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#1
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
Is there a whole website, or a section of a website, devoted to selling
vacant airplane seats at the last minute, say within the last 3 or 4 hours of takeoff time. I'm figuring that 4 hours before a flight takes off airlines might be willing to sell vacant seats at 1/2 or even 1/10 price since they get zero if the seat travels empty. |
#2
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
Alan wrote:
Is there a whole website, or a section of a website, devoted to selling vacant airplane seats at the last minute, say within the last 3 or 4 hours of takeoff time. I'm figuring that 4 hours before a flight takes off airlines might be willing to sell vacant seats at 1/2 or even 1/10 price since they get zero if the seat travels empty. I think you figure wrong. Revenue management strategy would rather they go empty than everyone in the world waits until the last second to bid then rushes to the airport. -- mysteryflyer http://www.mysteryflyer.com/ |
#3
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
"mysteryflyer" wrote:
Alan wrote: Is there a whole website, or a section of a website, devoted to selling vacant airplane seats at the last minute, say within the last 3 or 4 hours of takeoff time. I'm figuring that 4 hours before a flight takes off airlines might be willing to sell vacant seats at 1/2 or even 1/10 price since they get zero if the seat travels empty. I think you figure wrong. IMHO, airlines know that they can count on a certain volume of last-minute or walk-up traffic, desperate enuff to pay retail. They only give price breaks earlier to get the plane full enuff that they won't lose their tails, and the rest is icing on the cake. =R= |
#4
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
"Alan" wrote in message . .. Is there a whole website, or a section of a website, devoted to selling vacant airplane seats at the last minute, say within the last 3 or 4 hours of takeoff time. I'm figuring that 4 hours before a flight takes off airlines might be willing to sell vacant seats at 1/2 or even 1/10 price since they get zero if the seat travels empty. It doesn't work that way. Airfares are not logical unless you understand that a last minute ticket generally costs more, not less, than a ticket bought earlier. |
#5
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
"Jeff Hacker" wrote in message .com... "Alan" wrote in message . .. Is there a whole website, or a section of a website, devoted to selling vacant airplane seats at the last minute, say within the last 3 or 4 hours of takeoff time. I'm figuring that 4 hours before a flight takes off airlines might be willing to sell vacant seats at 1/2 or even 1/10 price since they get zero if the seat travels empty. It doesn't work that way. Airfares are not logical unless you understand that a last minute ticket generally costs more, not less, than a ticket bought earlier. Which is the opposite of, say, hotel rooms. |
#6
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
"mysteryflyer" wrote in message ... Alan wrote: Is there a whole website, or a section of a website, devoted to selling vacant airplane seats at the last minute, say within the last 3 or 4 hours of takeoff time. I'm figuring that 4 hours before a flight takes off airlines might be willing to sell vacant seats at 1/2 or even 1/10 price since they get zero if the seat travels empty. I think you figure wrong. Revenue management strategy would rather they go empty than everyone in the world waits until the last second to bid then rushes to the airport. -- Yes, but after selling seats for months, don't some airlines have web sales a week or two before take off time related to how full the planes are? I was wondering if this concept got extended from "a week before" to "hours before." But the intent of my query wasn't to challenge ticket pricing strategy. If there aren't any such websites, then there aren't. I was just asking. |
#7
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:23:05 -0700, "Alan"
wrote: "Jeff Hacker" wrote in message y.com... "Alan" wrote in message . .. Is there a whole website, or a section of a website, devoted to selling vacant airplane seats at the last minute, say within the last 3 or 4 hours of takeoff time. I'm figuring that 4 hours before a flight takes off airlines might be willing to sell vacant seats at 1/2 or even 1/10 price since they get zero if the seat travels empty. It doesn't work that way. Airfares are not logical unless you understand that a last minute ticket generally costs more, not less, than a ticket bought earlier. Which is the opposite of, say, hotel rooms. It used to be that way, standby tickets were really cheap in the 1980s, but not in today's sophiscticated computerised system. |
#8
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
"Alan" wrote in message . .. Is there a whole website, or a section of a website, devoted to selling vacant airplane seats at the last minute, say within the last 3 or 4 hours of takeoff time. I'm figuring that 4 hours before a flight takes off airlines might be willing to sell vacant seats at 1/2 or even 1/10 price since they get zero if the seat travels empty. Maybe 20 years ago, but certainly not today. First of all, most flights go out full these days. However, even if they're not, the airlines will sell you a last-minute seat -- at the full "walk-up" fare, which can be up to 10 times the discount fare. |
#9
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
"Alan" wrote:
... the intent of my query wasn't to challenge ticket pricing strategy. If there aren't any such websites, then there aren't. I 'member getting ****y once when I priced a flight within a few days and the airline quoted a fare that was 3x the fare that I could have gotten 3 weeks before... I was like, "If you could get me there for 1/3 that fare two weeks ago, why not now -- its the same plane." Reply: "Well, you might think so." The air-folk seem to have figured that out those of us who walk up to a counter or call a reservation center with only hours to go are not likely to be discount shoppers, but to have a last-minute travel impulse or an urgent need to get someplace, and will pay the full-fare, regardless. =R= |
#10
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Cheap Seats Hours Before Takeoff?
It doesn't work that way. Airfares are not logical unless you
understand that a last minute ticket generally costs more, not less, than a ticket bought earlier. Which is the opposite of, say, hotel rooms. You cannot compare airfares with anything else, hotel rooms or produce. With hotel rooms, the hotel knows that there are many hotels in the area so you could go elsewhere and find a room. Even then all hotels will not negotiate. With airfares there are probably very few flights, maybe only one, going to your destination. And airfares have the complication that airlines will award upgrades and free flights to frequent fliers even at the last minute, not to mention accommodating passengers from earlier cancelled flights. That said, are you aware that all major American airlines have an email service to notify customers of last minute lower fares for under-sold flights, usually for the upcoming weekend? Pete |
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