longing4piedmont said:
As we all know they pay full Y fares and never want to be upgraded. :blink:
And there really is a great pumpkin, Charlie Brown
🙂 .
Regarding LAS: if folks blow things like US20s to get the upgrade (in my US3 days I did this frequently to ensure the upgrade on a tough to upgrade route like LAS) it's actually a good thing from US perspective, as it reduces the mileage liability in a rather efficient way (heck, it's like an entire off-peak coach ticket for 20k, right?). This is good.
Regarding other types of upgrades, it's the classic tradeoff--without being able to upgrade this route and/or without reasonable chances to upgrade this route, there are many VFFs who will seek another carrier. The catch-22 for U is that the coach product is poor in comparison with UA or AA, in particular. UA is particularly bad--if I can get the U miles, preboard, use the elite security line, and get an E+ seat, I'll buy the ticket from UA knowing that I can sit comfortably. Why gamble chasing the upgrade (bad pun going to LAS)?
The prevailing attitude of "it's a low yeilding route, so we should make it a slave ship" only applies if the other aspects of the value proposition allow that to hold. In U's case, it currently does not work that way.
Then there is the classic issue that I've actually had conversations with folks from CCY about: the total customer relationship. I used to give U almost all of my traffic. Walkup Y all the way to the $200 runs to the coast and everything in between. After last year when BBB made it clear that U was not interested in anything except the proverbial last minute lynch type fares, I stopped flying U on those routes. When I've needed to cross the pond on short notice, it's been on AA/BA/UA and so forth. WHen I have some time to plan, I buy a $500 ticket from U and upgrade into Envoy, or fly to the coast in F for $200. I faxed the receipts to consumer affairs and a few others at CCY with my rationale--if you don't like me when I'm not blowing money hand over fist, you can kiss the revenue goodbye when I
am blowing money hand over fist. If I buy a $1700 walkup AMS-PIT now and again, I want to be able to sit in front now and again going to someplace like FLL or LAS. Lacking that, I see no reason to give U the "BBB gets wood" fares.
The folks in upper management in CCY still don't get it. It is about the complete value proposition, even for the once a year type flyer. Why do you think people blindly run to southwest.com even when they are not necessarily the cheapest?
Mark, I'm not entirely sure how to solve the problem with regard to fleet reconfiguration. I probably would have gone with 12F on the 757 if the config could have been worked. At least it's then in line with the 737/319s from a "chance to upgrade" perspective.
