I thought JetBlue was like Airtran . . . no overbooking, ever...
I knew Jetblue doesn't overbook but I wasn't aware that neither does Airtran? Is that something new? When I worked there they used to overbook every now and then? Just curious...
Considering you would probably take a seat that would have gone out empty anyways its not costing the company more than a soda or a bag of blue chips.
It costs a lot more than that to move people and bags through the entire system. They may not be paying much, but are sill a function of the total overhead like everyone else. The key here is the opportunity for repeat business.
Ahem. Well, I WOULD, but since you're graciously providing me a free ride to work, that wouldn't go over so well.
(For that matter, I've never heard anyone on a Delta flight complain about the seats either. That doesn't mean anyone enjoys sitting in the middle seat though)
You know, the only way this scheme would actually make money is if someone was going to spend, say, $450 on tickets, but thought "What the heck, I'll spend the extra $150 just in case I want to go somewhere else."
Not criticizing here. Just trying to figure out how this really benefits JetBlue. Flying is generally an unpleasant experience in coach; it's like riding public transit in a major city. It's cheap, it gets you there, but it's not exactly something anyone does just for the fun of it.
Cheap fares at least expose people who wouldn't otherwise fly to your particular brand and may generate future business. But this is obviously targeted to people who are already familiar with JB. Good for some press for a while, I guess.
Hmmm...I often hear customers comment how we have more space in our coach seats than other carriers. For the fun of it? I don't think I would ride any carrier or any seat from JFK or Garbage for the fun of it. Maybe JFK SA or EK...Thats it. Its not fun from up front or in the back, but its necessary. For the money, our product is very strong. Hence, the business.
The goal is brand exposure. In an otherwise downtime for the industry, It keeps the JetBlue product active. Your airline would like to be New York's leading airline. New Yorkers like to go places. (Big day in the market--Lets do Vegas for 24 hours!..That customer is still there) Weekend and anytime travel for leisure or maybe business, in today's market, is quite valuable. This type of offering keeps our relevance on that New York customer.
Our business model can accept a lower yield for brand exposure. Its going to have a low yield anyway in September. A few months ago, SWA put seats on sale for 29$ for September. This is really no different.
Our business model can accept a lower yield for brand exposure. Its going to have a low yield anyway in September. A few months ago, SWA put seats on sale for 29$ for September. This is really no different.
Oh, no doubt it's about brand exposure. Personally, I think ultra-low fares would generate more "buzz" than this promotion.
All of us in the industry know what a scam "flying for free" . . or in this case, "unlimited" really is. Flights may be free, but all the attendant costs (lodging, food, transportation to/from airport, time off work needed to do any of it) make "unlimited" flying a bit of an illusion.
Then again, I'm not marketing. As we all know, marketing departments are geniuses who shall not be questioned.
This reminds me of the "all you can eat and drink for $65 pp a day" during your vacation junkets. After the first day you realize you really can't do much more than a day or so of it and realize they "got your money" so you TRY to make it worth your while, but it just doesn't seem to work. With flights this full, they'll be hardpressed to get many seats open for the "takers" of this sale in my opinion. CAL's loadfactors have been near 90% for the past two months. You can't find a seat to get on to go anywhere.....and yet we STILL can't make any money. Go figure........
Don't forget Souplantation! Thats my personal choice and the healthy alternative. MMMM...four plates of salad and all the turkey chili I can get! Now that's the company I wanna keep.
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