4 ms·

You get what you pay for. If you want to pay absolute bottom-dollar prices, you're going to get absolute bottom-dollar service. If you want to pay more you can

You get what you pay for. If you want to pay absolute bottom-dollar prices, you're going to get absolute bottom-dollar service. If you want to pay more you can and will get more services. I've hung out at an on-board bar on a 777 in the last year on a flight from Australia to the US, but the ticket cost over $8k USD round-trip. It's possible to have a private shower and bedroom onboard an A380 flight, but you will pay dearly for the privilege. There's room in the market for both extremes as well as in the middle. I doubt you'll get a buffet service on a round trip ticket that costs <$500 (trans-oceanic, at least) as it likely is not economical to offer that. That being said, there are airlines that are offering improved options even in Economy cabins... they just charge for it. An example is Air New Zealand's "Economy Skycouch" https://www.airnewzealand.com/economy-skycouch https://www.airnewzealand.com/economy-skycouch So with the possibility that this design could save on fuel costs, maybe airlines will be able to sell upgraded experiences at prices that are today bare-bones. Time will tell.

mastre_ 7y ago
> It's possible to have a private shower and bedroom onboard an A380 flight, but you will pay dearly for the privilege. I wonder if a paid shower pass system would work. You wait your turn, but you get to take a shower, for, say, something like $100. Just seems like it's kept to an all-or-nothing on purpose.
pkulak 7y ago
The problem is that now there's so much price pressure on the economy seats, they are subsidized by the more expensive options. If you want a first class seat today, that takes 50% more room on the aircraft, you will pay what, 2, 3, 4 times as much money? There's really no middle ground. I'm fine with that, cause I have a family or four, we're all short, and I'm cheap, but I guess that makes me part of the problem. :D
- baxtr 7y ago
  "Take from the rich, give to the poor!" Although in my experience, many companies that don't care that much about travel expenses pay most of the economy seats. At least on the transatlantic flights I've been on.
- SubiculumCode 7y ago
  Im 6'5" and cant afford 1st class. I am miserable and my knees are jammed against the seat for hours. 1 inch more and I'd be fine. There has got to be more tiers
  - TrickyRick 7y ago
    There is usually both premium economy and business class between economy and first.
    - sokoloff 7y ago
      I very rarely see both business and first on a given flight and can’t recall ever seeing it on a narrow body.
      - dagw 7y ago
        Most longer intercontinental flights have both business and first in my experience. But I agree that I don't think I've seen it on a narrow body airplane
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    Economy, Premimum Economy, Business, First. How many tiers do you want?
    - mac01021 7y ago
      He wants to pay 5% more for a couple more inches of leg room.
      - chrisseaton 7y ago
        He said he couldn't afford First. There's literally two other tiers in between that and Economy.
        wanderr 7y ago
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  First class seats take up way more space than 50% more. Look at the seat maps on something like SeatGuru. On width alone they take up over twice the space, and I'd guess depth would be far more.
- cheerlessbog 7y ago
  The ticket price categories are surely determined by what they can sell for (price segmentation) not their cost to provide.
- taneq 7y ago
  > The problem is that now there's so much price pressure on the economy seats, they are subsidized by the more expensive options. Are you really suggesting that airlines make a loss on economy seats?
guelo 7y ago
Airlines have been having record profit the last several years, especially in the US. Over the last decade they have figured out how to take back pricing power from the internet and they've gotten better at data anlysis and price discrimination.
beambot 7y ago
What percentage of fare price is fuel?
- trickstra 7y ago
  From my experience, flying longer connections actually makes the price lower. Significantly. For example 30% longer flight, half the normal price. So nobody really cares about fuel in pricing

mastre_ 7y ago

> It's possible to have a private shower and bedroom onboard an A380 flight, but you will pay dearly for the privilege. I wonder if a paid shower pass system would work. You wait your turn, but you get to take a shower, for, say, something like $100. Just seems like it's kept to an all-or-nothing on purpose.

pkulak 7y ago

The problem is that now there's so much price pressure on the economy seats, they are subsidized by the more expensive options. If you want a first class seat today, that takes 50% more room on the aircraft, you will pay what, 2, 3, 4 times as much money? There's really no middle ground. I'm fine with that, cause I have a family or four, we're all short, and I'm cheap, but I guess that makes me part of the problem. :D

baxtr 7y ago
"Take from the rich, give to the poor!" Although in my experience, many companies that don't care that much about travel expenses pay most of the economy seats. At least on the transatlantic flights I've been on.
SubiculumCode 7y ago
Im 6'5" and cant afford 1st class. I am miserable and my knees are jammed against the seat for hours. 1 inch more and I'd be fine. There has got to be more tiers
- TrickyRick 7y ago
  There is usually both premium economy and business class between economy and first.
  - sokoloff 7y ago
    I very rarely see both business and first on a given flight and can’t recall ever seeing it on a narrow body.
    - dagw 7y ago
      Most longer intercontinental flights have both business and first in my experience. But I agree that I don't think I've seen it on a narrow body airplane
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  Economy, Premimum Economy, Business, First. How many tiers do you want?
  - mac01021 7y ago
    He wants to pay 5% more for a couple more inches of leg room.
    - chrisseaton 7y ago
      He said he couldn't afford First. There's literally two other tiers in between that and Economy.
      - wanderr 7y ago
chrisseaton 7y ago
First class seats take up way more space than 50% more. Look at the seat maps on something like SeatGuru. On width alone they take up over twice the space, and I'd guess depth would be far more.
cheerlessbog 7y ago
The ticket price categories are surely determined by what they can sell for (price segmentation) not their cost to provide.
taneq 7y ago
> The problem is that now there's so much price pressure on the economy seats, they are subsidized by the more expensive options. Are you really suggesting that airlines make a loss on economy seats?

guelo 7y ago

Airlines have been having record profit the last several years, especially in the US. Over the last decade they have figured out how to take back pricing power from the internet and they've gotten better at data anlysis and price discrimination.

beambot 7y ago

What percentage of fare price is fuel?

trickstra 7y ago
From my experience, flying longer connections actually makes the price lower. Significantly. For example 30% longer flight, half the normal price. So nobody really cares about fuel in pricing