why no last minute deals?

Not easily. But reach back 30 or 40 years and it was a common practice.
Sometimes it was age restricted. I did it from school in the 60's. FFM

wrote:

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 15:44:02 GMT, "Frank F. Matthews"
wrote:


It has been done extensively in the past with tickets sold for use on a
space available basis. The airlines have simply discovered that it
doesn't pay in an unregulated environment. I have no idea why but they
are convinced. FFM


Yours is the first relevant response I've seen to this question.

But, respectfully, it's missing essential information. Can you tell us
more? Who tried it and when?

That information would be grately appreciated.
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wrote:

James Robinson wrote:

Airlines have tried that type of last minute standby fare, they just
gave it up decades ago when they found it didn't earn them any
additional money.

My first flight was at age 19 in 1953, more than 5 decades ago. Long
ebfore jet airplanes. Long before computers. s.

During the 1960s and until the mid-70s, a time when I sometimes took
10 and 20 flights a month to operate my nationwide business, there
were no variations in fares and certainly no "last minute" walkup
fares.

There certainly were. I regularly used them for travel as a student,
and while I worked. The last time I remember using one was on Eastern
Airlines on New Year's eve in 1976. Similar fares had pretty well been
phased out on other airlines by then.

More recently, an airline called Canada 3000 offered last minute standby
fares in Canada. They were the only airline that had that kind of fare,
and it wasn't very successful. The airline has since gone bust.

ALL fares were regulated by the government. Discounts and competitve
pricing was not permitted. The flight from O'Hare to New York and back
was, as I recall, roughly $100, regardless if you flew on any of a 1/2
dozen airlines. The price was set and that was it. Tickets on one
airline, for that reason, were fully exchangable and honored by all
the others.

There were other categories of fares that were approved by the ICC, such
as student fares, late night fares, and last minute standby fares. They
did exist.

Since that time, I have never heard or read of a single verifiable
case of any airline offering a last minute auction or a discounted
walkup fare.

Canada 3000, as noted above. I might even have a timetable with a list
of fares that I could post somewhere if you don't believe me. I might
even have the receipt from my Eastern flight, but I'd have to dig for
it.

All the airlines in the 1960s offered last minute standby fares that
were something like 50% of the regular fare.

No. Could not have happened. As I said, prices were fixed during that
time. No airline of the time would dare compete on price.

It was an approved tariff.

Does anyone have any verififable facts to confirm the idea has been
given a fair test?

Look at People Express, which offered such fares after deregulation.
Just because you believe they didn't exist doesn't make it so.

muttered....

On Fri, 02 Apr 2004 03:36:55 GMT, James Robinson
wrote:
Airlines have tried that type of last minute standby fare, they just
gave it up decades ago when they found it didn't earn them any
additional money.

My first flight was at age 19 in 1953, more than 5 decades ago. Long
ebfore jet airplanes. Long before computers. s.

During the 1960s and until the mid-70s, a time when I sometimes took
10 and 20 flights a month to operate my nationwide business, there
were no variations in fares and certainly no "last minute" walkup
fares.

Up through at least the 60s, military personnel traveling in uniform (and
not with "TRs") routinely flew "StandBy", 1/2 price on most US majors.
Some airline(s) offered student standby fares, and there were several
foreign airlines which offered versions of standby fares to Europe.



ALL fares were regulated by the government. Discounts and competitve
pricing was not permitted.

Many of us worked for corporations which had contract arrangements with
airlines providing either on a "leg" or journey basis, a fixed price well
below the official fare. Then there were folks who worked for lawyers,
accountants, consultants or major vendors serving an airline...barter was
certainly not unknown, usually in the form of fare reductions.

I vaguely recall that WN back when it served only the DAL/HOU/SAT triangle
peddled coupon books to good customers. Not subject to "regulation" since
they flew only in Texas, WN would allow folks to pay in adnace to get the
offpeak cheap rates for rush hour flights.



The flight from O'Hare to New York and back
was, as I recall, roughly $100, regardless if you flew on any of a 1/2
dozen airlines. The price was set and that was it. Tickets on one
airline, for that reason, were fully exchangable and honored by all
the others.

Don't you recall the "routing discounts", the gimmickry by which the old
regulated fares could be adapted? In 1970 or so, I could fly from ACT to
LAX by way of San Diego, cheaper than I could fly DAL/LAX.


That did not change until deregulation.

Since that time, I have never heard or read of a single verifiable
case of any airline offering a last minute auction or a discounted
walkup fare.


If no one has ever tried it, how can anyone argue that something else
works better?

It has been tried, in fact it used to be the normal method of selling
tickets.

Never happened. When? By whom?

All the airlines in the 1960s offered last minute standby fares that
were something like 50% of the regular fare.

No. Could not have happened. As I said, prices were fixed during that
time. No airline of the time would dare compete on price.

Does anyone have any verififable facts to confirm the idea has been
given a fair test?


Unless I'm living in a parallel universe, it sure seems to me that
"Priceline" is selling "pretty close to last minute" tickets at a
substantial discount from what the airlines themselves would charge.
Obviously, even with Priceline, about 24 hours is the minimum window prior
to a flight, but the airlines have certainly made avialble to it "seats" at
heavy discounts on a consignment basis. I'm not a big Priceline user, only
twice, but the last time, I had a USAir ticket for $150 which the airline
had wanted $800.

TMO

wrote:
"Traveler" wrote:
Priceline and Hotwire exist for this purpose and if you book the night
before for an international flight, that is *almost* like a last-minute
auction.

Not at all. Priceline commits to prices for seats that they can sell
for whatever they can get. Fools overpay because it's a blind auction
in which they have no feedback as to what the seat sold for.

Nevertheless you can get some very good last-minute deals with Priceline;
sometimes much better than I've seen anywhere else. Of course it has its
drawbacks...

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu