UA doesn't have any first class seats IAD-FLL because they don't have ANY flights IAD-FLL. This is a new route, and Ted is making it possible.Andre1980 said:Secondly a first class or elite frequent flyer for UA coming from london to IAD and wants to continue a connecting flight to FLL where there is a firstclass available and they realise UA's TED does not cater towards them that may cause UA to lose some business from these high flyers.
And if the introduction of Ted on IAD-TPA/ORL/LAS causes high fare frequent flyers to abandon UA, I'd be shocked. If there were significant high fares (F/C) coming out of those cities connecting in IAD to Europe, UA would be doing a heck of a lot better financially and would not be turning those routes over to Ted. Do business travelers fly to those places, either from or through IAD? Certainly. But they aren't on International F/C tickets or even domestic F tickets. Those business travelers are going to be sitting in economy plus with the same leg room as domestic first class and will have the middle seats all blocked. The frequent flyer is going to be perfectly fine with a window/aisle in E+ and the middle seat empty on a fairly short flight like IAD-Florida. And if enough seats are sold to fill the middle seats in E+, then Ted is probably making money. And by replacing UA with Ted on those routes, UA gets a few more seats to sell and slightly lower costs.
There, a non-UA employee (for the most part- lol) signing the praises of Ted.
Who knows, Ted might fail. But if travelers were buying F tickets to justify an F cabin, UA wouldn't be in Ch 11. Yes, F is a loyalty tool. But E+ takes care of that. I think putting Ted in these leisure markets is a good, good move.