Upper Class Sale continues!

[mitchja]

I got an email from Qantas frequent flyer the other week saying they have doubled the number of available reward seats in all cabins on most of their flights now. Can't remember if it's only for a certain length of time though or a permanent thing.

You can take this to mean either that the airlines are just looking to get as many 'bums on seats' as possible at the moment to keep their yields as high as possible or they are trying to reduce their numbers of frequent flyer miles in circulation.

It would be interesting to know how big an asset frequent flyer miles actually are for airlines.

Regards

quote:Originally posted by kered
No evidence at all, its just a feeling I have.
Think of like, you have an upper class seat with a bum on it, having only paid for taxes & charges, or you could have a full revenue bum on that seat. Which one, would the airline number crunchers prefer ??


Well yes sort of, but say you have a low load flight and add twenty people paying fuel surcharges ... that goes some way to helping the flight toward profitability and reduces the balance sheet miles!

Even in these times, airlines will go for yield to pull in the extras and it has a potential payback when times improve.

Does anyone know if the sale fares are like the apex ones ie increase when it becomes closer to the departure date, or do they remain the same until they are sold [?]

many thanks

David

[RichardMannion]

The sale fares will need to be bought in advance, so they are ApEx.

quote:Originally posted by RichardMannion
The sale fares will need to be bought in advance, so they are ApEx.


Thanks for quick reply Richard. Don't suppose you know how far in advance ?

David

quote:Originally posted by kered

Think of like, you have an upper class seat with a bum on it, having only paid for taxes & charges, or you could have a full revenue bum on that seat. Which one, would the airline number crunchers prefer ??


But that's when those highly paid practicers of the Dark Art of Revenue Management come in, because for some flights they know they will not sell every single seat. So give it away and use up some mileage.

Revenue Management is fascinating. At one of our hotels, we were overbooked by 15 rooms on a certain date. The Revenue Manager said 'keep booking' so we went up to -30. On the night, we ended up being exactly fully booked, because of the constant cancellations/amendments that are made to the bookings we accepted. But having the nerve to keep selling rooms meant that instead of being undersold by 30 rooms, we were fully booked, with nobody turned away and everyone happy. But that takes nerves.

I think with airlines it's slightly different, as changing and amending a booking brings incremental revenue, but the underlying principle is the same = on some dates, you can forecast with a high degree of accuracy just how busy the plane will be.

[RichardMannion]

quote:Originally posted by David
quote:Originally posted by RichardMannion
The sale fares will need to be bought in advance, so they are ApEx.


Thanks for quick reply Richard. Don't suppose you know how far in advance ?

David


28 days according to the T&C's:
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/sp ... sssale.jsp

1. The fares and book by date shown above are correct as of 27 February but are subject to change or extension depending on take up and market conditions. Reservations for all sectors must be ticketed at least 28 days prior to departure. No travel is permitted on VS flight range VS 3000 - 3999.

2. The fares detailed above are strictly subject to availability and are offered on a first come, first served basis. The number of seats available on each flight at the fare detailed above is restricted and it is possible that the seats allocated on a particular flight may be fully booked, even though seats are still available in other booking classes. Some flights may have no availability on certain dates and popular dates (i.e. weekends, school and public holidays) will fill quickly.

3. The fares detailed above are for outbound travel on selected dates: a. Round trips are permitted. b. Round trips where the destination of the outward sector and the departure point of the return sector differ are permitted within the same Country (if applicable). c. One way trips are not permitted. d. Trips including sectors on airlines other than Virgin Atlantic including codeshares are not permitted. e)The is no advanced purchase restrictions on the fares detailed above.

4. Minimum stay is one Saturday night from date of departure from the UK. Maximum stay is 3 months.

5. Children (under 12) and infants (under 2) who require a seat pay 75% of the full adult fare. Alternatively infants (under 2) who do not require a seat pay 10% of the full adult fare (exclusive of passenger taxes, fees and surcharges).

6. Once a booking has been confirmed a. Date changes are not permitted. b. Cancellations are not permitted . c. No compensation and/or refund will be made available.

7. Flying Club miles, bonus miles and tier points are available on selected flights. Please check at time of booking.

8. Virgin Atlantic's published Conditions of Carriage apply (subject to change from time to time) and are available from Virgin Atlantic.

9. Once tickets have been issued Virgin Atlantic shall not be liable for any failure to comply with its obligations caused by (but not limited to) weather conditions, fire, flood, strike, hurricane, industrial dispute, war, terrorist activity, hostilities, political unrest, riots, civil commotion, or any other circumstances beyond the control of Virgin Atlantic.

10. These Terms and Conditions are subject to English Law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

quote:Originally posted by RichardMannion
[i]1. The fares and book by date shown above are correct as of 27 February but are subject to change or extension depending on take up and market conditions. Reservations for all sectors must be ticketed at least 28 days prior to departure. No travel is permitted on VS flight range VS 3000 - 3999.


Interesting that the 28 day restriction is not enforced on Africa sale fares, and, as nickdp points out in a thread a few below this one, he booked a PE sale fare to Nairobi travelling on Saturday just today [:?].

thanks for your replies - better get a shift on [;)]

David

quote:Originally posted by slinky09
Interesting that the 28 day restriction is not enforced on Africa sale fares, and, as nickdp points out in a thread a few below this one, he booked a PE sale fare to Nairobi travelling on Saturday just today [:?].


I think this is most likely a cultural thing with African travellers. The normal thing there is to turn up on the day they want to travel and buy from the ticket desk at the airport.

Strange to us, but normal for them.

Mike