Seth Has His Own Website!

[USAir757]

When you don't have two nickels to rub together for an advertising budget, doing things like Seth generate "buzz". Whether you like or think it's tacky as heck it has by all accounts raised the load factors. So in that sense it's working.

[post="166567"][/post]​

They're doing something new. That's a GOOD thing.

The whole thing is just extremely embarrassing, downright cringeworthy. Thankfully, I guess, the campaign is extremely poorly executed as usual (lets put up a billboard without our logo or name, just the website in tiny print- genius). So hopefully not too many people will have to see this cheesy thing. I've told people that US is matching Indy Air and Southwest in PHL and thats probably more effective.

As PineyBob points out, the airline probably scraped the bottom of the wishing well at the Charlotte mall to bring the money together for this ad campaign. Yeah, it may be "poorly executed" as you say, but it's an attempt to secure bookings on a different level. The fact that some of you don't "get it" with this campaign just basically means it wasn't targeted at people like you. But don't throw the baby out with the bath water, they may have a little something here. They just need to find more wishing wells.

 

[AKA_trvlr64]

Glad I don't have to see that fool running aroung Pittsburgh. As I've said before I'd love to get the chance to create a USAIRWAYS campaign. Lord knows the fools in the marketing dept can't do it. Why not let your customers try?


We actually fly this airline and know more about it than they do.

 

[whlinder]

I work in the Revenue Management department at US Airways, where we try to sell as many great low fares as we can on flights to the destinations our customers are asking for.

If this is what Revenue Management is really trying to do, they should all be fired. HELLO! Selling as many low fares as you can does not make for a profitable airline! I guess I shouldn't be surprised though, considering the incredibly talented people I've seen at the US Revenue Management dept.

Piney Bob, US management said that Seth the Go-fares dude and the marketing behind it had increased load factors, or that Go-fares themselves had increased load factors? I'd tend to believe a bump in load factors (which SHOULD happen when you reduce prices) would be caused by the low fares that are Go-fare, as opposed to an awful marketing campaign.

 

[USAir757]

It's EASY really really EASY when you are flush with cash like SWA to saturate a market with advertising that isn't so "Edgy". When you are taking the "Milk Money" and trying to advertise, you have to make big bold splashes that generate FREE media coverage. In PHL the GoFares got TV, Radio & Print media to publicize the "events". The dollar value of thatTV & Radio time far exceeded the actual cash outlay for Seth. Like it or not, dopey Seth may well save US Airways.

I couldn't agree with you more. Funny, lots of criticism of RM in this thread, yet no better ideas being thrown about. Any takers?

 

[AtlanticBeach]

If this is what Revenue Management is really trying to do, they should all be fired. HELLO! Selling as many low fares as you can does not make for a profitable airline! I guess I shouldn't be surprised though, considering the incredibly talented people I've seen at the US Revenue Management dept.

Piney Bob, US management said that Seth the Go-fares dude and the marketing behind it had increased load factors, or that Go-fares themselves had increased load factors? I'd tend to believe a bump in load factors (which SHOULD happen when you reduce prices) would be caused by the low fares that are Go-fare, as opposed to an awful marketing campaign.

[post="166625"][/post]​

Actually, the July numbers stated that the LF on non GoFares routes in July was 82% and 86.4% on GoFares routes. Average revenue was between -1.0% and flat compared to last year.

That information was in the 5th and 6th paragraphs of the August 4 press release.

Those are the facts. My opinion is that getting the revenue management mix has to be very difficult at the beginning of this process. The earlier post when someone complained about the variation in fares, appears to be an indication that it is working in the case being cited.

 

[ELP_WN_Psgr]

I couldn't agree with you more. Funny, lots of criticism of RM in this thread, yet no better ideas being thrown about. Any takers?

How are these for better ideas:

(1) Open up Gofares in non-WN cities? I mean...how stupid do they really think that we, the traveling, airfare paying public really is?

A case in point: this blurb from the website - GoFares, which are US Airways' new low fares on a lot of popular routes.

Just how popular was PHL-PVD? Not very popular before WN plopped some airplanes in these. Seems to me it was 300 passengers a day total, in both directions, at an avergae fare of $300.

What this tells me is that this whole GoFares thing is not aimed at doing anything for me, the consumer. It is aimed solely at making entering the markets painful for WN, to drive them out (which seldom happens) and then if I am the guy that buys tickets (which is true-I am) -- what happens to airfare when WN leaves the market to seek greener pastures.

I am looking at PHL-BUF-PHL. In the middle of September, a month from now. Leave on a Tuesday and come back on a Thursday. The fare? $437 for the RT. Now, I will grant you that's much better than $1200, but come on....flying 300 miles to upstate NY should not cost more than flying to Los Angeles.

The bottom line: the fact that the GoFares to places passengers want to go applies only to WN (or FlyI) markets is pretty transparent. If there was any interest in accomplishing anything besides trying to force a competitor out of a formerly outrageously priced market, it might be different. If the folks making decisions were smart, they would stick these fares in some markets where WN isn't (yet). Like Buffalo. Like Pittsburgh. But they aren't....they think that by price gouging they are generating more revnue. They aren't but it is okay for them to think that they are. It is just all to clear that the business plan is not to sell a quality product at a fair price and make a profit in doing so. Rather, it is to squeeze the customer for every penny imaginable and use the money to reward former executives for helping to figure out ways to screw employees.

(2) Get some of the money back that was used to reward the alleged nitwits that came up with the horrible ideas that the company is currently forced to live with, and use that cash to pay for something resembling decent advertising.

 

[AKA_trvlr64]

How are these for better ideas:

(1) Open up Gofares in non-WN cities? I mean...how stupid do they really think that we, the traveling, airfare paying public really is?

A case in point: this blurb from the website - GoFares, which are US Airways' new low fares on a lot of popular routes.

Just how popular was PHL-PVD? Not very popular before WN plopped some airplanes in these. Seems to me it was 300 passengers a day total, in both directions, at an avergae fare of $300.

What this tells me is that this whole GoFares thing is not aimed at doing anything for me, the consumer. It is aimed solely at making entering the markets painful for WN, to drive them out (which seldom happens) and then if I am the guy that buys tickets (which is true-I am) -- what happens to airfare when WN leaves the market to seek greener pastures.

I am looking at PHL-BUF-PHL. In the middle of September, a month from now. Leave on a Tuesday and come back on a Thursday. The fare? $437 for the RT. Now, I will grant you that's much better than $1200, but come on....flying 300 miles to upstate NY should not cost more than flying to Los Angeles.

The bottom line: the fact that the GoFares to places passengers want to go applies only to WN (or FlyI) markets is pretty transparent. If there was any interest in accomplishing anything besides trying to force a competitor out of a formerly outrageously priced market, it might be different. If the folks making decisions were smart, they would stick these fares in some markets where WN isn't (yet). Like Buffalo. Like Pittsburgh. But they aren't....they think that by price gouging they are generating more revnue. They aren't but it is okay for them to think that they are. It is just all to clear that the business plan is not to sell a quality product at a fair price and make a profit in doing so. Rather, it is to squeeze the customer for every penny imaginable and use the money to reward former executives for helping to figure out ways to screw employees.

(2) Get some of the money back that was used to reward the alleged nitwits that came up with the horrible ideas that the company is currently forced to live with, and use that cash to pay for something resembling decent advertising.

[post="166644"][/post]​

OH MY GOD! You got it correct while Piney sounds like he's sucking wind. Oh but wait?! He just spent a weekend with US management. Feeling superior now that you have the inside track Piney? Guess you should stand back again and take a look at US like you used to. Oops! Can't when you're now the US managment official cockroach.

 

[USAir757]

(1) Open up Gofares in non-WN cities? I mean...how stupid do they really think that we, the traveling, airfare paying public really is?

Interesting perspective from a consumer. But you should be used to that in just about everything you buy. If one airline services a particular route, of course they are going to charge more for it. If they have competition on the route, especially competition like WN, they must lower their prices in order to compete. The airline couldn't possibly afford to offer GoFares to every route they fly, so they are just concentrating on those where they are competing. Just like when there's only one gas station in town, of course you're going to pay more.

 

[hp_fa]

GoFares to most of the system will happen over time. There are things that need to happen first.

Like WN entering that market?

 

[ELP_WN_Psgr]

Interesting perspective from a consumer. But you should be used to that in just about everything you buy. If one airline services a particular route, of course they are going to charge more for it. If they have competition on the route, especially competition like WN, they must lower their prices in order to compete. The airline couldn't possibly afford to offer GoFares to every route they fly, so they are just concentrating on those where they are competing. Just like when there's only one gas station in town, of course you're going to pay more.

I am not used to it in everything I buy.

If I need razor blades or shaving cream or toothpaste or a pair of wrangler jeans or guinea pig food, I can go down to WalMart and buy them...regardless of whether WalMart has a million and 1 competitors in my town or whether or not WalMart has already run all of the moms and pops out of business. They maintain reasonable prices throughout all of their stores.

If I need gasoline and I am in between El Paso & Dallas you can bet I am going to fill my tank when I leave and plan for my stops so I don't have to buy gasoline in some of the little bitty out of the way fly-specked towns where it might be $2.20 a gallon. I'll fill up before I leave and drive thru to Big Spring where it is $1.70.

Perhaps that is one of the reasons they have been successful.

I can hop on Southwest at any time and to any place with a reasonable degree of certainty I am not being price gouged. They have no competition (ie, it is a monopoly market) from OKC to MCI. 350 miles, give or take. What would USAirways charge me for a walk up fare in a totally monopoly market? Southwest would charge me....$94.

And that's USAirways' dilemma. Folks have been greedy and management has fed at the trough for way too long. Gouging passengers for every cent you can is never a good way to do business......maybe especially when you can. Do you think for an instant that the guy who buys plane tickets doesn't remember being bled for every cent....when the airline could do it (and did)?

Saying "we're going to adopt more GoFares when we can" is very much like a country that has just had a military dictatorship take over --- "we will have free elections when the people are ready"...it never happens.

If you peruse some of the other airline related websites you will hear a constant cry of "WN doesn't have the lowest fares....(fill in the blank with the name of your favorite network carrier) undercut them by $10 or $15 or $20 on an advance purchase ticket." That's probably true. Yet WN continues to carry more domestic passengers than any other airline (with the exception of DL depending on the month) and makes money in the process. How does an airline whom the cognoscenti on these boards ridicule as having "cattle car" service manage to extract a fare premium over the network carriers?

They do it because THE PASSENGER REMEMBERS. Passengers recall when they found out they could zip from BWI to BUF one morning and back that night for a job interview that led to a better position....without having to mortgage the house or sell the kids off for medical experiments. Passengers don't much like having to pay $450 for a 1 hour flight when the guy sitting in the same cabin right next to him paid $79.

Not my intent to turn this one in to a WN vs U thread. However, since U's management keeps squalling that the company is on life support, employees need to work for a buck sixty an hour....and WN is making good money while paying their folks well AND giving them profit sharing....it would seem sort of obvious that some of what they do should be emulated.

HP has tried a less onerous fare structure. Gee, they are making a little profit. And a whole lot of their routes run right in to WN's. What is it about pricing your product in a less ridiculous manner that your management can't comprehend?

But...keep dragging your feet. waiting and introducing Gofares in markets that WN has announced service to. The traveling public is not nearly as dense or as stupid as your management obviously believes. What the wait does is create an aversion to your product by the public.

You can keep telling yourselves that U's product is so vastly superior that, when given the option, folks will turn their nose up at WN with their ugly planes and unassigned seating. A whole lot of folks have lost a whole lot of money over the years by telling themselves that.

U has assigned seating. Whoopee! WN will give you about 2 or 3 more inches of legroom in coach and will give you a full beverage service on a 40 minute flight. U may extol the virtues of their FF program, but you know, depending upon where you want to go WN will give you one that is its equal or better. Not everyone wants to go to Tierra Del Fuego nor do they have the cash to head to Monaco (the country, not Lewinsky) and would be more than happy to let 5 1/2 RTs between PHL and PVD earn them a unrestricted ticket anywhere WN flies...they can go to Las Vegas and gamble away the kids' college education fund or somesuch.

But to get back to my point (instead of rambling)...time and tide wait for no man. Fixing the fare structure is waaaaaaaaay overdue and the fact that nobody has done anything about it just reinforces the belief that management doesn;t really want to give up price gouging....they cannot see the forest for the trees.

 

[deltawatch]

To bad we budgeted for golden parachutes instead a big fat GO-FARE logo on the front of a NASCAR. NASCAR is based in Charlotte, US Airways hubs in Charlotte; NASCAR fans are the type of folks that will be using GO-FARES. Races are held all over the country, next year they will run in MEXICO CITY another US Airways destination.

 

[PITbull]

ELP pasgr,

I really can't agree with that logic of shopping where there is the chepaest prices around..even for gas.

I personally won't drive 15 miles where there is a "Sheetz" that has gas octain of 89 for less than $1.90. I drive to the gas station where it is convenient to get to and gasoline prices are within reason in my surrounding area.

Another example is...I won't drive to any Walmart store because it is in conjested shopping malls and not anywhere near my home. I shop at a Giant Eagle which is less than 1/2 mile from my home and again, prices are reasonable in the surrounding area.

Its convenience and as Piney Bob implied, he wants to make sure that he receives a consistant product...and that is a "seat assignment" or if a flight cancels, he can hop on another flight even if it is another legacy carrier.. I like that thinking and its true to form. We must be doing something right, because the "load factors" for U are breaking records and our the highest in our history....that's not just PHL.

Most consumers in this country are very busy people. They want convenience, no hassle, reasonable price shopping.

When you speak about WN and their product...I know many folks who have traveled WN and don't like the fact that they may be on a flight that is over sold and not get on.

There is someting to be said for seat assignments, especially if you are flying with family members or a partner or spouse.

My brother paid $135.00 for a ticket from SFO to PIT round trip on U, 3 weeks ago. He purchased through U's website and no advance notice required.

Now, I know damn well that is not part of U's GOFARES and I know that it would cost him much more if he drove...much, much more, with just "time" alone.

And I also know that if U priced all their tickets Low like that $135 fare, we would surely go out of business, even if Labor came to work for free and if every pax in America flew us. It would be like me owning a huge bakery and offered the same product as the competitor and I sold every item for $1, I know that everyone would come to my store, but I would eventually go out of business if a) I didn't offer some bakery at higher prices, B) or raise prices at some point higher than $1.

"Rationalizing fares" is the key...and providing a better compeititive product than SW or AM. West have to offer. Cheapest fare on all routes will not keep U in business.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

"Not my intent to turn this one in to a WN vs U thread...."


Are you kidding me?

Is it ok that some people might have a different preference from you? Or maybe if they just read more of your postings, they'll realize that you're right and they should change.

 

[US1YFARE]

OK here we go……Go to web sight search for flights I used PHL-BOS picked tomorrow returning the 12th I picked the first flight in the morning hit price and got 306.00
Picked next flight and got 196.00
Picked third flight and got 256.00

I picked these same time in the morning going and coming

Here is the problem with USAir ways instead of just doing the right thing they try to screw everybody out of every dime they can.

I AM EMBARRASSED TO WORK FOR THIS COMPANY……..

IF THIS IS THE BEST THEY CAN DO WE ARE DOOMED………

[post="166561"][/post]​

I am happy to see these fares. The Acela is $152 one way and it takes a lot longer to get there. And, US has HOURLY service. It's convenient, quick, and reasonably priced.

 

[burghlaw1]

Although no one seems to think there is a real marketing campaign going on, everywhere I go online, UAIR seems to have online ads:

Post-Gazette.com
Philly.com
Nytimes.com
Flyertalk.com

Someone must have figured out how to store cookies on my terminal because the ads are "popping up" everywhere.