Per AA, approximately 60% of the existing AA/US reservations are already AA reservations, so regardless of the date of travel, those reservations do not have to be touched. The US side holds about 40% of the existing reservations. Of those, about 10% are for travel after October 16. So, of all the existing AA/US reservations on the books, 10% of 40% require migration - or 4%.That number amazes me. Out of all of the open reservations held by US/AA, 96% of them are for travel in the next 2 months?On July 18, all US Airways flights beginning October 17 will be re-designated American Airlines flights. Any existing reservations on the US Airways CRS for travel after October 16 will be migrated to the AA CRS. This forced migration will affect about 4% of all the existing AA/US reservations.
Good point....and it gets further complicated when you are shopping for a cruise vacation...and possibly other vacations, as there are many fluctuations in their pricing as well, and strategies for getting the best fares/prices.....Airline tickets can move hundreds of dollars in the span of a single day. Over the course of a few weeks or months they can potentially move thousands of dollars. When I make my decision to purchase a ticket it is based on a known and definable price rather than some vague assumption of cost. Maybe in other cultures it's not unusual for working age people to lock in their dates, times, and locations and then sit and wait for months before buying airline tickets, but nobody I know does that. When we're ready to plan we buy. If the cost is too high we choose another location. Most Americans don't have three or four weeks of annual vacation to play around with so they do what they can to make the most of the one or two weeks they do have. Maybe they'll end up leaving some money on the table as a result, but it's not like most folks can move their approved vacation dates around just because the airline prices changed.That does not surprise me too much, considering that the lowest fares are generally available about three months before departure! why would people unnecessarily lock in higher fares in a non refundable booking?
I rarely travel for business but when I did the business travel contract terms were different than personal tickets, often able to sharply reduce or even waive change fees altogether. I would presume that's still the case today for medium and larger businesses.I'm in the air often on business, and three weeks is as far in advance as I can ever book. There is just too much likelihood that my schedule will have to change if I look farther out, and then I'm into the change fees.
I do know that in some countries most flights are still sold by travel agents that sometimes cost more but also came with fewer restrictions and fees than we're used to, or at least that's how it worked the last time I looked into it, but even that process still favors buying earlier rather than later.Good point....and it gets further complicated when you are shopping for a cruise vacation...and possibly other vacations, as there are many fluctuations in their pricing as well, and strategies for getting the best fares/prices.....Airline tickets can move hundreds of dollars in the span of a single day. Over the course of a few weeks or months they can potentially move thousands of dollars. When I make my decision to purchase a ticket it is based on a known and definable price rather than some vague assumption of cost. Maybe in other cultures it's not unusual for working age people to lock in their dates, times, and locations and then sit and wait for months before buying airline tickets, but nobody I know does that. When we're ready to plan we buy. If the cost is too high we choose another location. Most Americans don't have three or four weeks of annual vacation to play around with so they do what they can to make the most of the one or two weeks they do have. Maybe they'll end up leaving some money on the table as a result, but it's not like most folks can move their approved vacation dates around just because the airline prices changed.That does not surprise me too much, considering that the lowest fares are generally available about three months before departure! why would people unnecessarily lock in higher fares in a non refundable booking?
I'm reminded of what I referred to as the StupidSeats promotion Amtrak was doing for a while (it's since been renamed) where you could get about as close to a non-flexible fare as Amtrak would offer (e.g. the "no upgrades, no changes to itinerary once travel has begun, etc." sort of fare) and the fare would be somewhat discounted...basically it was a rolling version of the NEC 25% off advance-booking fare. One of several reasons I got into the habit of booking fairly last-minute was that Amtrak.com was set up to automatically give you the cheapest fare, even if subject to those T&C, and...well, let's just say that I didn't like that.I rarely travel for business but when I did the business travel contract terms were different than personal tickets, often able to sharply reduce or even waive change fees altogether. I would presume that's still the case today for medium and larger businesses.I'm in the air often on business, and three weeks is as far in advance as I can ever book. There is just too much likelihood that my schedule will have to change if I look farther out, and then I'm into the change fees.
I do know that in some countries most flights are still sold by travel agents that sometimes cost more but also came with fewer restrictions and fees than we're used to, or at least that's how it worked the last time I looked into it, but even that process still favors buying earlier rather than later.Good point....and it gets further complicated when you are shopping for a cruise vacation...and possibly other vacations, as there are many fluctuations in their pricing as well, and strategies for getting the best fares/prices.....Airline tickets can move hundreds of dollars in the span of a single day. Over the course of a few weeks or months they can potentially move thousands of dollars. When I make my decision to purchase a ticket it is based on a known and definable price rather than some vague assumption of cost. Maybe in other cultures it's not unusual for working age people to lock in their dates, times, and locations and then sit and wait for months before buying airline tickets, but nobody I know does that. When we're ready to plan we buy. If the cost is too high we choose another location. Most Americans don't have three or four weeks of annual vacation to play around with so they do what they can to make the most of the one or two weeks they do have. Maybe they'll end up leaving some money on the table as a result, but it's not like most folks can move their approved vacation dates around just because the airline prices changed.That does not surprise me too much, considering that the lowest fares are generally available about three months before departure! why would people unnecessarily lock in higher fares in a non refundable booking?
...actually, let me rephrase. Scads of complicated rules are available, but there's no way to actually search out which one(s) you want to look at prices for. Put another way, on certain airlines you get extra mileage for one bucket over another. Let's say that for First you have the following buckets:Nothing in the middle? Not in my experience. Actually airlines offer mindnumbingly complex fare rules on various fares between non-refundable non-changeable to fully refundable fully changeable. Amtrak's IT system is simply incapable of supporting such, which is probably not a bad thing.
I'm guessing a year or more. There are still a bunch of them out there. If I get a more precise timeline, I'll let you know,How long is the USAirways paint going to live on? Need to get out and get some shots before it disappears.
Didn't "Agony" come from "Alleghany? Or am I remembering wrong?Thanks for sharing the memories Bill! We used to call them "Agony Airlines" when I lived in the NE, but actually they were a better airline
You are correct Sir!Didn't "Agony" come from "Alleghany? Or am I remembering wrong?Thanks for sharing the memories Bill! We used to call them "Agony Airlines" when I lived in the NE, but actually they were a better airline
I'll bet on Charlotte being the one to lose out (in favor of Miami and Philadelphia).I'll be curious to see if any of the current AA/US hubs lose out in the next few years. I've read some speculation that Phoenix may face cutbacks, but it's a much larger city/metro area than Cincinnati, Cleveland, Memphis, and others that have been (or are being) de-hubbed.
When Allegheny became US Air, it did not take long for the nickname "Useless Air" to be coined.You are correct Sir!Didn't "Agony" come from "Alleghany? Or am I remembering wrong?Thanks for sharing the memories Bill! We used to call them "Agony Airlines" when I lived in the NE, but actually they were a better airline
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