Originally Posted by
sailingfun
When a airline resorts to this type of pricing it normally means they are in the final stages of going out of business. It does not generate more revenue for the airline. It trains the customer to wait for the last minute great deal and reduces overall revenue in the future. Its happened many times and airline managements are well aware of it. Try and buy a last minute ticket on SWA or JetBlue. You wont find to many incredible deals if any. I often purchase tickets and certainly don't get those kind of deals. Last Jet Blue ticket I bought was 4 hours before the flight. 289 dollars one way for a 500 mile flight. Aircraft had about 20 empty seats at push.
I can easily see your point that ailing companies would resort to that pricing plan, but I don't see any reason why strong companies wouldn't/shouldn't do the same. The key is obviously research research and more research by the egg heads to squeeze the most revenue for every seat - Easier said then done. With people extremely cost conscience, it's not surprising that people will choose the airline where the cost of a seat is $1 less then another - So much for brand loyalty. With that in mind, I wonder how long SWA will stay with the 'Bags Fly for Free' position. I'm sure the eggheads back in Dallas are always researching whether or not they should change course on that decision.
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