Would anyone pay a subscription fee of $99 a year to access fixed-price domestic tickets?

[DerrickW]

Just throwing the question in the air here. Would anyone pay a subscription fee of $99 a year to access fixed-price domestic tickets?

I manage an engagement team flight and accommodation budget of $x per year, and it is always annoying when the air tickets surge ridiculously high when we purchase tickets within 1 or 2 weeks of the flight.

Also on the home front my wife and I usually have to monitor flight tickets to find out when the flight tickets are the least costly for our holiday trips - would be good if we don't have to monitor flight tickets at all.

 

[Ade]

I'd say depends on what is the price difference when purchasing a ticket with and without the subscription. Depends on how many tickets are booked, how often etc.

Are there any other benefits/offers/privileges etc when purchasing the subscription?

When you say you manage team flight and acc. budget, I'm assuming that you are booking at least a handful of tickets each month/week ? In that case, as long as you are able to recover the $99 paid for subscription in the first month or two, then it sounds good.

You might also check if it's possible to use the subscription for your personal/family bookings. If so, then you are defo getting benefit out of the subscription

 

[jb747]

Fixed price is available now for free. What you really want is fixed access to discounted tickets. What is in that for an airline?

 

[Kerrodt]

No airline would ever introduce this in the current environment of flexible and/or dynamic pricing. Even if you paid the subscription, would you still pay the "fixed price" that your subscription offers you when that "fixed price" is higher than the current "market price"? I don't think anyone would.

 

[albatross710]

Just throwing the question in the air here. Would anyone pay a subscription fee of $99 a year to access fixed-price domestic tickets?

Maybe the concept could be fleshed out a bit more to something like:

An annual subscription of $99

Tickets available within a fixed price band within a purchasing window ie the 14-21 day price is fixed. <14 days at market price.
Minimum number of tickets to be purchased at the fixed price per annum.
(maybe the subscription price relies upon volume bands)
12 month subscription Nominated flyers or employees on the Qantas Business account

For instance
Consumer knows that flights BNE-SYD will be a min of $180 and max of $280 when purchases 14-21 days out. If there are Red-e deals for $121 then the customer can choose to pay $180 on day 14 or wait to buy the Red-e deal the following day (if available). If tix on the required flight are selling at $380, then the subscriber can pay $280 14 days out. The nominated flyers are limited to the deal ie QFF 12345678 is nominated on the subscription so cannot avail that $121 Red-e deal until day 13.

Would be nice if Subscriber could buy 26 fortnightly BNE-SYD flights at the same competitive price. ie In January, strike the deal for 26 fares to be used throughout the year.

Would the airline get enough fares over the regular selling price to compensate for the lost revenues on the higher discounts.

The reason it would work is if there are lots of parameters for the QF mathematicians to do their calcs. Needs to have variables for both parties. As the airlines has the access to the most data, they could make it work.


It is reminding me a bit of the 7-11 fuel deal Lock In Our Best Local Fuel Price | 7-Eleven Fuel App . My initial figures showed me that I'm better retaining my flexibility than punting on beating fuel companies at their own game.

Alby

 

[Dr Ralph]

Would anyone pay a subscription fee of $99 a year to access fixed-price domestic tickets?

Not without knowing 12 month ahead what the fixed price fee was. And guaranteeing that wouldn't change during my membership period.

 

[jb747]

Ticket prices surge because yield management says they can sell them at those higher prices. Why on earth would they want to take a paltry amount to allow someone to defeat yield management?

 

[woodborer]

I manage an engagement team flight and accommodation budget of $x per year, and it is always annoying when the air tickets surge ridiculously high when we purchase tickets within 1 or 2 weeks of the flight.

A lot of business and corporate bookings are made within 2 weeks of flying. Hence lots of tickets get sold, and the cheaper options disappear.

Not sure what's in it for the airline if they were to offer a fixed option. I imagine it would need to be more than $99 to make it worthwhile.

 

[theblank]

Just throwing the question in the air here. Would anyone pay a subscription fee of $99 a year to access fixed-price domestic tickets?

Depends.

 

[ozfflyer]

just like calls for petrol price fixing, it will lead to higher prices not lower.

 

[Atleastonce]

Isn’t there something similar with private corporate jets around the world. Obviously more expensive but the concept is similar. Pay $x and get unlimited flights type of thing.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Something which is sometimes available on some airlines is buying a booklet of fixed-price tickets... say 4, 6 or 8 flights. But you generally have to pay for those in advance. Air China was the last company to offer that a couple months ago. IIRC is was $2800 return business class from AU to China. But you had to buy three tickets.

 

[Mattg]

I can think of a few examples of similar things being offered already by some airlines. Not so much "subscription" models, but rather "buy in bulk and save" deals.

E.g. Optiontown Flight Pass Option - https://optiontown.com
Or the Air Chathams Multipass, which entitles you to 10 fully flexible Y class fares at 50% off - Multipass

Something which is sometimes available on some airlines is buying a booklet of fixed-price tickets... say 4, 6 or 8 flights. But you generally have to pay for those in advance. Air China was the last company to offer that a couple months ago. IIRC is was $2800 return business class from AU to China. But you had to buy three tickets.

Hainan Airlines had something like this recently - 30 Hainan Airlines Business Class Trips to China for $33,000

 

[dajop]

Under any such scheme, wouldn't the same principle as casinos apply ... "the house always wins"?

 

[ozfflyer]

I can think of a few examples of similar things being offered already by some airlines. Not so much "subscription" models, but rather "buy in bulk and save" deals.

E.g. Optiontown Flight Pass Option - https://optiontown.com
Or the Air Chathams Multipass, which entitles you to 10 fully flexible Y class fares at 50% off - Multipass



Hainan Airlines had something like this recently - 30 Hainan Airlines Business Class Trips to China for $33,000

do % off sales actually mean anything. I mean 50% off what ?

Many % off sales are "discounts" off some ficticious rack rate in the case of hotels. Hotels will have many prices for same room, eg. based on number of nights stay(often cheaper the more nights), wholesale, retail, which country booked from, what the market will bear, non-refundable, refundable etc.

Have found many times over many decades, that if book USA accommodation in Australia, through an Australian wholesaler, it's much cheaper than yanks pay.

Some resorts that get a lot of Australians will actually set their prices for Australian wholesalers in AUD$ & only change them, if there is some big move in the exchange rate.

The same applies to some extent to airfares. Most people on here know that there are a dozen or more prices for a certain flight.

 

[moa999]

Looks like its just RJ on OptionTown now.
D7 (AirAsiaX) was also on it back in 2014

Flight Pass Air Asia X with Optiontown.

Hi Everyone, I am wondering if anyone has used or can explain to me the new Flight Pass offered by Opiniontown for Air Asia X??? I want to know whether I am able to actually be able to book the flight I want - not what they place me on. There is not a whole heap of info on their website...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

The %s off seemed to be off a standard fare, at the time the D7 offers were about he same as their usual discount fares
(If only fares were still at this level)

 

[ozfflyer]

Looks like its just RJ on OptionTown now.
D7 (AirAsiaX) was also on it back in 2014

Flight Pass Air Asia X with Optiontown.

Hi Everyone, I am wondering if anyone has used or can explain to me the new Flight Pass offered by Opiniontown for Air Asia X??? I want to know whether I am able to actually be able to book the flight I want - not what they place me on. There is not a whole heap of info on their website...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

The %s off seemed to be off a standard fare, at the time the D7 offers were about he same as their usual discount fares
(If only fares were still at this level)

what I'm getting at, is ...

is there a standard cost for anything these days ?

Some things are permanently on sale, due to a number of reasons

1. recession

2. some people still react when they see a % off.

Talking to a sporting goods retailer who gave this example ....

mark up 100%, so if something was $100 wholesale, in past would price it at $199, but now price it at $299.

A certain % of people would buy at almost any price, then have a 33% off sale, bring it back to roughly $199, then have a 50% off sale ($150), however, he did say, rather than a % off, a 2nd item FREE or 2nd item at 50% worked better.

To stop price shoppers, the retailer said, their stock would be slightly different to other stores, just like Bunnings. Could just be the colour or some other minor difference or just a different stock name or label.

BTW

it might sound like this retailer is making a lot of money, but he's not. He said might only sell a few items at full price, everything else discounted, plus his overheads keep going up & he has had to make some full time staff, casuals, as very few people shop during the week & most want to shop weekends esp Sundays.

& almost everyone (his words) asks for cash discount, but also want a tax invoice so they can claim GST back.

 

[p--and--t]

Succinctly - NO

Just like fixed interest mortgages, the punter loses the vast majority of the time.

 

[ozfflyer]

Succinctly - NO

Just like fixed interest mortgages, the punter loses the vast majority of the time.

fixed interest rates are good, if you can lock them in for long enough, so you know exactly what you have to pay every month. Despite recession, think interest rates might go up sooner rather than later.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

do % off sales actually mean anything. I mean 50% off what ?

This is where being an educated consumer can come in handy.

If you fly a particular route often enough and have a sense of the prices, you'll know a genuine '50% off' when you see it.