One Reason We are LOSING Money

[FLYUSAIRWAYS]

Here is a story, you may be aware of, or maybe not. We have a customer who flies every week with US. He buys a one way ticket from NY state to Florida for a total fare of $100.00!!!
He always leaves on the first flight out that connects thru DCA. Funny thing, but every week he just happens to no show for the DCA-FLL flight. I wonder if it has any thing to do with the fact that the NY state to DCA fare is over $600.00, and he only has to pay $100 bucks to go all the way to Florida???? I believe this is called Hidden City fares. He just throws away the second flight, because he has no use for it. He just saved $550.00 by using this scam. Then we sit and wonder why there are so many NOSHOWS on the Florida flights. DAAAA. Not to hard to figure out. WE HAVE CREATED OUR OWN NIGHTMARE....... Would Someone WAKE UP and smell the Coffee, before it's 2 Late?????????????????????

 

[drifterreno]

He's either a very smart person or someone pointed it out to him. Either way unless U changes their price structure and goes with wn structure he will win in the end. Hey at least we know when to non rev to Fla.

 

[luvn737s]

If he buys a R/T ticket to Florida, I am under the impression that his res is cancelled unless he originates the return leg out of FL. The scam might work for one trip to DCA, but I don't see how he gets home from DCA without paying the $600.

 

[luvn737s]

Please re-read the first sentence of the Original Post

Perhaps then a comment would be in order. I know you're an all knowing, all seeing West pilot but perhaps reading comprehension escapes you??????

I guess it was a little silly to assume he would ever want to return home. Thanks for burning the midnight oil to get in a little unnecessary jab. I hope perpetuating the east-west feud is working out well for you.

 

[autofixer]

Piney, why must you say, " arrogant pilot self", verses "arrogant self"? That implies you believe all pilots are arrogant. Not every pilot posts here, nor have you personally met every pilot. That is a strange comment comming from any part of the corporate or political world these days; but I have not met everyone in the corportate or political world either.

 

[PHL]

Well in this case 2 one way tickets proves to be less expensive I guess. What this person is doing is WRONG and he/she could lose all of his FF miles should US Airways decide to do so and frankly I hope they do exactly that.

What if he funnels his miles to UA or some other star alliance carrier? Could US go back and pull them from those airlines?

What if he has no use for FF miles and doesn't put any FF number in his record? Then what recourse does US have after the trip has been taken?

In either case, what he's doing might not be in the spirit of the pricing model, but the airline created the problem. Is US losing money by this guy? Of course. Would he fly to DCA every week if the price were $500 instead of $100? Maybe, maybe not.

I wonder how much he pays for the return segment, though....

 

[Edward]

Please keep personal comments out of this & stay on the topic.

 

[SS255]

Bob,

While I agree with you that customers should act honestly and in good faith when purchasing tickets, I must disagree that in this instance I don't blame the customer. US (or maybe I should say "LCC") is not exactly acting in the honest and good faith manner which they expect their customers to uphold by pricing a ticket from upstate NY to DCA so outrageously high. They are trying to extort, plain and simple. Honesty is a two-way street.

 

[jcw]

This is not a US only pricing strategy. You can see most of the majors have similar pricing strategies. You can buy tickets on DL/NW, AA, UA, CO using the same practice. It's a norm for the legacy carriers.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Well in this case 2 one way tickets proves to be less expensive I guess. What this person is doing is WRONG and he/she could lose all of his FF miles should US Airways decide to do so and frankly I hope they do exactly that.

We can debate the policies of US Airways ad nauseum, however when I as a customer step up and buy a ticket I should play it straight.

Scamming the system just perpetuates the "Gotcha" Mentality and serves no valid purpose.

luvin737s, you've personally attacked me, insulted me and generally been your normal arrogant pilot self so turn about is indeed fair play. Have a great evening.

Hmmm.

FF miles, or $550 in my pocket every time I make the trip.

No brainer.

 

[JS]

Looks like we need to hear from "Mom" again. "Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right"

The other "Norm" for legacy carriers s repeated financial loses, bankruptcy and poor Labor relations. Wonder if anyone ever considered cause & effect between the way the legacies treat people and their non stop financial woes?

US is alone in their crazy pricing. For example, if you want to leave SJT (San Angelo, TX) this Thursday, Dec. 18, it's $123 to DFW or $464 to FLL via DFW.

That doesn't change the fact that if you want to buy a ticket to FLL via DCA and skip the second flight, you can, and it is legal. US can choose to not give you FF miles but that's about it.

 

[NCFL]

I've heard this "outrageous fares into DCA" cry before. The defense has always been that flying into/out of DCA commands a premium because of convenience to the District and that it can be justified because of the high cost of doing business there versus IAD or BWI.

Typing this here, it sounds as unlikely to be swallowed by the customer as it did when I was instructed to say it while working in Consumer Affairs. Fact is, it's a really high fare for such a short distance. Reminiscent of the days when the competition in the NE was AL, Amtrak & Greyhound.

But FLY, this issue is as old as dust. It's right up there with back-to-back ticketing. If Tempe's unaware of this phenomenon, then they're a bigger bunch of morons than originally believed.

 

[Travels2mch]

then they're a bigger bunch of morons than originally believed.

Ding ding ding ding ding.....we have a winner!!

Early in my traveling career, my company mandated back to back ticketing if you were traveling to the same place 2 weeks in a row. Our travel department enforced it and didn't offer us an option.

 

[ClueByFour]

If there is a repeated pattern US could go as far as to file fraud or perhap theft of services charges against the individual, They also could easily choose to ban the person from further flights.

They could ban them from future flights. They could yank their FF account. They would be laughed out of court with fraud and/or theft-of-service charges. It's not against the law to get off the airplane.

 

[SS255]

I've heard this "outrageous fares into DCA" cry before. The defense has always been that flying into/out of DCA commands a premium because of convenience to the District and that it can be justified because of the high cost of doing business there versus IAD or BWI.

Charging a $50 or $100 premium for the convenience of flying right into DCA is fine. Charging 5X the fare from Upstate NY VIA DCA is completely unacceptable, and some might argue fraudulent.

While I am a firm believer of playing by the rules, and I have never tried to circumvent them by back-to-back or hidden city ticketing, one cannot argue that US encourages customers to bend the rules by acting like complete greedy you-know-whats. Does that make it right? Nope! I certainly agree with PineyBob on that one. But if they're going to dish it out, they darn well had better be able to take it.

I would sooner fly to BWI or IAD for a reasonable fare than pay what US is asking. It is certainly a much more honorable solution than throwing away Part 2 of a one-way ticket. But there is something fundamentally wrong with a carrier marketing themselves as a "Low Cost Carrier," and charging such outrageous fares.......plus charging for water on top of it.