They have plenty, I just came back from LAX on one. Good to see more pax on this flight than my last trip.

Thanks SFO1K and aviators99. I should wait a few years to evaluate profitability. However I am concerned because with oil and the recession VX can't afford to lose much.

stupidhead, ISP can not handle widebodys. SWF can though.

More redeyes will start with more East Coast destinations (MIA/BOS/2nd NYC airport) and connecting the dots (SEA-NYC/MIA, SAN-MIA). An airline can really only have 1 redeye per day per route.

VX dynamic pricing needs some tweaking
 

I love the whole VX experience but their F pricing is starting to bug me, especially SFO-LAS.

A month ago, the Mrs. and I and another couple were planning a 2 day SFO-LAS trip for next week. When I tried to book 4 seats (on flights with all 8 F seats unsold), the price was $259 each way.

When I tried to book the 2 pairs separately, the price dropped to $199 each way for the first pair, and then back to $259 each way for the second pair. Better but still not as good as it could be. Nice try VX, but not everyone is stupid.

So I booked our 2 seats at $199 and then figured I'd wait until closer to the flight date to pull the trigger on the 2nd pair. A couple weeks ago, with still only 2 F seats sold (ours), the one way F price went up to $329 each way. Sure, that'll make me pull the trigger. It's not Friday PM LAX-SFO and these are the last two seats on the plane.

Now today, less than a week out, our 2 F seats are still the only ones sold and the one way F price just dropped to $149. Cancelled our $199 seats and booked all four F seats at $149 each way.^

Emphasis added by me...

I think they're doing the right thing, because in reality not everyone is as smart as you. For most people this will work to VX's advantage. Good job on getting the best price!

Looks like they are already doing "last minute advertising". ^

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showpost....4&postcount=10

Good for you SFO777. However I am on the other side of the same yield management coin. :(. I flew SEA-SFO yesterday on the first flight and am now ready to buy tickets for the start of SEA-LAX. However, the price has just been raised almost $100 RT. From 99 to 144 OW. I had forgotten about 21 day advance purchase :(.

Sounds like bad news for AS.

It's almost always dilutional thats why virtually no airline does it except in opaque channels like priceline.

How is this bad news for AS?

Umm...
You're in SEA, you tried VX once and now want to fly VX again.
If you fly VX, that would mean that you won't fly AS, n'est ce pas? @:-)

Most people won't notice. I'm not sure if it's intentional 'last minute advertising' as noted in this thread, or if it's just bugs still in the res system. I have noted various inconsistencies in the pricing/res system still, although most of the system seems to be solid now. It seems the base fare for first is $199 ea way for short hops with all 8 seats open, then it bumps up to $259 once a certain amount of the seats are gone (between 1 and 4, from my informal surveying - meaning since you booked that first one with another seat, the res algorithm took that first fare bucket out of the system - probably incorrectly, since it still priced lower separately), then it bumps to $329 when there are between 4 and 1 seats left, then it bumps to $399 for the last seat(s). But, I have also seen it stay at $199 all the way through...so, who knows. Anything below $199 seem to be promotional first fares. And it seems that res agents can hold seats that aren't bought yet, so that affects seats that look like they're bought, but actually aren't... I always keep checking for First seats to get the best pricing. I like VX's simplicity, but the system - just like Red - still has bugs. They will make it right though, if you find one and call them on it.

Oh, I thought you were referencing the fare hike

Sorry, my bad for the sloppy posting.

Looking at the seat maps for SEA-SFO, it is interesting to note that the weekends are competely or very close to 100% sold, but during the week is pretty empty. Does this mean that they are doing well at marketing to leisure travellers, but not business?

Sounds like they need to announce a FF program? :p