Airlines have rubbed cheap prices after being surprised in charge of more solo travelers – but prices will not remain high
Airlines have been embarrassed by a pricing strategy To invoice passengers traveling alone that passengers traveling together. When they are called, they quickly ended the practice.
- Airlines believe that passengers traveling together are leisure travelers and probably sensitive to prices. They want to fill seats with cheap prices, but do not want to sell tickets for less than someone ready to pay. And a business traveler is likely to pay more.
- It is a gross way to separate business travelers from leisure travelers. But they do not have the tools they had as Saturday evening stays and purchasing requirements in advance of 14 or 21 days to obtain the cheapest prices. It is another tool like the basic economy that has taken their place.
The way they ended the requirement that there are at least two passengers on a reservation to qualify for the cheapest prices on certain routes Remove these prices which contained the requirement. This meant, for the moment, that the cheapest prices had just disappeared and whoever made a ticket purchase would pay the higher solo traveler’s rate.
One mile at a time sees it as a bad thing.
I would not consider airlines drawing cheaper prices for those who travel in a group of two or more to be something to celebrate, because now everyone pays more, and I think it is important that we call current reality.
The thing to understand here is that the fastest way to get rid of prices that require two passengers is to get rid of prices that require two passengers to be eligible! The airlines did it right away. “Hey, you caught us!” We don’t do that anymore!
But airlines must still fill seats and have to reduce prices to do so. The cheapest prices that required two passengers were there for a reason. And airlines that reduce their prices will attract marginal consumers sensitive to prices. There is still a drop pressure when there are empty seats. The prices will adjust.
Perhaps the airlines will also bring this type of price back, once the heat goes out and everyone gets used to it. Or maybe this is not the case – it was not used in all markets. It was one technique among many that airlines use to approach personalized prices as much as possible, where they charge each customer as much as possible without chasing this customer.
In fact, a source stresses that the American has not really abandoned all of his multi-passage prices, while United and Delta have done so: “American has definitely launched all of this, so I am sure that UA and DL merge to catch the blame”. And Jonnyc underlines that the American Saturday evening stay requirements on a round trip are back in some cases for the cheapest prices.
At the same time, if we see the end of this pricing practice, this does not mean that the overall prices of plane tickets will be lower! There is a certain price necessary to fill seats, and the tools to get there change but it is … the same price. Perhaps couples will pay more than they would have done and that simple a little less, but frame it in this way is not quite correct. It is preferable to examine the overall levels of plane tickets rather than embarking on counterfeiting on the characteristics of travelers who are no longer used in prices. And these plane ticket levels are likely to be similar to what we have seen before.
