Tyler Cowen’s recent post on price gouging referenced a common misconception about airline pricing: It is sometimes argued that airlines keep coach quality low deliberately, to raise the demand for business and first class tickets. I don’t know if this is true.. In fact, it isn’t true. Or at least it doesn’t seem to fit the current evidence for domestic flights at all. Airlines only sell about 10% of their first class seats domestically. 90% of first class seats are occupied by frequent flyer awards, upgrades given to frequent travelers, and airline employees. Coach quality has, in general, been rising. American made a fleetwide decision to add 2″ of legroom at every seat by removing a row of seats (They’ve retrenched a bit on some very low yield routes, but this enhancement is still true…
500 free Alaska Airlines miles
Sign up for the Alaska Airlines e-mail newsletter and receive 500 Alaska Mileage Plan miles instantly. They really do post right away!
$25 off British Airways transatlantic flights
British Airways is offering $25 off online bookings. The offer is valid for flights booked through December 7, 2003. Travel must be completed by March 31, 2003.
Alaska Airlines new ad campaign
Alaska Airlines has a new add campaign where they compare themselves to the fictional Sky High Airlines. The message is that Alaska cares, and its competitors like “Sky High” do not.Sky High’s take on lost luggage is especially good. For example, At SkyHigh, we don’t like to think of your missing luggage as being “lost.” Rather, that it has embarked on an exciting journey all its own. And Some people call it “lost luggage.” But we like to say, “if you love something, set it free. If it comes back, well, that’s pretty good.”
Cheap Hawaii flights
Hawaiian Airlines is offering a $299 roundtrip from Los Angeles and Ontario to Honolulu through December 14th. Pretty good fare, but there’s not a ton of availability at the price.
Radisson Hotels bonus
Register for lots of Goldpoints for Radisson hotel stays:
JetBlue says they’re sorry
JetBlue acknowledged and apologized for sharing passenger data for a TSA contractor study. View from the Wing gets results!
Frequent flyer basics
While likely little new for frequent readers of this column, Frommers has a nice introductory series on getting and managing frequent flyer miles. Check out part one, part two, part three, and part four.
Pets in the cabin
Frommer’s has a nice summary of airline policies on traveling with pets.A niche piece of information to be sure, but my little Yorkie has never flown coach…
Minor notes on keeping and expanding first class
The New York Times carries a story on airlines keeping and expanding first class sections. Separately, they’re all minor notes. Together, they’re a story.As I noted last month, USAirways is adding first class to its Shuttle routes for fleet commonality — the ability to utilize aircraft throughout its network rather than limiting them to particular routes. Alaska Airlines has decided to keep first class.The article adds, though, the America West offers something unique — first class on some of its regional jets. America West, which is based in Phoenix, is the only carrier offering first class on junior, or regional, jets – on 16 of its 34 Canadair Regional Jets, which typically are all coach with two seats on each side of the aisle. The first-class section consists of two rows with two seats on…