Domestic premium fares - a reminder to search

[moa999]

Have recently noticed Virgin premium cabins have been very quiet
(good for those wanting to use comp upgrades)
and I wonder if Virgin has noticed this as well.

I suspect one of the reasons may be the website redesign....

Previously you were shown all economy classes and business,
and I suspect if Business was only a bit more, than many, particularly small business would pay the difference.

Now however you need to search separately for Economy and Business, and indeed can't make a mixed fare return booking using the one credit card
(and address details -- why oh why can't you save this for me).

So for most last minute flights..
eg. almost all the post 5pm MEL-SYD flights tomorrow night.
Flexi is the only Economy class available and is $499.....

Modify search to pick Business (most probably won't)
Both Business saver and Business shown as available (most with 5/6 seats)
Business Saver is $519....

A very cheap 20 SCs.

 

[dk4]

Great post. A serious design flaw in their website IMO. I will pay and fly Business Saver when I see the comparative value (on flights scheduled under 3 hours), and having to search twice is a PIA. I also take into account using points and free upgrades, together with buying a flexi fare, as part of my buying decision making process. So, I agree, go back to displaying business AND economy fares, for all searches on VA!

 

[penegal]

Great post moa999

I agree this was a poor move. I suspect that Virgin have lost a lot of "upsell" revenue.


I also had an issue where if one cabin was full, the flight wouldn't appear in the search results (e.g. Y is sold/oversold, but J is empty). I would consider paying more (or less) to fly in the other cabin to get the flight time that suits me best.

 

[lovestotravel]

Well I think Virgin would likely prefer having someone pay $499 to sit in Economy than $519 to sit in Business

That being said the layout when looking for flight is just ugly and business fares should be shown on the same screen

 

[smit0847]

Agreed it's a big flaw. Where Business was listed next to Flexi for only slightly more I would jump at it for special occasions but cant be bothered re-searching to compare..

 

[penegal]

Well I think Virgin would likely prefer having someone pay $499 to sit in Economy than $519 to sit in Business

Yes, and no.

It is still $20 more revenue...

I am sure that some customers could easily 'consume' more than $20 worth of J food and beverage. However if the flight is full, and that passenger (or another) is given an op-up, the net effect would be the same, so surely they would prefer the additional revenue?

Also, if the business meal is loaded then airline doesnt get any revenue from the crew eating it

Alas, the point is academic I fear

 

[bcworld]

There have been a couple of occasions when I've been browsing prices on the mobile site and all of a sudden I find myself with the results page from the full site showing all booking classes on a single results page...it shows economy, premium and business even when premium isn't offered on the route...I've tried to retrace my steps however and I just can't make it happen again!

 

[pwae]

I've tried to retrace my steps however and I just can't make it happen again!

Yep.. you can do this on the mobile app when searching for non domestic flights... (and with the right logic .. it is possible to do it for domestic too...)

 

[bullerdude]

There have been a couple of occasions when I've been browsing prices on the mobile site and all of a sudden I find myself with the results page from the full site showing all booking classes on a single results page...it shows economy, premium and business even when premium isn't offered on the route...I've tried to retrace my steps however and I just can't make it happen again!

Searching for an international flight on the mobile site (which doesn't work as no international flights on mobile site) gives you a button that redirects you to the main site booking engine showing economy and premium fares on the one page.

 

[eastwest101]

I agree its a big flaw in website design and sacrifices potential revenue, why not let your potential customers see all the options so they can make their own decision? I have also seen a lot of full Y cabins and empty J cabins lately and it would seem that the design and execution of the VA web site is working against them in this and many other ways.....

 

[docjames]

Agree completely - a big flaw.

I cant understand why the system would be redesigned this way.

Any comment from the VA Reps?

 

[bcworld]

Agree completely - a big flaw.

I cant understand why the system would be redesigned this way.

Any comment from the VA Reps?

If they were smart they would offer the upgrade to a higher cabin/fare at some point during the process (e.g. Upgrade to Business for $20 and get...), highlighting the benefits of the more flexible fare or business cabin...plenty of carriers offer this type of up sell. I'm sure this type of thing is beyond VA though in their current state.

 

[DeKa]

Semi related to this need to search for premium fares, I've been trying to upgrade a flight in 4 hours and 4 minutes - there are 5/8 J seats available, but none are available to Velocity. My guess is these 5 seats may go out empty .. so Virgin will lose both the cash revenue and the points revenue recognition. Why wouldn't they release some more seats to the upgrade pool at say 6 hours out, when so few are taken? Sure, leave a couple for fly ahead and last minute changes, but 5/8 empty seems crazy.

 

[eastwest101]

Semi related to this need to search for premium fares, I've been trying to upgrade a flight in 4 hours and 4 minutes - there are 5/8 J seats available, but none are available to Velocity. My guess is these 5 seats may go out empty .. so Virgin will lose both the cash revenue and the points revenue recognition. Why wouldn't they release some more seats to the upgrade pool at say 6 hours out, when so few are taken? Sure, leave a couple for fly ahead and last minute changes, but 5/8 empty seems crazy.

They seem to like empty J seats in VA, if you are having trouble doing it online (which would not surprise me at all) I would just call and ask for a points upgrade, that's what I sometimes do. I have usually don't have a problem getting flexi and sometimes even saver Y bookings upgraded to J when I have asked on the phone or at the lounge on the day (but catering not assured by then so limited value). Its one of the advantages of VA being unable to sell many J seats at the moment on its B737 and E190 east coast services.

From what I have seen this year 5/8 empty business class seats is "business as usual" at VA at the moment.

 

[SimonF]

They seem to like empty J seats in VA, if you are having trouble doing it online (which would not surprise me at all) I would just call and ask for a points upgrade, that's what I sometimes do. I have usually don't have a problem getting flexi and sometimes even saver Y bookings upgraded to J when I have asked on the phone or at the lounge on the day (but catering not assured by then so limited value). Its one of the advantages of VA being unable to sell many J seats at the moment on its B737 and E190 east coast services.

From what I have seen this year 5/8 empty business class seats is "business as usual" at VA at the moment.

Maybe it`s a more of an issue regarding arranging last minute catering.

 

[serfty]

Agreed it's a big flaw. Where Business was listed next to Flexi for only slightly more I would jump at it for special occasions but cant be bothered re-searching to compare..

I have looked at some underlying code and it appears the site has the ability to display all the fares at once, but their programmer(s) can't seem to cope - the code is there, but has been deactivated as it is producing multiple results, maybe having both PE and Business is causing hiccups.

Anyhoo, if anyone would like a tip on how to show all fare classes every time, please feel free to PM me.

 

[eastwest101]

Maybe it`s a more of an issue regarding arranging last minute catering.

Possibly - but last time I checked it was the paying passengers who are the source of revenue for VA and the catering contractors are paid to provide a service/contract of some sort. I am guessing that VA management would recognize that.

 

[moa999]

Interesting serfty.

Also note that having recently gotten a corporate login, both classes are shown on that sub-site... and it also enables traveller profiles to be saved.

Apart from that however the design on the corporate site makes the main site appear state of the art.