Tyler Cowen points to a Slate piece that purports to explain airline delays. Mayer and Sinai’s study also identified the real culprit: the deliberate overscheduling of flights at peak periods by major airlines trying to increase the amount of connecting traffic at their hub airports. Major airlines like United, Delta, and American use a hub-and-spoke model as a way to offer consumers more flight choices and to save money by centralizing operations. Most of the traffic they send through a hub is on the way to somewhere else. (Low-cost carriers, on the other hand, typically carry passengers from one point to another without offering many connections.) Overscheduling at the hubs can’t explain all delays—weather and maintenance problems also contribute. But nationally, about 75 percent of flights go in or out of hub airports, making overscheduling…
Advance hotel room assignments
Jul
26
2005
Hilton is testing out e-checkin. Our new eCheck-In service allows you to have the convenience and control to complete your registration the day before or up to two hours before you plan to arrive. The idea is similar to picking a seat assignment on a plane, you should be able to see what room you’re blocked into and choose a different room if you prefer. It should even process upgrades. This is going to be interesting to watch.
Aircraft on eBay
You, too, can own an airplane
Frequent Flyer Miles as Debt in Need of Devaluation
Jul
26
2005
Tim Harford asks what would be the best way for frequent flyer program to devalue their currency? Last year I explained why a devaluation is inevitable, and why that doesn’t mean you should stop collecting miles. The simplistic version of the problem is too many miles chasing too few seats. Problems have been exascerbated the last couple of years as airlines pulled down capacity. Now, with flights running especially full, getting a nominally free seat can be tough. Award redemption (at least at the usual mileage pricing) is predicated on giving away only those seats that are likely to go unsold. That pot of inventory isn’t growing, but mileages balances are. Given the need for devaluation, how should airlines do it? The first option Harford gives is rejected, but not strongly enough: Airlines could simply…
Faster Free Nights Returns
Jul
26
2005
Probably the best hotel promo around, Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights, will return from September 1 through November 30. The offer as usual is a free night after every two eligible stays paid for with a Mastercard. Registration for the promo will begin August 15.
To boldy go…
Jul
26
2005
Boldly going where another travel site has gone before, SideStep has brought on Patrick Stewart as its spokesman. In the online travel world, one of the biggest battles for new customers has come down to this: Captain Kirk vs. Captain Picard. Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” is the new company spokesman for travel search engine SideStep. That’s a direct challenge to rival Priceline.com, whose ads have long featured William Shatner, Captain Kirk on the original “Star Trek.” (Via Tripso Daily.)
How did American make money in the second quarter?
Jul
26
2005
Now that American Airlines announced a profit for the second quarter, there are lots of stories trying to figure out how they did it. One piece contends that they managed to cut costs by listening to ideas from their employees. (Naturally the piece cites no evidence whatsoever that American did this any more than any other airline.) Still, there are some interesting stories about cost savings. For example,Two American Airlines mechanics didn’t like having to toss out $200 drill bits once they got dull. So they rigged up some old machine parts – a vacuum-cleaner belt and a motor from a science project – and built “Thumping Ralph.” It’s essentially a drill-bit sharpener that allows them to get more use out of each bit. The savings, according to the company: as much as $300,000 a…
Junk fees
Jul
25
2005
We all have certain fees that travel providers charge which drive us up the wall, usually because they offer an explanation that’s especially absurd. I’m usually bothered by award ‘expedite fees’, a charge that some airlines impose for issuing an electornic award ticket within a certain number of days of travel. I’m similarly bothered by hotel resort fees (just include it in your room rate!) and charges for ticketing at the airport when that’s the only option available, such as issuing an open-jaw award on United for someone with a different last name (since it can’t be done online and if it isn’t, it must be signed for in person). Perhaps the most offensive, albeit small, fee I’ve heard of was recently reported at Flyertalk.com. Apparently American Airlines is now charging $3 to e-mail a…
A pillow to rest on
Jul
24
2005
Probably the best marketing bang for the buck in hotel history was Westin’s introduction of the Heavenly Bed. Travelers came to trust the brand to provide them with a good night’s sleep. A more recent trend in hotels is paying attention not just to the best but to the pillow in particular. The trend started at the Benjamin hotel in New York and has spread, there’s now a recognition that people sleep differently and different types of pillows can enhance or detract from a night’s sleep. The New York Times piece on the subject could have been made really useful with an added discussion on what pillows best match which sleep habits, a subject about which I know little. I understand the entire bed effect, and while I like the Westin Heavenly Bed I find…
No outside food or drink
Jul
24
2005
bmi has introduced its buy-on-board menu and it contains this frustrating statement: Only food and drinks purchased from the cabin crew may be consumed on board. I’m not sure how or whether this will be enforced, but it’s a striking policy. US domestic carriers offering buy-on-board haven’t adopted similar policies… yet.
