I came across this post today at another board and was thoroughly disgusted. And of course, it's a FF board with very few business flyers so he'll get little response. Comments? This can be seen in all its glory here:

http://frequentflier.com/cgi-local/index.cgi

From a 8/8 early morning post

(Physical retaliation was the first thing that came to mind)

"Trendspotting -- The Demise of Frills?

Posted By: Greg Cable
Date: Thursday, 8 August 2002, at 6:09 a.m.

I'm a leisure traveler and I say welcome to fewer frills and more inexpensive flights. There are too many business traveleres who think flying should be unavailable to what Leona Helmsley called the 'little people' - the ones who pay taxes.

The disparity between buisiness travelers and schlubs still widens. First class segregation has extended from the plane and the waiting area and the ticket counter to the security check area.

You can tell me the business travelers high ticket prices pay for the flights that commoners ride along on cheaply but I say they don't pay for those tickets - their companies do. They would never pay walk-up fares themselves and they never have to, when they fly for leisure they always fly free using the miles their companies paid for.

Leona's little people are being asked to step up and support loans for airlines and certainly a country this large needs air travel and it needs to be usable by non-business travelers, at least occasionally. "


[This message has been edited by Skip Middleton (edited 08-09-2002).]

Well, the "little people," of which I'm one, should acknowledge that if high fare paying pax weren't paying those high fares, the little people would have to make up the difference in fares.

I don't care how low-frills your airline is, it's going to be really tough to make money shuttling people from NY to LA for less than $200, if that's what everyone on the plane is paying.

d

Well, Southwest has managed to do it, and do it well. In fact, they were one of only three airlines to make money last year, and the other two were also no frill carriers. Unlike some other flyers, I have no problem with Southwest or other no frill carriers (ATA, Spirit). If my company was paying for business class, then yes, I would want all the creature comforts that affords me on Delta or Northwest or whatever. But when I pay out of my pocket, I'm a cheapskate, so that's that.

So who's stopping Mr. Greg Cable (if that is his real name) from flying a cheap no frills airline like Southwest? Are there biz travellers in suits blocking him from the gate? What a whiner! Take the train pal!

This is goofy. I don't get any of the status he seems to bear resentment towards (or is jealous of, perhaps?) But I don't see why the airlines, like any other business, can't treat their best customers better than others. Not to mention that I haven't found the fact that there's a preferred check-in line, preferred security line, etc. to inconvenience me at all. It's a total BS argument. This guy is whining just to whine.

Well, actually Southwest hasn't managed to do that. They charge pretty low fares, but they do revenue management just like everyone else. Not all of their seats go for the same price; as the planes fill up, the tickets get more expensive.

Sure, they don't get up into the $1000s, like on the majors, but Southwest isn't flying every passenger on their planes for under $200 coast-to-coast.

d

[QUOTE]Originally posted by anonplz:
[B] Well, Southwest has managed to do it, and do it well.

Huh??? To your point Doppy, I just checked SW for Albany to Lax roundtrip and found fare of $659. SEA -FLL is close to the same.

I recently paid over $300 for a one way from LAS to BNA.

This Greg Cable guy doesn't get it. There is nothing wrong with rewarding your best customers.In fact, in many circles, it is referred to as "good business". Many, many businesses do it. Also, it doesn't matter whether I or my company pays for my travel. In my case, my employer does, but I still decide where to spend it. It makes perfect sense for an airline to offer me incentives to capture my $50K in air travel/yr that are not available to him for is $1,500.

I hope he will continue to be frustrated in 31B while I relax in 3C for a long, long time.

(In years past I have seen ads like this)

"And now, economy passengers get all the benefits of full fare coach!

"And now, full fare passengers get extra benefits over economy!

"And now, economy passengers get all the benefits of full fare coach!

and back and forth.

******************************

(From before the days of "paper or plastic")

"And now everyone gets double bagging to protect their groceries! (two thin layers of paper)

"And now, extra strong paper, no double bagging required! (one thick layer of paper)

"And now, everyone gets double bagging to protect...

and so on, back an forth.

***********************

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

[This message has been edited by AllanJ (edited 08-10-2002).]

[This message has been edited by AllanJ (edited 08-10-2002).]

[This message has been edited by AllanJ (edited 08-10-2002).]

So now this dispute was imported to this more conservative and staid forum. In the immortal words of Rodney King "Can't be just all get along?" Let's get back to the main purpose of these forums, the accumulation of FF miles.

------------------

Well, of course, you're right - I stand corrected.

What I should have posted was that their revenue management scheme has a range of fares from lowest to moderate, i.e., on those routes where they charge RT $200 per person, they are also charging last-minute flyers, flyers who need fully-refundable tickets, etc., a fare of $600 or so, which is probably half what the lowest business-class fare is.

So, my point is that while they've managed to turn a profit last year while nearly every other airline lost money, it's not because they're charging ANY traveler excessively high fares, but for some other reason(s).

As to this Greg Cable guy, he sounds like he has a chip on his shoulder. Personally, I don't fly business class, but I also don't resent people who do, and who cares what the Leona-Helmsley's of the world are thinking about economy class passengers? They may be right, they may be wrong, it doesn't matter - they are not running the show, and anyway, if you want to avoid business class passengers, as g_leyser said, go FLY Southwest or one of the other no frill carriers. There are plenty of them out there.