Agents To Receive 3%comission On First Class Sales

[FLYUSAIRWAYS]

Just read in yesterdays Usairways news that ATO agents will receive a 3% comission on every first class upgrade that we sell at the airport, one hour before flight departure. Wow, that means if I sell a $100.00 upgrade to CLT, I get an extra $3.00 in my paycheck. COOL. I guess the days of employees getting up front are just about over. Now we have an incentive to make sure that every seat in First goes out full. Never thought I would see the day when we received comissions!!!

 

[jcooke]

Start selling the upgrades an hour ahead? What about our precious upgrades that get waitlisted at the gate??

But overall, a positive incentive for revenue generation! Now if the word can get spread across the board and working, great!

-JC

 

[BoeingBoy]

Finally.

Just a question - does ATO include gate agents or only tkt counter?

Jim

 

[speedbird86]

That's good news for some agents. I worked First Class/Preferred ck-in and International ck-in most of the time in CLT. There were days I sold thousands in upgrades. That would have been a nice little bonus. Do non-rev upgrades count to?

 

[Hope777]

I mentioned doing this a while back. This is something AirTran has done for years. Employees there often see upwards of a $100 bucks a month.

 

[BoeingBoy]

This may have answered my question.....

FirstUp Incentives

US Airways will begin providing incentives to both Customer Service Agents and their respective stations on March 1 for selling FirstUp upgrades.

The FirstUp program, which has been in place for more than a year, generates incremental revenue on otherwise unused First Class capacity. Upgrades are sold for $50, $100, or $150, depending on flight length and have generated nearly $6 million in the last year.

With First Class load factors in the 70 percent range, there are still seats to be sold. The incentive program will provide a payout of 5 percent of the sale, with 3 percent going to the selling agent and 2 percent to the station for employee recognition events.

“The additional revenue we expect this program to generate should be a ‘win-win’ for the employees and the company,â€￾ said Al Crellin, executive vice president of operations. Details about the program are available in the FOCUS system or from station managers.

 

[bluetoad]

I'm a non rev flyer. I'll give the gate agent 5 bucks to put me in first

 

[uairhv]

According to the Firstup program it should ONLY be offered at the gate AFTER all standy preffered customers and such are cleared. The problem with this new incentive is we are now paying for our own recognition events.

 

[JS]

Start selling the upgrades an hour ahead?  What about our precious upgrades that get waitlisted at the gate??

But overall, a positive incentive for revenue generation!  Now if the word can get spread across the board and working, great!

-JC

[post="250511"][/post]​

Will it ever be passengers' turn to open the concession stand? If you like flying on USAirways, you stand a better chance of being able to continue doing that if US can sell seats you aren't willing to pay for.

Delta upgrades me for free on almost every domestic flight. However, if they sold First Class upgrades to capacity every time and never gave me a free upgrade, I would applaud them for actually selling their product rather than giving away the store. It would benefit everyone because then they could afford to increase coach seat pitch, bring back meals, cancel Song, etc.

 

[jcooke]

So you would rather see the possibility of having a no-status person paying $150 for a one-time upgrade bump out someone that has consistently contributed revenue into US (as shown by their preferred status) and already has the upgrade instrument?

Here's another way of thinking about it. 319's have 12 FC seats, of which Inventory may hold 4 back for last-minute F fares and such. 4 F fares get sold, which leaves 4 seats left for early upgrades. Tom, Dick, Harry, and PineyBob all clear at the CP window, but 2 other CP's and 3 GP's are now waitlisted and have to wait at the gate for the upgrade to clear.

What's the difference between the 4 people that got upgraded early versus the 5 others that now have to wait at the gate? Your statement essentially says screw those 5, let anyone willing to pay for an upgrade bump these people but leave the other 4 intact?

I can't follow how that makes sense one bit. ???

-JC

 

[tadjr]

This isnt done any differently than Firstup is done now so all the US1/2/3 should still get their upgrades before Firstup is offered. Only difference now is the agents have an incentive to actually offer Firstup on all flights where it is available. A lot of agents didnt want to hassle with the announcements and questions that Firstup entails so they didnt offer it. There are a lot of flights, especially on the weekend where Firstup could be offered.

 

[US1YFARE]

  Tom, Dick, Harry, and PineyBob all clear at the CP window,

[post="250570"][/post]​

That was funny

I was actually told once that my upgrade wouldn't clear until they tried to sell the upgrade to other pax. I thought that was odd, but you know what, there are some flights that I would pay the $100 even though I am CP to guarantee the upgrade. Heck, $7 of it is paid back when I get the free IFC meal in FC on a transcon flight.

 

[madders]

I think its unfair that only gate agents that work aircraft with first class seats are able to get these inentives..
I would rather if management makes it fair and give a percentage of revenues from baggage fees...ticketing fee.. etc .be given to staions every three months based on criteron that includes low pawobs, on-time departures etc...

 

[JS]

So you would rather see the possibility of having a no-status person paying $150 for a one-time upgrade bump out someone that has consistently contributed revenue into US (as shown by their preferred status) and already has the upgrade instrument?

Here's another way of thinking about it. 319's have 12 FC seats, of which Inventory may hold 4 back for last-minute F fares and such. 4 F fares get sold, which leaves 4 seats left for early upgrades. Tom, Dick, Harry, and PineyBob all clear at the CP window, but 2 other CP's and 3 GP's are now waitlisted and have to wait at the gate for the upgrade to clear.

What's the difference between the 4 people that got upgraded early versus the 5 others that now have to wait at the gate? Your statement essentially says screw those 5, let anyone willing to pay for an upgrade bump these people but leave the other 4 intact?

I can't follow how that makes sense one bit. ???

-JC

[post="250570"][/post]​

You just described the solution. Upgrade the more preferred passengers early, before you offer upgrades for sale.

If someone wishes to be upgraded for free, ahead of the $150 no-status passenger upgrades, he/she can fly on US more often to get that early upgrade ahead of the others.

I am suggesting that US (as well as DL since they do the same thing) take the concept of coach seat inventory and carry it into the realm of First Class upgrades.

If you're a preferred member, you don't get a low fare seat if the low fare seating inventory has sold out. Preferred members and non-status passengers have exactly the same opportunity to buy a low fare seat, and once the inventory is gone, it's gone.

If a preferred member wants to buy a $99 fare but the inventory is gone, and a non-status passenger pays $150 more than that (150% more!), the non-status passenger gets the airline ticket while the preferred member stays home.

No one argues with that setup, so what is wrong with doing the same with First Class seats? First Class seats are seating inventory, and selling seats is the core of any airline's business plan.

 

[US1YFARE]

No one argues with that setup, so what is wrong with doing the same with First Class seats? First Class seats are seating inventory, and selling seats is the core of any airline's business plan.

[post="250641"][/post]​

I tend to agree. Sometimes an upgrade isn't available for me on a last minute ticket unless I buy a Y or B fare. When I am paying a M fare, and with $50 or so bucks more, I always pay the higher fare to get the upgrade. Lower fares should and do give you lower priority for upgrades. No system will be perfect. There are times that I buy the Y, A or B fare and I can't get the upgrade knowing that there are US2's or US3's who paid less than me and were upgraded at their window.