whiteguy wrote:
So if you got everything for free still i.e. meals, headsets, seat selection, who would you fly with? AC charging $150 one way to YVR or WJ charging $100?
If you want it pay for it!!!
or
Don't pay the $3, bring your own friggin head set!!!!!!
I refer you back to my original post...
And in the meantime I applaud Porter, and chose Porter now whenever I can - because I appreciate the attempt to bring a little civility back to airline travel. Ya know personally I'd pay $400 each way - St John's to Toronto return - each time, every time, for just to be treated like a paying customer again - not cattle class. Then again - I believe in clear, understandable, transparent pricing and pricing advertising. Seat 27A costs $427, maybe seat 27D also oughta coast $427. And maybe an advertised $274 fare to Heathrow ought not to be $2300 return for 2 by the time I've finished booking. But I guess that's why I'm not an airline exec.... my business model would never fly.
And I'll say again, it's not the $3 I mind, it's not paying for a quality of service I mind, it's the nickle and diming to death of this industry. It's the Walmart mentality of the traveling public and by extension the airlines serving them. I would rather pay a fair price for fair services. And
no despite the press and the who, whoooing, WS is NOT cheaper than AC.
Just a random side by side test this morning. Traveling one week from today, returning in two weeks:
Code: Select all
YVR-YYC: YYT-YYZ:
WS - non-stop 119.00 WS - non stop 239.00
AC - non-stop 119.00 AC - 1 connection YUL 199.00
PD - direct 2 stops 169.00
YYC-YVR:
WS - non-stop 99.00 YYZ-YYT
AC - non-stop 99.00 WS - direct 1 stop 149.00
AC - non-stop 149.00
Total all in: PD - direct 2 stops 169.00
WS - 340.34
AC - 340.34 Total all in:
WS - 551.72
AC - 506.52
PD - 500.87
So yeah... all other things being more or less equal, I'm gonna go based on service, aircraft, and most convenient times. Despite the 2 stops, I would choose Porter in the 2nd case. YTZ is more convenient, I like the service a whole lot better, and yes I do like the Q400's better than the Embraer, and the better leg room than WS's 737's. Yes, it's a longer flight (+1hr or there abouts), but it's still direct, and the times are convenient for me.
Personally, I would not mind paying more for a flight - AC's Tango Plus, or Latitude fares - but right now, why would I pay $450 vs $149 for the
same service? And no - I don't think I'm in the majority, the success of this particular business model would say that I'm by far in the minority. Of course I don't happen to think that's a good thing. From where I'm sitting it looks more and more and more like the industry is gonna keep on following the People's Air, Ryan Air model of as 'cheap as we possibly can', service deteriorates, quality of product deteriorates, and it has an impact throughout the industry. The traveling public who can buy their Calgary to Vancouver seat for $99 really doesn't understand, and kvetches at length about paying $269 to fly to Goose Bay from St John's, or $279 to fly from Winnipeg to Thompson. The regionals fight every day, and cut every dollar they can to try and survive a market where the public has come to expect $99 fares.
So no, I'm not a cheap bitch who wants everything for nothing. Rather just the opposite. I'd like to pay more for a more civilized way of traveling. I'd LIKE to have that option, but I don't. We live in a world of Walmarts. I know there aren't many who'd agree with me, obviously I don't know a damned thing about the airline industry; if I actually knew what I was talking about I'd have a corner office and a secretary. It's just my wee perspective, from my wee corner of this business, YMMV.