What Is Wrong With "u"

[fr8tmastr]

A friend of mine just infomed me he has tickets roundtrip from the West Coast to the East Coast as follows
FL# 7382 LAX to JFK (is this United?)
Returning FL# 61 PHL to LAX

and for this cross country flight he is paying $178.00 That is not a misprint for less than the cost of some trendy sneakers he is traveling accross the country 2 times.

I'ts not the employees!!

 

[GadgetFreak]

You are half right. It isnt just the cost. But the cost is part of it. A lot of people have been saying fares have to be "rationalized". What you just gave was an example of a fare that was really unnecessarily low. There are others that are ridiculously high. They need a simplified fare structure that gives a value commensurate with the service they provide relative to their competition. Easier said than done, but they need to try.

 

[fr8tmastr]

I agree, nailing customers on the high end is equally bad. It really leaves a bad taste in the mouth of these people who will absolutely do everything they can to avoid getting nailed again the next time.

 

[Hope777]

Yes it is United from LAX-JFK (USAirways has not flow scheduled flights into JFK for about 4 years now).

 

[JS]

USAirways can't do much about the competition. Believe me, US does not go around selling tickets for 3.5 cents a mile just to be nice. They only do it to match the competition.

US has three choices as an alternative to matching fares in the marketplace:

1) ignore the competition and fly an empty seat rather than an $89 seat

2) bump off JetBlue by flooding the market with $39 seats

3) improve service so that people are willing to pay $150 when JetBlue is offering $89

Unfortunately, all three cost money, so I'm afraid fare matching is here to stay.

 

[insp89]

You are half right. It isnt just the cost. But the cost is part of it. A lot of people have been saying fares have to be "rationalized". What you just gave was an example of a fare that was really unnecessarily low. There are others that are ridiculously high. They need a simplified fare structure that gives a value commensurate with the service they provide relative to their competition. Easier said than done, but they need to try.

I seem to remember a time when we had a "rationalized" fare system. I believe it was around 1978-1979, It was called Regulation.

 

[GadgetFreak]

That wasnt rational, it was fixed. I dont think competing directly with the JetBlues and WNs will work. US wont beat them at their own game. I think US has to sell a somewhat higher priced product and provide a better product.