Does VX honestly expect to sell at these prices..
 

So I'm going to be in SoCal in mid/late November and decided to check tickets to get back to Florida. Low and behold Virgin America literally has from the 16th-29th at only full fare refundable prices.

http://i63.tinypic.com/2nvfcc8.jpg

I can get Jetblue Mint for $450. Do Virgin honestly expect people to pay almost double for a economy ticket or quadruple for a first class ticket one-way? :confused:

I could understand if this was a last minute ticket on the day before Thanksgiving, but to block 2 weeks at refundable prices makes zero sense to me. Needless to say the seatmaps are completely wide open.

With Mint in the market now, there is absolutely no reason to take VX. VX prices holidays at ridiculous prices and then when nobody buys tickets, they lower the prices as it gets closer and they realize that it is a holiday and their flights are empty. :D They have been doing that for a few years now--but now I don't even bother with them for transcons. I just buy the Mint seats, have a much better experience, and save lots of money.

VX defaults to premium pricing around holidays. Fares usually will decrease based on load as it gets closer to departure. Three months prior is a good time to recheck.

As noted, if Mint is cheaper or the same price, fly Mint.

Thanksgiving is 1 day. They literally have a full 2 weeks set to this premium pricing. I booked mint.

As noted, these prices generally won't stay there. Historically, towards the end of summer/start of fall they start releasing inventory. In the meantime, if there's a must-have flight you can book it and refund/rebook later;)

I bet they do sell some at those prices.

So this is why my flight a couple of months ago was completely empty, except for 3 pax! This was on the JFK-FLL route and I thought empty aircraft were unheard of in the US these days.

Hadn't thought of refunding and then re-booking later down the line. Oh Well it wasn't necessarily a must have; I just was surprised especially when every other carrier is like $250 coach and $475 FC. I opted for Mint lie flat.

More power to them, if they got people to buy a one way coach fare for $800.

VX always ends up putting FC & MCS on sale over Holidays when it gets close in....this will happen again here unless AS revenue management starts taking control.

VX always ends up putting FC & MCS on sale over Holidays when it gets close in....this will happen again here unless AS revenue management starts taking control.

VX also tried to sell LAX-JFK transcon for much higher price than other carriers with flat bed in the front cabin....

I used my AS miles to book F for LAX-JFK flight... there is no way I overpay with my cash for inferior product. (although 25000 AS miles one-way is not a bad deal)

My next SFO/JFK is in Mint (paid) outbound and VX (AS F 25K award) return. If the fare on the return comes way down, I'll buy a ticket and refund the award. My last few SFO/JFK have been on AA (and one DL segment) for a fraction of the VX price.

I've done a couple AS 25K VX F awards when VX F pricing has been high. It's a great deal on the trancons.

You still made the rational choice. VX will not lower the F price down to $449 anyway so why pay more for an inferior product and have to loan them your money for over a half year on top of it.

+1

I went with VX at 25,000 AS miles for LAX-JFK this Saturday when B6 was $1,400 and all the single suites were gone.

I have a 25k award for August; as an AS flyer it'll be my first VX F experience. I hope they start allowing stopovers on VX awards so I can get another leg out of it but if not, still a good deal compared to the other options that day (60k AS awards).

Checked F prices SFO-BOS for mid May. Really ridiculous vs UA 757 but close to UA 767 product.

Ended up redeeming my HA miles on Virgin.

My in-laws were able to get SFO-BOS RT Delta One for ~$900 in August. Lots of new capacity for the route -> cheappp

Standard procedure.

Unfortunately VX yield management appears to be using the same playbook as WN these days. Price everything sky high when you open the schedule, and see how many suckers will buy grossly overpriced tickets to lock in certainty. Then - just to frustrate your loyal customers - wait until some random day to lower prices, and then keep doing so until enough tickets are sold. Then jack them up again. Rinse and repeat.

The result is that those of us who don't want to wait will simply purchase a lower-priced ticket from UA or another legacy carrier when the price is decent, rather than wait for VX or WN to blink.

VX has removed the seasonal JFK-FLL from its schedule. I had made two reservations, and they called to inform me the route was gone, and they were refunding my tickets. It was a superior service, but never promoted, with the end result that loads were uneven, and appeared to be comprised of customers who had bought cheap tickets. I never saw any evidence of particular brand awareness. On a number of occasions, I noted pricing where First Class was being offered for less than the premium economy fare. A braintrust this was not.

That seemed to be a temporary aircraft utilization move. Having one flight a day with no possibility of expanding service or adding any other East Coast cities from JFK just never made much sense. There was no strategy behind it.

Agreed.

I've been waiting for the prices to change too. The price for FLL-SFO in coach, has been $799 one way for the 16th to the 28th of November for a long time (it's $147 on the 15th and 29th). There was some movement a week ago....the price was increased to $812 OW

Seriously? Everyone else went down and they decided to increase the price. :confused: $812 for a one-way coach seat between a market with multiple competitors is just insane .:rolleyes:

LOL. It's no wonder they barely made a profit after all these years. I booked a Mint ticket the day I posted this almost a month ago for $449 and haven't looked back. Even now Jetblue is offering coach for a little over $200 during most days in that time frame.

I'll chime in.

I'm an odd flyer - I fly US domestic circa once per year, historically to relocate. Given that I often have substantial baggage, I am normally buying F. Back before most carriers axed 3x70lbs, it was frequently worth it. The comfort premium and aggravation savings at check-in, security, and boarding are worth it, as well. And the F market has become very competitive.

Anywho, after a very positive F experience FLL-LAX back in 2014, I have watched VX fares closely.

I don't know who does their bloody revenue management, but s/he should have been cashiered five years ago. The pricing is frequently wildly irrational. My latest search has been for a one way HNL-LAX for my return to the US mainland in June. $1299 in F when the competition is $600-$725 (when recently pricing HNL-LAX). Or selling MCS for...an $8 premium over Main Cabin. I realize that pricing strategy will be different versus a major, but Virgin, you're bat-faeces insane. But I love you.

Those are "bargains" -Found this on Virgin's site - a trip from SFO to SFO - only $79 !!

go to Virgin America, Summer deals (scroll down a few items to find):



no indication of whether you get to board the aircraft and then deplane !!

Tilton has tipped his wing in the water !!

Typing error it was SAN - SFO.

Just picked up SFO - HNL for $599.00 in F OW. Had been seeing 699.00,but an odd $599.00 because available and we took it. It was 2 week out.

That's a good score, I would've taken it too. Aloha!

Thanks! We took the flight and I really have to say VX F is a great way for two to travel together to the Islands. The food was excellent, service was attentive and all the room around the seat is very comfortable. As VX gold I had received SAT codes and I used one on this flight. Mostly good connection. First time we had internet flying west coast-Hawaii. When traveling as a couple this will be my preferred way to go.

VX prices are much higher than UA (regular not basic economy) for holiday travel - hopefully that will change in August as I'd like to use my $99 companion certs.

Also seeing high fares (both VX &UA) for October/November travel to DC and Hawaii, but in past years I've seen fare sales in August so not rushing to buy yet.