730
I just want to make it very clear I will cheat on Southwest any day of the week and any hour of the day. Southwest doesn't have free domestic first class for elites, so we're not as sticky/loyal as the other subforums like Alaska and American. I don't have any loyalty except to my wallet and my family. But if Southwest offers me a one-way from Long Beach to Austin and two free bags for $44, how can I say no? It's not Puerto Vallarta or Hawaii, but it's within my price range.
I do factor bags. Two people on Southwest gets four bags so Southwest often wins in a tie. I have one free AA bag and that's it. If I could not get a decent price on Southwest, I'll fly AA, DL, etc. and try to make use of their last minute first class monetization to buy the increased baggage allowance and effectively get a discount on the upgraded seat. I don't do FCM just for the seat. I don't like gambling on FCM being available at a decent price, so I will often choose Southwest if it's only a lowish amount more expensive than the legacies.
I do factor bags. Two people on Southwest gets four bags so Southwest often wins in a tie. I have one free AA bag and that's it. If I could not get a decent price on Southwest, I'll fly AA, DL, etc. and try to make use of their last minute first class monetization to buy the increased baggage allowance and effectively get a discount on the upgraded seat. I don't do FCM just for the seat. I don't like gambling on FCM being available at a decent price, so I will often choose Southwest if it's only a lowish amount more expensive than the legacies.
sure at the end of the day it’s
overall cost+ schedule on flights+ importance of being there on time
newly released schedule flights ….it’s because those flight have a higher chance of getting cancelled than the ones you see wanna ones. If people willing to buy those flights might be a higher chance of it surviving the cut.
Jun 19, 2022, 1:58 pm
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
Programs: UA 1MM, WN CP, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Gold, IC Plat
Posts: 15,720
I don’t factor bags because I have elite status on UA and DL and rarely check bags anyway except
for skiing. WN is a bit more competitive if you can fly one person free with CP but i can get 2 people for $99 RT with Alaska using BofA certs.
WN is still the first choice for short haul but I just don’t see torturing myself for 4-5 hours to Mexico or Hawaii esp when the fares are higher!
for skiing. WN is a bit more competitive if you can fly one person free with CP but i can get 2 people for $99 RT with Alaska using BofA certs.
WN is still the first choice for short haul but I just don’t see torturing myself for 4-5 hours to Mexico or Hawaii esp when the fares are higher!
Jun 19, 2022, 4:08 pm
#20
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,459
I don’t factor bags because I have elite status on UA and DL and rarely check bags anyway except
for skiing. WN is a bit more competitive if you can fly one person free with CP but i can get 2 people for $99 RT with Alaska using BofA certs.
WN is still the first choice for short haul but I just don’t see torturing myself for 4-5 hours to Mexico or Hawaii esp when the fares are higher!
for skiing. WN is a bit more competitive if you can fly one person free with CP but i can get 2 people for $99 RT with Alaska using BofA certs.
WN is still the first choice for short haul but I just don’t see torturing myself for 4-5 hours to Mexico or Hawaii esp when the fares are higher!
Jun 20, 2022, 11:15 am
#21
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,605
Jun 20, 2022, 12:19 pm
#22
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,870
Jun 20, 2022, 3:01 pm
#23
Join Date: May 2012
Location: DCA, lived MCI, SEA/PDX,BUF (born/raised)
Programs: Marriott (Silver/Gold), IHG, Carlson, Best Western, Choice( Gold), AS (MVP), WN, UA
Posts: 8,730
I can’t tell what city pair you are looking at.
there are other issues where sometimes they don’t have paid fares but have points fares and visa versa.
like I said they coukd use booking patterns as who survives. They will have few left but a few could cancel.
also lookat the connection route. Sometime they could block connection routes right now giving preference to other connection routes. There ares scenarios like events going on where they could have high travel from some markets. For examp,e during this time an nfl games is scheduled at your destination market. They might be having these flights open to cities closer to the road teams area allowing them to book first.
there could be coordinated tour groups or conference in a city during your time windowwhere they travel all on the same connection flight so they could have blocks on the connection.
Jun 20, 2022, 3:56 pm
#25
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,605
I can’t tell what city pair you are looking at.
there are other issues where sometimes they don’t have paid fares but have points fares and visa versa.
like I said they coukd use booking patterns as who survives. They will have few left but a few could cancel.
also lookat the connection route. Sometime they could block connection routes right now giving preference to other connection routes. There ares scenarios like events going on where they could have high travel from some markets. For examp,e during this time an nfl games is scheduled at your destination market. They might be having these flights open to cities closer to the road teams area allowing them to book first.
there could be coordinated tour groups or conference in a city during your time windowwhere they travel all on the same connection flight so they could have blocks on the connection.
there are other issues where sometimes they don’t have paid fares but have points fares and visa versa.
like I said they coukd use booking patterns as who survives. They will have few left but a few could cancel.
also lookat the connection route. Sometime they could block connection routes right now giving preference to other connection routes. There ares scenarios like events going on where they could have high travel from some markets. For examp,e during this time an nfl games is scheduled at your destination market. They might be having these flights open to cities closer to the road teams area allowing them to book first.
there could be coordinated tour groups or conference in a city during your time windowwhere they travel all on the same connection flight so they could have blocks on the connection.
It was a glitch with the new schedule................. WGA fares now available on every flight or maybe they decided to not cancel flights for dates they released last week, lol
Jun 20, 2022, 4:01 pm
#26
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,605
I can’t tell what city pair you are looking at.
there are other issues where sometimes they don’t have paid fares but have points fares and visa versa.
like I said they coukd use booking patterns as who survives. They will have few left but a few could cancel.
also lookat the connection route. Sometime they could block connection routes right now giving preference to other connection routes. There ares scenarios like events going on where they could have high travel from some markets. For examp,e during this time an nfl games is scheduled at your destination market. They might be having these flights open to cities closer to the road teams area allowing them to book first.
there could be coordinated tour groups or conference in a city during your time windowwhere they travel all on the same connection flight so they could have blocks on the connection.
there are other issues where sometimes they don’t have paid fares but have points fares and visa versa.
like I said they coukd use booking patterns as who survives. They will have few left but a few could cancel.
also lookat the connection route. Sometime they could block connection routes right now giving preference to other connection routes. There ares scenarios like events going on where they could have high travel from some markets. For examp,e during this time an nfl games is scheduled at your destination market. They might be having these flights open to cities closer to the road teams area allowing them to book first.
there could be coordinated tour groups or conference in a city during your time windowwhere they travel all on the same connection flight so they could have blocks on the connection.
Jun 21, 2022, 9:07 pm
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,050
Saturday after Thanksgiving is one of the more popular travel days of the year. You can see the same thing on other popular travel days around Thanksgiving and the year-end holidays. This is most likely by design and not a bug, so don't expect it to be "fixed". Revenue management systems don't just look at how full a flight currently is when determining what seat inventory to release. Historical demand for certain popular travel days and periods is also a big factor.
Last edited by xliioper; Jun 23, 2022 at 8:10 am