PE costs more than Polaris
Jan 6, 2019, 4:27 pm
#16
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How would this work if D-7 and J is empty and PE has 1 seat left, what should the availability look like?
Protect J's premium pricing, cash in on PE but risk going out with J half empty: J9 C4 D0 Z0 P0 O1 A0 R0
Sell your in-demand cabin below value so you can keep selling and start filling the higher cabin, still at a premium vs the lower cabin: J9 C9 D9 Z4 P4 O1 A1 R1
Keep availability balanced with demand and forgo higher pricing on higher cabin (subject of thread): J9 C9 D9 Z9 P0 O1 A0 R0
Or do you mean that the fare pricing isn't optimized enough at this stage and that is where changes should be made?
Protect J's premium pricing, cash in on PE but risk going out with J half empty: J9 C4 D0 Z0 P0 O1 A0 R0
Sell your in-demand cabin below value so you can keep selling and start filling the higher cabin, still at a premium vs the lower cabin: J9 C9 D9 Z4 P4 O1 A1 R1
Keep availability balanced with demand and forgo higher pricing on higher cabin (subject of thread): J9 C9 D9 Z9 P0 O1 A0 R0
Or do you mean that the fare pricing isn't optimized enough at this stage and that is where changes should be made?
In a more sane world where J is somewhat lightly booked but not literally empty, I would still expect the cabins to track relatively closely: J9 C9 D9 Z9 P9 PN0 O9 A9 R0 RN0
Jan 6, 2019, 9:19 pm
#18
Join Date: Jul 2012
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Eventually, the corporate world will catch on. But it's possible they're milking it as long as they can.
Jan 6, 2019, 9:24 pm
#19
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i agree. Before current pricing models were used for First Class fares it was not uncommon to see discounted forward cabin seats available for lower prices than Economy Class when the flight was Y1 or Y2. I had a boss tell me once in such a circumstance that he didn’t want to have to explain why I bought First Class so I should buy the more expensive Coach ticket. He didn’t last long as a people/budget manager thankfully.
Jan 6, 2019, 9:30 pm
#20
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Practically, though, it seems like a nightmare given the size of the PE cabin relative to J. If you link P and R availability, you risk not being able to fill your J cabin because PE sales were brisk, or filling PE with R passengers just to keep P available.
Jan 7, 2019, 12:05 am
#21
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TPAC resolves this by just having really cheap PE price points (Asia) or really high J price points (ANZ).
Jan 9, 2019, 11:16 pm
#23
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Join Date: Jun 2005
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Well that's really UA's call. And it seems to me you're already describing an anomalous situation, because they should not ordinarily be in that situation . . . if they are, PE is cannibalizing J, as opposed to commanding a premium over Y, which is the whole point of offering a PE product. But if they're really down to O1, then I would think it should get last seat pricing, regardless of the J load.
If in practice UA is able to routinely sell out PE at a price that's higher than their available P or Z inventory, well more power to them. If they're able to do that, I presume they'll sell O all day long at full fare, and just op-up into J. But color me skeptical that's how this will play out. What I think is far more likely in these early days of PE is the J cabin will continue to sell as it more or less historically has, and the PE cabin will remain empty unless/until UA makes a reasonable amount of discount inventory available, particularly on flights where Z and P are still for sale.
If in practice UA is able to routinely sell out PE at a price that's higher than their available P or Z inventory, well more power to them. If they're able to do that, I presume they'll sell O all day long at full fare, and just op-up into J. But color me skeptical that's how this will play out. What I think is far more likely in these early days of PE is the J cabin will continue to sell as it more or less historically has, and the PE cabin will remain empty unless/until UA makes a reasonable amount of discount inventory available, particularly on flights where Z and P are still for sale.