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Cranky on the Web: Bereavement Fares Gone, Schedule Charters on the Rise, US...
Bereavement Fares Have Disappeared on Most US Airlines – Associated Press For anyone who has tried to use one, you’re undoubtedly not surprised to hear that bereavement fares are all but gone. They...
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Cranky Flier Podcast #3: Why the Concert Ticket Model Won’t Work for Most...
It’s week three of the podcast. If you’re enjoying it, then great. If you’re not, well, I don’t even get the last pin removed from my broken finger until next week. I’m not sure how long until I’m up...
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United’s Revenue Management Problem: The Death of Independence of Demand
The most important theme coming out of United’s investor day last week was that it admits something that everyone else has known for years: it has a real revenue problem. Considering the network and...
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American Rolls Out Basic Economy With a Slightly Softer But Blunter Approach
When United rolled out Basic Economy last year, it got a lot of flak for how it handled it (including some right her on the blog). Yesterday, American rolled out its version of Basic Economy, and I was...
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The One Thing That Really Bothers Me About Basic Economy
With the imminent launch of Basic Economy on both United and American, we are on the cusp of a massive change that will impact anyone who buys travel in the US. While I personally agree with the...
View ArticleAmerican Tests Markets in Basic Economy Rollout While United Focuses on Fare...
A funny thing happened on Tuesday when both American and United officially filed their first Basic Economy fares in the market. (If you aren’t familiar with Basic Economy, read this.) I had been...
View ArticleUnited’s Basic Economy Has Expanded With a Small Twist
It’s only been a couple of months since United started selling Basic Economy fares, but the availability has grown rapidly. Unlike American, which seems to be taking a methodical approach, United tried...
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3 Links I Love: Horizon’s Pilot Problems, Irma Gouging Isn’t Real, Rescue...
This week’s featured link: Pilots’ union sues Horizon Air over deferral of 6 jet deliveries – Seattle Times These are interesting times up in the Pacific Northwest. Horizon, unsurprisingly, has a pilot...
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Cranky on the Web: When to Fly With Kids, Remaking ATPCO
The Best Age for Your Child to Get a Smartphone and Experience 11 Other Milestones – Reader’s Digest It was quite a blast of nostalgia to get a request from Reader’s Digest. I can’t say I’d heard that...
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American’s Rationale For Expanding Basic Economy to Mexico and the Caribbean...
Though American and United both began rolling out Basic Economy fares around the same time, United rushed it and made mistakes. American, however, has been more cautious, only introducing it slowly...
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Air Canada’s Basic Economy Introduction Shows How a Even a Slightly Smoother...
Following in the footsteps of its American counterparts, Air Canada has decided to join the Basic Economy club on some domestic Canadian routes. Ok, actually, it’s Economy Basic because, well, I guess...
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As Basic Economy Expands Across the Atlantic, the Message Gets Muddled
When the US-based airlines rolled out Basic Economy, it took some time to figure out the best way to explain it. In general, the idea was “this is like coach but the fares are more restricted.” That...
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Airlines Can’t Be Stupid Enough to Charge People More For Sharing Personal...
There have been a lot of stories floating around lately (like this one) about a seemingly-sinister plan for airlines to require you provide information about yourself and then charge you a higher fare...
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Cranky on the Web: Dynamic Pricing’s Pros and Cons, More on JetBlue, Cranky...
To work, dynamic pricing must be transparent – Travel Weekly Ok, so technically I wasn’t quoted in this piece, but instead the author used quotes from a post I wrote recently. I enjoyed the column, so...
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United Rushes Out a Semi-Basic Economy Transatlantic Offering
When I first saw the announcement that United and its joint venture partners Lufthansa Group and Air Canada were rolling out Transatlantic fares without the first bag free, I glossed over the...
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Cranky on the Web: When to Buy Tickets
Landing the Best Airfare Is a Matter of Timing – NerdWallet I would love to see a statistic about just how many times an article about when to buy plane tickets has been written. Of course, the reason...
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Why Won’t American Let Me Use Miles on a Connecting Flight? (Ask Cranky)
It’s time for another Ask Cranky. This one is a follow-up on a post I wrote last December. I read your post in December [about American opening up more award space on connecting flights] and I am NOT...
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United Quietly Tests Selling Economy Plus as Part of the Fare
Just this week, United quietly started filing a handful of fares that include Economy Plus seating in the Newark to Ft Lauderdale market. The fares are pretty terrible right now, and they aren’t...
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If You Think Fares Are Confusing for Travelers, What About the Poor Pricing...
When I first came out of college in 1999, I started work as an analyst in pricing & tariffs for America West Airlines. I realize I sound like an old man when I say this, but back then it was a...
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Preferred Seating Fees are a Problem
I’m a big proponent of the a la carte model, because it doesn’t force people to buy a bundle that includes things they don’t want or need. Because of that, you might think that I’d be a fan of...
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Alaska’s “Saver” Basic Economy Fare Will Include Limited Seat Assignments
Alaska said awhile ago it would roll out a Basic Economy fare to compete with low cost carriers the way that American, Delta, and United all have. Despite that, Alaska said its product wouldn’t need...
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Cranky on the Web: Talking Basic Economy, Hidden City Ticketing, and More
The 411 on Preferred Seating Fees & Basic Economy Fares – Miles to Go podcastI sat down for a long chat with Ed, and we discussed everything from preferred seating fees (and how I hate them) to...
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Alaska’s Basic Economy is On Sale in Three Markets
Last week, Alaska released its first Saver (aka Basic Economy) fares into the wild in three test markets for travel in a 10 day window between December 6 and 16. Presumably Alaska didn’t want to test...
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Creating Order from Chaos: Fixing How You Buy Airline Tickets
I don’t really need to even say it, but I will. Buying a ticket from an online travel agent sucks. It’s hard enough to compare apples to apples when there are so many different options out there,...
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Southwest Prepares for Battle in California With Fare Cuts (Analysis – Part 1)
Ever since I attended the Boyd conference way back in August, I’ve been meaning to look at Southwest’s intra-California strategy in more detail. Facing new competition from the combined Alaska/Virgin...
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Southwest Prepares for Battle in California With Fare Cuts (Analysis – Part 2)
Welcome back to the second part of a look at Southwest’s pricing changes in intra-California markets. If you missed the dynamics that led to this change yesterday, I’d recommend heading over to the...
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3 Links I Love: Hidden City Ticketing, Mokulele Cuts, California Pacific...
This week’s featured link: The travel trick that airlines hate – BBC capitalWhen I was in Dallas this week, I got into a long discussion with a few friends about hidden-city ticketing. (That kind of...
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Caution: Pricing Glitch Makes Some Travelers Pay More for Alaska’s Saver...
Part of the fun that comes with having the Cranky Concierge air travel assistance business is that I get to poke around in the Sabre Global Distribution System (GDS) regularly. And that means...
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Delta Introduces Comfort Basic Economy+
As travelers in the US finally get used to the idea of Basic Economy, Delta has decided to make things even more complex. The airline invented Basic Economy years ago, but it only accelerated the...
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And So It Begins: Emirates Unbundles Business Class
This year’s April Fools post was about Delta creating a version of “Basic Economy” in its higher cabins. At the end, I closed with “I realize this one sounds a little too real and could actually...
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3 Links I Love: Basic Evolves, Lufthansa Design, a Very Crowded Market
This week’s featured link: The Evolution of Basic Economy – an Update – VisualApproach.ioYou might be surprised to learn that airlines have started using Basic Economy in different ways since it...
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A $6,500 Penalty From EVA Thanks to Complex Fare Rules (Tales From the Field)
In my recent post talking about Delta’s move to reconsider change fees, I alluded to one issue we were having with EVA Air here at Cranky Concierge. Several of you chimed in wanting to hear about it,...
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When Airlines Refuse Refunds, There Will Be Consequences
It started with a schedule change policy. United — looking ahead and realizing that it was about to be bleeding cash when it canceled more than half of its flights due to this coronavirus — decided to...
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Cranky on the Web: Refund Madness, Small Business Struggles, Looking for Deals
DOT tells airlines to refund canceled flights, but don’t count on cash just yet – Los Angeles TimesI had a lot of inquiries come in about this during the week. United and JetBlue have now shifted...
View ArticleCranky on the Web: Airline Survival, Refunds, and a Friendly American
Evaporation of travel sector threatens airlines’ very survival – PBS NewsHourWhen PBS reached out for this, it was going to be about passenger impacts from the pandemic. By the time I did the...
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When Agencies Make Up Rules and Deny Refunds (Tales From the Field)
Today, I bring you a very special edition of Tales From the Field. What makes it so special? Well, today’s story has nothing to do with a Cranky Concierge client; it happened to us directly. The...
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The Southwest Effect on Disappearing Change Fees
Domestic change fees disappeared so quickly and with such little resistance — except you, JetBlue — that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this. The industry built change fees up to absurd...
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Sign of the Apocalyse: American’s Cheap, Refundable Long-Haul Fares
It was a big enough shock to see airline change fees start melting away, but now there’s something even stranger happening. American is experimenting with affordable, refundable fares on long-haul...
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The Weird and Confusing World of Ticket Validity
Chatter has been rising around what is going to happen to all those unused airline credits as more and more of them pile up. See, airlines have been issuing credits like the US government has been...
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United Makes a Confusing But Clever Rule Change That Targets Online Travel...
Word came out last week that United had finally backtracked off its plan to force travelers to forfeit residual value when changing a ticket to a cheaper fare. On the surface, this looks like United...
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More Complicated Fares Coming to an Airline Near You
People have long complained about the complexity involved in airline fares, but you ain’t seen nothing yet. ATPCO — the industry’s fare clearinghouse and owner of Routehappy — had its annual Elevate...
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Yes Fares Will Rise, But Only if Demand Grows or Capacity Falls
I’ve heard the question from friends, media, colleagues… will fares rise because of rising oil prices? The answer is… they shouldn’t in the short term. In the long run, probably, but it remains to be...
View ArticleCranky on the Web: How Oil Affects Fares
How rising fuel and strong demand could affect airfares – Travel WeeklyI went on The Folo podcast by Travel Weekly to talk about what really impacts fares. Come join us for a 30 minute discussion to...
View ArticleCranky on the Web: Rising Fares, New Rules on Buying Tickets, and Fight on a...
Rising Fares, Low-Cost Airlines: Navigating the New Reality in the Sky – The New York TimesThe Frugal Traveler looks at airfares and where they’re going. I spoke mostly about some of the low cost...
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Southwest’s Big Price Increase Went Into Effect Last Week
You probably saw all the press touting Southwest’s new fare category, Wanna Get Away Plus, that officially launched last week. While yes, there is some good news here, it is also a sizable price...
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Newark Leaving the NYC City Code Is Not a Big Deal
Starting on October 3, Newark will no longer be considered a New York City airport… or something like that. The reality is actually quite boring, but the news has spread like wildfire thanks to...
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When Hot Markets Go Cold: Orlando Edition
We heard last year all about the struggles in the ultra low cost carrier (ULCC) world, but now that we have DOT’s Q3 2023 data, we can see just how bad things were. I was particularly interested to...
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When Hot Markets Go Cold: Vegas Edition
I looked at the awful Q3 results for Orlando last week, and this week it’s time to look at the other market everyone’s talking about: Las Vegas. Las Vegas is similar to Orlando in that it saw a big...
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American’s Revenue Performance Sinks
Cirium recently loaded the Department of Transportation’s DB1B data for Q4 2023, and I eagerly dove in to look for trends. What kept standing out everywhere I looked was American’s poor revenue...
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