One reason airlines are losing money

[sopdan]

So, I'm looking to take a short vacation in May, and was looking at my options of flying home and going from there vs. flying closer to the destination and have my friends pick me up along the way down.

Since Northwest is the only airline to have direct service btw. MHT and DTW, I naturally looked into them first. I searched for flights leaving and coming back on the same days, with one option being MHT-DTW returning DTW-MHT. The other option was MHT-DTW-CMH returning CMH-DTW-MHT. Now keep in mind that for both options, they would be the same exact flights MHT-DTW/DTW-MHT

Quoted total prices are as follows:
MHT-DTW/DTW-MHT: $302.72

MHT-DTW-CMH/CMH-DTW-MHT: $156.69

WTFO???

It costs HALF as much to fly on the same flights + 300 miles further (round trip). Even if I wanted to only go to DTW, I could book the cheaper flight, not get on the connection, and they might possibly have an empty seat going to CMH. Yeah, I paid for it, but in reality they lost $150. Granted, I'm not a fare-setting guru, but that's just ridiculous.

Edit: The ticket prices w/o add'l fees are $116.99 and $283.62... even more unbelievable.

[pilot602]

Originally Posted by sopdan

So, I'm looking to take a short vacation in May, and was looking at my options of flying home and going from there vs. flying closer to the destination and have my friends pick me up along the way down.

Since Northwest is the only airline to have direct service btw. MHT and DTW, I naturally looked into them first. I searched for flights leaving and coming back on the same days, with one option being MHT-DTW returning DTW-MHT. The other option was MHT-DTW-CMH returning CMH-DTW-MHT. Now keep in mind that for both options, they would be the same exact flights MHT-DTW/DTW-MHT

Quoted total prices are as follows:
MHT-DTW/DTW-MHT: $302.72

MHT-DTW-CMH/CMH-DTW-MHT: $156.69

WTFO???

It costs HALF as much to fly on the same flights + 300 miles further (round trip). Even if I wanted to only go to DTW, I could book the cheaper flight, not get on the connection, and they might possibly have an empty seat going to CMH. Yeah, I paid for it, but in reality they lost $150. Granted, I'm not a fare-setting guru, but that's just ridiculous.

Edit: The ticket prices w/o add'l fees are $116.99 and $283.62... even more unbelievable.

Direct flights are more desirable so they up the cost on 'em. Round-about routes are, obviously, less desirable so they lower the cost a bit to fill the seats.

[flyover]

Originally Posted by sopdan

So, I'm looking to take a short vacation in May, and was looking at my options of flying home and going from there vs. flying closer to the destination and have my friends pick me up along the way down.

Since Northwest is the only airline to have direct service btw. MHT and DTW, I naturally looked into them first. I searched for flights leaving and coming back on the same days, with one option being MHT-DTW returning DTW-MHT. The other option was MHT-DTW-CMH returning CMH-DTW-MHT. Now keep in mind that for both options, they would be the same exact flights MHT-DTW/DTW-MHT

Quoted total prices are as follows:
MHT-DTW/DTW-MHT: $302.72

MHT-DTW-CMH/CMH-DTW-MHT: $156.69

WTFO???

It costs HALF as much to fly on the same flights + 300 miles further (round trip). Even if I wanted to only go to DTW, I could book the cheaper flight, not get on the connection, and they might possibly have an empty seat going to CMH. Yeah, I paid for it, but in reality they lost $150. Granted, I'm not a fare-setting guru, but that's just ridiculous.

Edit: The ticket prices w/o add'l fees are $116.99 and $283.62... even more unbelievable.

Ah, a direct encounter with yield management. Now if you'll try to learn a little about yield management, instead of thinking that pricing airline seats is like pricing a can of beans, then this will be a valuable experience for you.

And you will understand the revenue hell the airlines currently find themselves in.

BTW, the airlines will tell you that pricing like this was the principle reason for their profits in the 90s and still critical to squeezing as much revenue as possible out of the market.

[sopdan]

I do understand it's not cut and dry, as I mentioned. However, given that I will be flying on one of the routes, they will be losing money (or at least revenue) on me if I book the lower priced flight ($150+). Is that going to be the case for every passenger, obviously not.

[flyover]

Originally Posted by sopdan

I do understand it's not cut and dry, as I mentioned. However, given that I will be flying on one of the routes, they will be losing money (or at least revenue) on me if I book the lower priced flight ($150+). Is that going to be the case for every passenger, obviously not.

Well, you aren't the first person to notice that you could save money this way. So the airlines have had measures in place for quite a while to stop it. So good luck with that.

But you are thinking in terms of routes. You aren't flying on a route. You are flying on a connecting hub. As evidence you could poll your fellow passengers and see just how many of them are traveling from DTW to MHT on the DTW-MHT flight. Many, if not most, will be traveling from cities other than DTW. What they all have in common is the destination, not the origination point.

Seats are marketed by city pairs. So if you want to travel between DTW and MHT then you should be concerned about those prices. CMH to DTW has nothing to do with your travel.

Enjoy your trip!

[tonyw]

Originally Posted by sopdan

Quoted total prices are as follows:
MHT-DTW/DTW-MHT: $302.72

MHT-DTW-CMH/CMH-DTW-MHT: $156.69

WTFO???

It's up to you, but I'd gladly pay the extra $150 to not have to fly all around the country.

And they're figuring they can make more money on folks like me than they'll lose on folks like you.

[Windchill]

It's up to you, but I'd gladly pay the extra $150 to not have to fly all around the country.

And they're figuring they can make more money on folks like me than they'll lose on folks like you.

Destined to be polar opposites. They won't lose me ... I'll gladly make a connection to save $150.

[tonyw]

Originally Posted by Windchill

Destined to be polar opposites. They won't lose me ... I'll gladly make a connection to save $150.

Well, here is my thinking. If I'm flying on company business, I'm more than happy to spend the company's money, since it will all go away if we don't spend it all by the end of the year, in order to make things more convenient.

And if I'm flying for a vacation, I want to spend as little of my time as possible on an airplane or at an airport and as much time as possible doing the things I went on vacation to do.

[flyover]

Originally Posted by tonyw

Well, here is my thinking. If I'm flying on company business, I'm more than happy to spend the company's money, since it will all go away if we don't spend it all by the end of the year, in order to make things more convenient.

And if I'm flying for a vacation, I want to spend as little of my time as possible on an airplane or at an airport and as much time as possible doing the things I went on vacation to do.

Thank you for this glimpse into your mind. Sometimes I think we're on different planets when it comes to business philosophy, then I get confirmation.;-)