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But that's how you end up getting new bargain airlines to drive the prices back down. And the demand for tickets has only increased, so it's not surprising that

But that's how you end up getting new bargain airlines to drive the prices back down. And the demand for tickets has only increased, so it's not surprising that established brands raise prices

repsilat 8y ago
Yeah. Passengers pick tickets based on sticker price, often/usually through price search engines. Connections and travel time are also factors. Baggage isn't. Leg-room isn't. Food isn't. Even "the most convenient airport" is often not important to passengers' purchasing decisions. It's hard to blame the airlines when they're just responding to incentives the passengers are giving them. And tickets are cheap, right? Can't complain too much about price competition, and I don't think you should really complain at all about a la carte pricing. It's the fairest way to do things (and it's what we all ask of our cable companies -- "I don't want to pay for sports/luggage, just give me HBO/beer!")
- crooked-v 8y ago
  How often is info on legroom or food actually available when shopping for tickets, though? Price is often literally the only concrete information available when buying a seat on a flight.
  - chooseaname 8y ago
    As far as legroom is concerned, Frontier makes it a feature you can decide on. But, you probably don't want to fly Frontier; they're not very good.
- mpweiher 8y ago
  > Baggage isn't. Leg-room isn't. Food isn't. Which, interestingly enough, is at least in part an API problem. Was at a talk by some people from IATA and ThoughtWorks a while back, and apparently the standard ticketing APIs that at least all the third party booking agencies use simply don't have room for innovative features. So for example, I think it was Air New Zealand that had a product where you could buy the middle seat to keep it empty. But that wasn't something that could be represented in the APIs, so you could only book it on their own website.
  - chimeracoder 8y ago
    > Which, interestingly enough, is at least in part an API problem. > Was at a talk by some people from IATA and ThoughtWorks a while back, and apparently the standard ticketing APIs that at least all the third party booking agencies use simply don't have room for innovative features. If that's the case, then Southwest should be able to innovate very easily in this area, because they don't use third-party ticketing. They could have separate zones with more or less legroom.
  - jpatokal 8y ago
    I think you're referring to the Sky Couch, which isn't just an empty middle seat, but converting three economy class seats into a bed (just) big enough for two to snuggle up. https://www.airnewzealand.com.au/economy-skycouch https://www.airnewzealand.com.au/economy-skycouch But you're right, the average GDS can't cope with this.
    - mpweiher 8y ago
      Yeah, I think they've expanded on the idea in the meantime.
- Aloha 8y ago
  I'm a frequent business traveler, I generally pick based on arrival/departure times, and carrier service level. Price is maybe the third or fourth item down on my list.

But that's how you end up getting new bargain airlines to drive the prices back down. And the demand for tickets has only increased, so it's not surprising that established brands raise prices

repsilat 8y ago

Yeah. Passengers pick tickets based on sticker price, often/usually through price search engines. Connections and travel time are also factors. Baggage isn't. Leg-room isn't. Food isn't. Even "the most convenient airport" is often not important to passengers' purchasing decisions. It's hard to blame the airlines when they're just responding to incentives the passengers are giving them. And tickets are cheap, right? Can't complain too much about price competition, and I don't think you should really complain at all about a la carte pricing. It's the fairest way to do things (and it's what we all ask of our cable companies -- "I don't want to pay for sports/luggage, just give me HBO/beer!")

crooked-v 8y ago
How often is info on legroom or food actually available when shopping for tickets, though? Price is often literally the only concrete information available when buying a seat on a flight.
- chooseaname 8y ago
  As far as legroom is concerned, Frontier makes it a feature you can decide on. But, you probably don't want to fly Frontier; they're not very good.
mpweiher 8y ago
> Baggage isn't. Leg-room isn't. Food isn't. Which, interestingly enough, is at least in part an API problem. Was at a talk by some people from IATA and ThoughtWorks a while back, and apparently the standard ticketing APIs that at least all the third party booking agencies use simply don't have room for innovative features. So for example, I think it was Air New Zealand that had a product where you could buy the middle seat to keep it empty. But that wasn't something that could be represented in the APIs, so you could only book it on their own website.
- chimeracoder 8y ago
  > Which, interestingly enough, is at least in part an API problem. > Was at a talk by some people from IATA and ThoughtWorks a while back, and apparently the standard ticketing APIs that at least all the third party booking agencies use simply don't have room for innovative features. If that's the case, then Southwest should be able to innovate very easily in this area, because they don't use third-party ticketing. They could have separate zones with more or less legroom.
- jpatokal 8y ago
  I think you're referring to the Sky Couch, which isn't just an empty middle seat, but converting three economy class seats into a bed (just) big enough for two to snuggle up. https://www.airnewzealand.com.au/economy-skycouch https://www.airnewzealand.com.au/economy-skycouch But you're right, the average GDS can't cope with this.
  - mpweiher 8y ago
    Yeah, I think they've expanded on the idea in the meantime.
Aloha 8y ago
I'm a frequent business traveler, I generally pick based on arrival/departure times, and carrier service level. Price is maybe the third or fourth item down on my list.