How to nickle and dime your customers to death

In article <MIopf.39148$L7.30440@fe12.lga>, Evelyn C. Leeper
<eleeper@> wrote:

> Except, of course, they're not lowering their prices if you don't.

Well, since the airlines are generally selling their product below cost
right now, be thankful airfare is as cheap as it is. Costs have gone
up, and airfares NEED to go up for these companies to survive and
continue providing service to smaller destinations. Not every city
works with Southwest's business model.

Evelyn C. Leeper <eleeper@> wrote
> AllEmailDeletedImmediately wrote:
>> a buck here, a buck there <brothercanyou@spareabuck.aa> wrote

>>> Fly like eagle, sip like sparrow at $1 a can Complimentary soda, snack
>>> canceled; coffee, water still free on American Eagle; psst, wanna buy a
>>> pillow and blanket--only $5?

>> they've never been free, just included in the cost. now, they're breaking
>> it down and letting you decide if you want the stuff instead of charging all
>> for them.

> Except, of course, they're not lowering their prices if you don't.

They've already lowered their prices to a
level at which most of them are going bust.

beavis wrote:

> Well, since the airlines are generally selling their product below cost
> right now, be thankful airfare is as cheap as it is. Costs have gone
> up, and airfares NEED to go up for these companies to survive and
> continue providing service to smaller destinations. Not every city
> works with Southwest's business model.

They are selling their product at the price that the market will bear,
and what the competition is charging. Unfortunately, this price is too low.

Part of the solution is to let the bankrupt airlines actually go out of
business, to reduce the supply. However a lot of discretionary trips
would not be made at all, if the price of each ticket reflected the cost
of providing the service.

"AllEmailDeletedImmediately" <derjda@m> wrote in message
news:43a4dc39$0$25251$cc2e38e6@news.uslec.net...
>
> "a buck here, a buck there" <brothercanyou@spareabuck.aa> wrote in message
> news:fio8q1hngfuesrb3ljua7n2svo9ou7auu2@news...
> >
> > Fly like eagle, sip like sparrow at $1 a can
> > Complimentary soda, snack canceled; coffee, water still free on
> > American Eagle; psst, wanna buy a pillow and blanket--only $5?
>
>
> they've never been free, just included in the cost. now, they're
breaking
> it down and letting you decide if you want the stuff instead of charging
all
> for them.

Seems the joke's on you - you're now paying for nothing at all rather than
paying for something you apparently didn't want.

As long as airlines build their business model on those who produce least
profit, if any, they will be in trouble.

Paul Nixon

khobar <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
> "AllEmailDeletedImmediately" <derjda@m> wrote in message
> news:43a4dc39$0$25251$cc2e38e6@news.uslec.net...
>>
>> "a buck here, a buck there" <brothercanyou@spareabuck.aa> wrote in
>> message news:fio8q1hngfuesrb3ljua7n2svo9ou7auu2@news...
>>>
>>> Fly like eagle, sip like sparrow at $1 a can
>>> Complimentary soda, snack canceled; coffee, water still free on
>>> American Eagle; psst, wanna buy a pillow and blanket--only $5?
>>
>>
>> they've never been free, just included in the cost. now, they're
>> breaking it down and letting you decide if you want the stuff
>> instead of charging all for them.
>
> Seems the joke's on you - you're now paying for nothing at all rather
> than paying for something you apparently didn't want.
>
> As long as airlines build their business model on those who produce
> least profit, if any, they will be in trouble.

They dont, they fill the plane with those who are profitable at their marginal
cost.

If they didnt do that, the fares would be higher.

khobar wrote:

> As long as airlines build their business model on those who produce least
> profit, if any, they will be in trouble.

It seems that most leisure travelers base their airline decision solely
on price, so it's very hard for an airline to build a business model on
anything but a race to the bottom.

People select an airline mainly on routes and price. The quality of the
food, if any, the safety record, the type of aircraft, etc., count for
very little.

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote
> khobar wrote

>> As long as airlines build their business model on those who produce least
>> profit, if any, they will be in trouble.

> It seems that most leisure travelers base their airline decision
> solely on price, so it's very hard for an airline to build a business
> model on anything but a race to the bottom.

> People select an airline mainly on routes and price. The quality of
> the food, if any, the safety record, the type of aircraft, etc.,
> count for very little.

That last is really only true in a highly regulated market like the
US domestic market. It isnt true of the much more gung ho
international market where anyone with a clue does have some
regard to the safety record and type of aircraft used and
avoids operations like aeroflot when that is feasible etc.

John Doe wrote:
>
> This is why I quit flying commercial and bought my own plane.
>
> 6 months and 4 days since my last commercial flight.

Sounds like a good...uhm...frugal option. I didn't like the service I
got at most restaurants, so I bought my own restaurant. Showed them,
eh?!

-Tom

<baron48@m> wrote in message
news:1135030786.825252.4600@g49g2000cwa. ps.com...
> John Doe wrote:
>>
>> This is why I quit flying commercial and bought my own plane.
>>
>> 6 months and 4 days since my last commercial flight.
>
> Sounds like a good...uhm...frugal option. I didn't like the service I
> got at most restaurants, so I bought my own restaurant. Showed them, eh?!

Get one near a small airport. That way, John Doe can fly in and dine there
for his $100 hamburger. You'll both be happy.

> >> I had a boss once who would ask a simple question about travel. If I
> >>wanted to go a trade show in Vegas he would say. "answer honestly,if the
> >>show was in Fresno would you want to go?"


This is a very valid question.

A smart employee will always answer "Yes, it is the conference that is
important, I'll learn a lot that will benefit our company".

But when the conference is in an attractive location, the employee is
more likely to wirkj hard to find/concuct justification to attend.

And while some locations may seem to be "full of fun", one must also
consider travel flexibility. Las Vegas probably gets much better air
service from all over north america than Fresno. So when setting up a
conference, it is a fairly important consideration.

And this becomes more important when this is more of a meeting than a
conference. You can use a spreadsheet to compare costs of holding a
meeting in city A versus city B based on airfares from each city where
you current have people expected to attend.

Because airfares have traditionally been irrational, there have been
many occasions where a not so obvious destination ends up being much
cheaper overall than some central midway point where the staff travel to.