lsquare

Maybe it's because I'm not a very tall person, but for me, domestic upgrades are not that impressive. I get that it's hard to use PP during these times. Still feels like a waste when it can't be used on a lie-flat.

UAFAM

not sure where did you get your number but they reported 2,490,490 on Friday July 1st, which was even higher than 2019 (Pre-Covid number).

Kacee

Which (as the numbers show) is really a function of where the holiday weekend fell this year, rather than an indication this was a bigger travel weekend than 2019. Still, interesting to see that, at least for the holiday weekend, we've basically returned to 2019 volume. With lesser capacity.

DELee

Shhhh. Kirby and the gang don't want us to know that so they and others can keep telling us that things have recovered so they can charge more for less.

Or at least that's the theory.

Let's see if holds up with fewer planes and fewer crews and less redundancy and people not paying those expensivist fares for even worse service.

David

Stopwatch430

This demonstrates a fundamental lack of airline pricing which is driven by fundamental supply and demand.

Right now, all signs would point to the fact that demand is fundamentally exceeding what the airlines can realistically supply (Vs. what was originally scheduled - hence flight cancellations, now becoming proactive). There would seem to be limited signs of that leisure air travel is materially impacted by the economic picture or that the business travel rebound (already faster than expected) has changed trajectory. TSA numbers fundamentally reflect that. So for the summer season, I think that the algorithms and reduced capacity point towards very high fares. Indeed, my LHR-EWR round trip last week was nearly $12K - the highest I have ever paid on that route on any airline and each flight went out full.

As always, demand falls in September. Leisure demand may fall further than normal due to the economic situation and the business travel rebound trajectory may slow given the worsening economic outlook. If future bookings reflect this vs historical trends (very difficult given the changed dynamics vs historical comparable), fares will fall.

The computer systems aren't perfect but they are quite well optimized to fill the planes for maximum profit (not necessarily maximum load). The big US carriers lead the world on being able to do this. Its not business, its well-proven capitalism.

Stopwatch430

For those of us who wouldn't sit in economy except occasionally on very short flights, its not about being impressive. Its about achieving a base level of comfort and being able to work. So its either PP or paying for it. So still have value when they can be used.

mfirst

sometimes, especially if there is no one sitting next to me (rare, these days), E+ can actually be more comfortable than sitting up front....being 1K, getting a snack box (which I am getting tired of) and a drink isnt all that different from B/F

mfirst

any idea of how many of the 2.49M passengers actually did NOT get on an airplane that day?

lsquare

I wouldn't say domestic F is that much more comfortable than economy. It's definitely better, but imo, not night and day better. I've flown domestic first on all the major airlines and I'm not that impressed, to be honest with you.

mfirst

Isquare - I agree with you
especially for shortly flights (<2 hr), the benefits are very marginal across the board....if you get it for free, then great, but not sure even worth any real $ or PP.....

lsquare

That's the keyword!

zombietooth

Every one of my transcon flights over the last 3 months has been full or nearly so. There are always long standby lists, so getting an empty seat next to you is almost impossible right now. EWR-SNA, for example, has been very expensive, even in Y. On several of my flights within the last month, the cheapest coach fare was $900- 3+ weeks out. So, buying F at $1,600- to $1,800- or so, isn't so bad. There's almost no chance to get a PPs UG on this route.

lsu2012

I have an M fare on upcoming flight from IAH to EWR. The auto upgrade for 1K didn’t go through.

Is it true that applying PP to this would lower my ranking on the upgrade list? My understanding is 1K M > 1K PP.

jsloan

Assuming you’re alone on the reservation, that’s correct.

mfirst

Short of reading the hundreds of replies on this topic - especially since I wonder if the rules are constantly changing to reflect UA attempts to fill F seats more and more... I wonder if even "trying" for upgrades is even worth the effort.... for example:

next week, I have a morning CLE-DEN flight (booked in H) - currently there are 4 open F seats.
UA wants 371$ to upgrade - which means they expect those seats to sell (otherwise, I would assume they would be selling at around $99)

as a 1K - do I apply PP or just take my chances and see what happens - it has been my experience that when I apply PP there are typically enough seats that I probably would have gotten a CPU regardless and that rarely does PP help move me up enough to help when I am left hanging at #1 on the list when everything sells out

so, while an UG for this leg would be nice - does requesting it with PP at this point help at all since I sense these seats will probably sell out by next week regardless given the way that this summer has been going?

... at least I have an E+ seat that I like (and no one next to me - a Euro business seat - for now)

-m