Jerry Smith wrote:
><snip lots of good info> Please don't fly an airline
>just because they are the lowest fare, because as the
>saying goes, you will get what you pay for.
>
>
Would that it were that easy.
However, there is no clear realtionship between ticket price and
maintenance quality that I can see. The same seats on the same planes go
for all kinds of different prices.
I have a brother who flies a LOT on business. He has researched the
ticket business. Contemporary ticket selling is highly sophisticated
with semi intelligent models driving price. Each flight has base prices
and basic targets. Here's a hypothetical example. If flight 123 is 30%
full 30 days ahead of flight, 40% full at 17 days, 60 % at 14 days,
etc., all tickets will be sold at the base price. If it is filling up
faster than model, prices may be raised. If it falls behind, tickets are
sold at lower prices until back on track.
Price can also depend on where you buy it. used to be Alaska tickets
were cheaper on Travelocity. Last time, they were cheapest of all
sources on their own web site.
Thus it is possible, and I've seen it online, for prices for the same
flight, date, rules, etc., to go up or down over the period of a few
minutes. A couple of years ago, I'd spent quite some time online looking
for the best combo of price, time and itinerary for a trip to Boston.
I'd looked at everything. Suddenly when I was at the next to last stage
of confirming and paying, Up popped a message about a cheaper flight
combo. It was only a couple of $ cheaper, but was non-stops both ways,
rather than one-stops. I jumped on it. When I checked back later for
curiousity, that combo was gone.
Great trip with good flight experiences. Next year, I had to go through
O'Hare. Delays both ways, worse coming home.
Anyway, none of this makes me think there is a useful relationship
between ticket price and maintenance, as the prices dance around so
much. And an info us regular folks may think we have about maintenance
standards on various airlines is more likely hearsay than fact.
I certainly sympathize with the plight of so many airline employees
these last few years, but I just don't have the information to know what
it means when setting up a trip. As a simple for instance, you didn't
say which airline you work for nor whether you would want your family to
fly on it. I don't blame you, but it's indicative of how little useful
info is out there.
Moose
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