Re:Air Fares 101 – Why do fares change all the time?
by gaius on Monday December 15, 2014 @03:27PM
(#8754226)
Indeed. Everyone says they want legroom! then everyone goes on the internet and just buys whatever's cheapest. Same with people who talk about workers rights then go shop at Primark.
Re:Air Fares 101 – Why do fares change all the time?
by dllthomas on Monday December 15, 2014 @07:27PM
(#8755311)
I think a part of this, though, is that everything is geared toward comparing only price. I don't fly often enough to have a good sense of what airlines are going to genuinely be more comfortable, so I weigh more heavily the thing I'm more certain of. That doesn't mean I wouldn't be willing to pay more for a more comfortable flight.
It's not collusion, because air travel is effectively a commoditized market. That means there is continuous downward pressure on pricing exactly because the product is nearly identical everywhere. It is a zero-sum game though with regards to seat size. I don't think they can realistically go much smaller though; as a person of average height (5'7") even I have trouble fitting in their seats.
That said, there are airlines that cater to "comfort". Virgin America is one of them. They're not doing so well: it turns out that most customers either don't know or don't care about the quality of the flight, just the price. Virgin's prices are 10-20% higher than their competitors, but they just can't seem to fill their flights. Virgin has scaled back their routes as a result.