I am so curious on how some of the same flights to and from cities are so many different prices.
For example, we have been looking for a flight for Carie's Mother (Marcia) to come out to Georgia to see us for a while and never have found a good deal until 2 weeks ago.
The last time we found a flight for her was about 1 1/2 years ago and it was from Medford, Oregon to Atlanta for around $350. But the funny thing is that it traveled through Portland. So Medford to Portland to Atlanta. But the same flight# from Portland to Atlanta was $450. Which we didn't mind from Medford because that was 1 hour closer for Marcia to go to instead of Portland. But it is usually cheaper from Portland to Atlanta.
Going back to the most recent flight we just got, we have never seen any better than $475 for a flight from Portland to Atlanta or anywhere near Portland (Medford or Eugene). But, I was just checking around at different airports around Atlanta which include Greenville, SC - Birmingham, AL - Chattanooga, TN - or Augusta, Macon, or Athens GA which are all within driving distance (all about 2 hours of driving from Atlanta). I found this flight from Delta from Portland to Birmingham, AL for $250 which was great. Again the funny thing is that it goes through Atlanta both times. So Portland to Atlanta then Birmingham here, then from Birmingham to Atlanta then Portland Back. But the same flight# if I only wanted Portland to Atlanta was $700. So I went ahead and got that flight to Birmingham knowing I probably have to drive there and back both times, but that will still save lots of money. (Around $100 in Gas to Birmingham back and forth twice vs around $30 in Gas to and from Atlanta airport twice).
So I call Delta just yesterday and see if there is a way to just stop in Atlanta because it goes there anyway instead of taking up a seat and getting a drink to go to Birmingham. I was even willing to pay around $100 more to do so for just saving the time. But I was told that you can't cancel one part or it all gets cancelled and the same flight just from Portland to Atlanta is $700. I told them I'm just going to drive to Birmingham that is only 2 hours away for $100 in Gas, but wanted to give you the opportunity to get that money for Delta instead of the Gas company but they said they couldn't do anything. No wonder the Airlines are going bankrupt all the time, they don't make smart business sense or decisions. Again I was trying to pay them $100 for me not taking up 2 seats and 2 drinks from them, but they can't do that. Oh well.
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4 comments:
It does seem pretty dumb to me too but I'm convinced there is a logical business reason for doing that but I must admit I don't know it.
All the airlines do that and I can't conceive the possibility that they continually get that wrong and lose money. There has got to be a logical reason why they do that that we just aren't thinking of but it's an interesting thing to think about.
Maybe I'll research it or something...
The only possibility I can think of is maybe they need to get that plane back to Birmingham for service or to start a new trip leaving Birmingham, or for any number of reasons. If very few customers are willing to buy the fare from Atlanta to Birmingham then the next logical step into enticing customers to travel that route is to reduce the cost of other fares that include that piece of the route. Maybe that's the best way they can fill the plane for the route from Atlanta to Birmingham. Maybe it's more cost effective to have both routes filled with customers, while losing some revenue on one of the routes versus having only one of routes filled but the other empty.
Does that make sense?
I'd pack just a carry on then "accidentally" miss my connecting flight to Birmingham. What are they gonna do then?
Scott: I thought of doing that, but they will cancel the rest of your flight if you try that. It almost happened to dad.
Kevin: I agree that they probably need to get the plane to Birmingham for other reasons, but why not give someone a chance to pay $ for my seat to Birmingham from Atlanta to get more money? But even if there wasn't anyone that wanted that seat, I offered to pay them more money to not take up that seat. I doubt they would care if someone is in the seat or not if they get more $ out of it. I really just think they have a policy that doesn't allow for this kind of thing to happen even if they can make more money. The only thing I could think of is that Maybe people will try to do this more often and the costs and hassle of reissueing tickets and changing destinations will be more money then they could gain.
Good point. Another possibility is that they can't by law for some retarded reason.
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