Comment by scarface_74

Comment by scarface_74 10 months ago

Once an airline schedules a flight, each additional passenger is 0 marginal cost.

Besides the people who have high status with an airline are usually price insensitive business travelers.

The people who aren’t penny pinching customers who do fly often on their own dime are either going to pay for business class or first class seats or are going to get auto upgrades for free once they book. At least that’s how it works on Delta.

They surely aren’t going to sully themselves by sitting in the “cattle class”.

For instance, Delta releases cheap economy seats to their partners like Virgin and KLM. I routinely book short flights between MCO (Orlando - current home) and ATL (former home) all of the time for 5500 points via KLM/AirFrance to fly Delta (cash price $230 one way) and to see my parents in small town south GA (MCO - ATL - ABY) for 8500 points (cash price one way $358).

The tickets that Delta releases to partners are the least desirable times and they take away even tho use three weeks before the flight because they can jack up prices.

As an example, there are at least 15 flights a day between MCO and ATL on Delta. Three of those flights may be available on KLM or Virgin

Sohcahtoa82 10 months ago

> price insensitive business travelers.

I've done paid travel for several companyies and they've all still been price sensitive. They usually have some policy where they'll detect some "reasonable" itinerary but then let me choose my own as long as it's within a certain dollar amount of their "reasonable" itinerary.

Who are these "price insensitive" companies?

What's always been especially annoying to me is that I've never had an option to pay out of pocket to upgrade my seat. Company travel portal only lets me book an economy ticket, and if I ask the airline about upgrading, they say to contact the company travel portal, who of course tells me to contact the airline. $eyeroll_emoji

Of course, the companies always have a strict "ALL TRAVEL MUST BE BOOKED THROUGH THE PORTAL" policy, so I couldn't even just pay the ticket out of pocket and get a portion reimbursed.

> I routinely book short flights between MCO (Orlando - current home) and ATL (former home)

That's only ~450 miles. I'd just drive that.

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scarface_74 10 months ago

Why would I drive 6.5 hours when I can just get dropped off by the airport, whiz through Clear + TSA Precheck, hang out at the Delta lounge where I get free food and alcoholic drinks, hop on the plane and be there in an hour and a half?
Especially since it is essentially free?
Besides I work remotely and we have been down to one car since mid 2020. If either one of us are going by our self, we wouldn’t want to leave the other without a car.
As far as price insensitivity , what are the chances that the cheap routes are going to be available when and where the business traveler needs to go?
I assure you that the travel policies that your company uses for you aren’t the same ones they use for their executives.
I doubt very seriously that Andy Jassy or Bezos had their expense report rejected for a $3 stick of deodorant they charged to the room like what happened to me when I was at AWS (cloud consulting department - ProServe).
But even Amazon didn’t make you choose the cheapest route and I could always choose thier “most preferred carrier” - Delta - even if it did cost more.
I could also choose non stop vs layover if it costs more.

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- Sohcahtoa82 10 months ago
  
  Ah, see...
  For me, flying is a bigger ordeal than that.
  It's a 30 minute drive to the airport, to which I want to arrive 2 hours before departure to ensure I have enough time to go through security. It's never been more than 30 minutes at my airport, but I don't want to chance it. There's also the time it takes to check my bag and walk to the gate. I'll typically get to my gate an hour early.
  I don't fly nearly enough to get access to lounges.
  Then when I get there, there's the waiting for my bag, then waiting for transportation...
  From the time I leave my house to the time I arrive at the hotel, that 450 mile flight would take me a total of probably around 4 hours. I'd rather just add on another 2 hours and drive myself, especially since that means I'll have my own car when I get there. But I enjoy driving, so that likely influences my choice as much as your access to TSA Precheck (I should get that) and the Delta Lounge, not to mention it being free.
  
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