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> consumers are more inclined to pay for luxury. Are they? Genuinely curious. With inflation rates we’ve seen lately it’s been my impression that the opposite

> consumers are more inclined to pay for luxury. Are they? Genuinely curious. With inflation rates we’ve seen lately it’s been my impression that the opposite is the case.

owenversteeg 2y ago
In the US? Absolutely. Look at Apple's market share post-pandemic, the growth of organic food, luxury spending, cars, anything really. There has been an overwhelming shift to luxury. Google the 2020 vs 2023 Prius. Hell, even McDonalds is trying to move upscale!
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  Exactly, yet they're all whining about inflation and how they don't get paid enough. Bunch of entitled brats.
- nunez 2y ago
  BNPL a la Affirm/Klarna popped off during COVID
- potato3732842 2y ago
  Is the market for those products growing to include more people or are people who consume those things getting richer and consuming them more?
standardUser 2y ago
I imagine most non-corporate, non-loyalty fliers use flight search engines where they can easily compare prices. If Spirit has the worst reputation, which I think is a given, consumers have to weigh the price difference between Spirit and a 'regular' carrier against that bad reputation. That begs the question, how much cheaper is a Spirit flight compared to other carriers for a given itinerary? In my experience, it's maybe $50-$150, compared to a trip that might cost $500-$2000 overall. It's not like fliers are choosing between Spirit and first class on Delta. They're deciding whether or not to spend an extra ~$100 to be slightly less miserable on a trip that may be one of their largest single expenses of the year, and maybe their only trip of the year.
- owenversteeg 2y ago
  Exactly. In America today people have very little vacation time, a lot of money, and a taste for luxury. With the recent increases in salaries and fuel costs, the delta between the LCCs and the legacy carriers has dropped. You're a consumer in America taking your single yearly vacation. Are you going to save $40 on your several-thousand-dollar trip to fly Spirit? Apparently not. Meanwhile in Europe you're flying shorter distances more frequently, you don't care as much about Easyjet vs Lufthansa, and 40 euros is a lot more money.
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    On the other hand, when I fly to Vegas, typically Spirit and Frontier are less than $100 round trip. Southwest is $250-$275, and the traditional airlines are over $300. And it’s for the same no-meal, shitty legroom, unpleasant experience. So what am I paying 3X for? A brand name?
    - c22 2y ago
      Sounds like the extra cost is paying to support a sustainable business model.
      - wkat4242 2y ago
        The low cost airlines in Europe are very sustainable though. They're doing great and even the old airlines are following their models now, like charging for luggage.
    - potato3732842 2y ago
      >And it’s <garbage>. So what am I paying 3X for? A brand name? I feel like this is true for the entry and value priced offerings in a ton of industries.
  - sofixa 2y ago
    Also, Europeans have a lot more time off. When you're making a long weekend trip, catching a Ryanair flight and suffering through it (it's not super comfortable, but you get what you pay for) is not a big deal because the flight is short, it probably gets you close to your destination which was maybe picked because of this, and it doesn't matter that much because this might be one of your multiple trips that year. > single yearly vacation This is genuinely sad and unhealthy.
orwin 2y ago
The thing is, comfort is sticky (as I well know sadly, second class is hard to bear for me). Low-cost companies targeted people with low disposable income at the cost of comfort. People who used to have low disposable income have now not enough to travel by plane (or at all), and people who had enough to use standard companies have still enough to use them. A very interesting fact is that median income grew in the US (less than average, but close enough). The standard deviation (from memory, if this isn't the translation of 'écart-type' I'm sorry) grew also, which indicate that the recent economic 'boom' the US experienced since the end of covid took more than 50% of us citizen with it, but clearly not a huge majority. Germany experienced a very similar thing since 2012. To my knowledge, in Germany it was most likely caused by a transfer from progressive taxation to a fixed one, reducing purchasing powers of people with low disposable income. In the US it seems it's a direct income issue.

> consumers are more inclined to pay for luxury. Are they? Genuinely curious. With inflation rates we’ve seen lately it’s been my impression that the opposite is the case.

owenversteeg 2y ago

In the US? Absolutely. Look at Apple's market share post-pandemic, the growth of organic food, luxury spending, cars, anything really. There has been an overwhelming shift to luxury. Google the 2020 vs 2023 Prius. Hell, even McDonalds is trying to move upscale!

shiroiushi 2y ago
Exactly, yet they're all whining about inflation and how they don't get paid enough. Bunch of entitled brats.
nunez 2y ago
BNPL a la Affirm/Klarna popped off during COVID
potato3732842 2y ago
Is the market for those products growing to include more people or are people who consume those things getting richer and consuming them more?

standardUser 2y ago

I imagine most non-corporate, non-loyalty fliers use flight search engines where they can easily compare prices. If Spirit has the worst reputation, which I think is a given, consumers have to weigh the price difference between Spirit and a 'regular' carrier against that bad reputation. That begs the question, how much cheaper is a Spirit flight compared to other carriers for a given itinerary? In my experience, it's maybe $50-$150, compared to a trip that might cost $500-$2000 overall. It's not like fliers are choosing between Spirit and first class on Delta. They're deciding whether or not to spend an extra ~$100 to be slightly less miserable on a trip that may be one of their largest single expenses of the year, and maybe their only trip of the year.

owenversteeg 2y ago
Exactly. In America today people have very little vacation time, a lot of money, and a taste for luxury. With the recent increases in salaries and fuel costs, the delta between the LCCs and the legacy carriers has dropped. You're a consumer in America taking your single yearly vacation. Are you going to save $40 on your several-thousand-dollar trip to fly Spirit? Apparently not. Meanwhile in Europe you're flying shorter distances more frequently, you don't care as much about Easyjet vs Lufthansa, and 40 euros is a lot more money.
- ryandrake 2y ago
  On the other hand, when I fly to Vegas, typically Spirit and Frontier are less than $100 round trip. Southwest is $250-$275, and the traditional airlines are over $300. And it’s for the same no-meal, shitty legroom, unpleasant experience. So what am I paying 3X for? A brand name?
  - c22 2y ago
    Sounds like the extra cost is paying to support a sustainable business model.
    - wkat4242 2y ago
      The low cost airlines in Europe are very sustainable though. They're doing great and even the old airlines are following their models now, like charging for luggage.
  - potato3732842 2y ago
    >And it’s <garbage>. So what am I paying 3X for? A brand name? I feel like this is true for the entry and value priced offerings in a ton of industries.
- sofixa 2y ago
  Also, Europeans have a lot more time off. When you're making a long weekend trip, catching a Ryanair flight and suffering through it (it's not super comfortable, but you get what you pay for) is not a big deal because the flight is short, it probably gets you close to your destination which was maybe picked because of this, and it doesn't matter that much because this might be one of your multiple trips that year. > single yearly vacation This is genuinely sad and unhealthy.

orwin 2y ago

The thing is, comfort is sticky (as I well know sadly, second class is hard to bear for me). Low-cost companies targeted people with low disposable income at the cost of comfort. People who used to have low disposable income have now not enough to travel by plane (or at all), and people who had enough to use standard companies have still enough to use them. A very interesting fact is that median income grew in the US (less than average, but close enough). The standard deviation (from memory, if this isn't the translation of 'écart-type' I'm sorry) grew also, which indicate that the recent economic 'boom' the US experienced since the end of covid took more than 50% of us citizen with it, but clearly not a huge majority. Germany experienced a very similar thing since 2012. To my knowledge, in Germany it was most likely caused by a transfer from progressive taxation to a fixed one, reducing purchasing powers of people with low disposable income. In the US it seems it's a direct income issue.