VA pricing is baffling!

[Leia77]

How can premium economy be cheaper than economy tickets? I am far from being an expert on ticket pricing, but how can that be logical

[parkgirl]

A non changeable premium ticket v a fully flexible economy ticket?

[Leia77]

Originally Posted by parkgirl

A non changeable premium ticket v a fully flexible economy ticket?

See more...

Thanks. I'm not sure, the fare code is BNUF0AMN, if that sheds any light? Flights are just released, so basic economy shouldn't be sold out.

I'm hoping to book in a couple of weeks, would like to be prepared.

[sha9]

Initially on release it's often full flexible fares so much higher priced. I wouldn't book on release day.

[Leia77]

Originally Posted by sha9

Initially on release it's often full flexible fares so much higher priced. I wouldn't book on release day.

See more...

Ah, ok, thanks! Do you know when the start to come down? I'll keep an eye on it, of course, but just wondered if you had an idea when that's likely. Thanks again.

[poohsfriend]

I checked the prices of our flights last year on many occasions (couldn't resist). I saw this happen quite a few times and even saw Business/First cheaper than premium economy at least once. I just assumed it was down to supply/demand - very few economy seats left but plenty of seats in the other cabins. We had booked premium and I phoned to see if I could change but unfortunately it wasnt possible.
Don't know if this is the real reason but just wanted to say it isn't unique.
ETA - We flew BA last year so it is obviously the same with all airlines

[Hil]

Originally Posted by Leia77

How can premium economy be cheaper than economy tickets? I am far from being an expert on ticket pricing, but how can that be logical

See more...

Within each cabin (economy / PE / upper) there are several fare levels, ranging from the highest fully flexible to the lowest (sometimes available through a tour operator). As if that wasn't complicated enough, the number of seats in each of those levels is constantly changing to reflect revenue targets, etc. So you may find the cheapest PE seats are priced lower than economy.

Disclaimer - that's how I understand it works, anyway!

[Leia77]

Thanks all! I get that as the lower grade tickets are sold, the price increases as only the more flexible tickets are left. I just find it strange that VA don't seem to release the lower priced economy tickets first. I wonder if they hope people will dive in and for for the dearer ones when first released? Who knows! Thanks again for the replies

[Peko]

Originally Posted by Hil

Within each cabin (economy / PE / upper) there are several fare levels, ranging from the highest fully flexible to the lowest (sometimes available through a tour operator). As if that wasn't complicated enough, the number of seats in each of those levels is constantly changing to reflect revenue targets, etc. So you may find the cheapest PE seats are priced lower than economy.

Disclaimer - that's how I understand it works, anyway!

See more...

Airline revenue management is a dark and complex art, but you are basically correct. These levels are known variously as fare classes, booking classes or fare buckets, different names for the same thing.

Economy always has the most fare classes. The reason the OP is seeing this issue is because when seats are first released for sale, the cheapest booking classes are kept closed.

Here is the current availability for VS27 LGW-MCO on 2 dates next June.

VS27 LGW-MCO 08/06/2018
J9 C9 D9 I9 Z0 W9 S9 H9 K2 Y9 B9 R9 L9 U9 M9 E9 Q9 X9 V0 N9 O3

VS27 LGW-MCO 29/06/2018
J9 C9 D0 I0 Z0 W9 S9 H0 K0 Y9 B9 R0 L0 U0 M0 E0 Q0 X0 V0 N0 O0

Each letter is a booking class (J/C/D/I/Z for Upper, W/S/H/K for PE and Y onwards for economy - different airlines use some different letters). The number with each letter is how many seats they are currently making available for sale in that fare class (9 means at least 9).

You can see that for 8 June, they have started opening up the cheaper fare classes, but for 29 June, which has only recently been released, they have all but the most expensive flexible fare classes closed in economy. The cheap fares are there, they've just closed availability so nobody can buy them yet.

This is why it's almost always a bad idea to buy cash economy tickets immediately on release with legacy carriers like BA and Virgin. Redemptions are different, you want to be in quickly.

Low cost airlines like Norwegian and easyJet are also different, they release seats in blocks of travel dates, so getting in straight away is a good thing.

[baboons]

What a great summary, thanks Peko.