Brightline Trains Florida discussion 2024 H1

[jis]

Brevard County approves contributing $5 Million towards the construction of the Cocoa Brightline Station. Accessing the following article in Florida Today may require registration and/or subscription.

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/...dailybriefing&utm_medium=email&utm_term=adhoc

 

[joelkfla]

Train wraps --

There were 8 trainsets running ORL-MIA today (Sunday):

• 4 fully wrapped
• 2 wrapped leaving windows clear
• 2 unwrapped

After 1 run, one of the fully wrapped trains was replaced by an unwrapped one.

So about a 50/50 chance of getting unobstructed windows, if that one set hadn't been swapped out. Sorry, the odds aren't good enough for me.

 

[joelkfla]

Brightline has announced discount "Smart Saver" fares without seat selection and with no changes/refunds:



Typically $10-$20 less than the regular Smart fare. The Available Trains page now shows the Smart Saver fare in the calendar view and the Smart fare column, unless it's sold out on a train.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Train wraps --

There were 8 trainsets running ORL-MIA today (Sunday):

• 4 fully wrapped
• 2 wrapped leaving windows clear
• 2 unwrapped

After 1 run, one of the fully wrapped trains was replaced by an unwrapped one.

So about a 50/50 chance of getting unobstructed windows, if that one set hadn't been swapped out. Sorry, the odds aren't good enough for me.

Thanks for the update - the odds are getting better at least and they seem to be correcting this crazy mistake.

 

[Anderson]

Brightline has announced discount "Smart Saver" fares without seat selection and with no changes/refunds:

View attachment 36824

Typically $10-$20 less than the regular Smart fare. The Available Trains page now shows the Smart Saver fare in the calendar view and the Smart fare column, unless it's sold out on a train.

View attachment 36825

I'm marking down "sad" because I *hate* it when airlines won't let you throw out restricted fares like this in a search (e.g. AA just shows the cheapest economy fare vs DL letting you filter out Basic Economy).

Edit: I confess I also don't quite know why Brightline is introducing cheaper fares, except possibly to avoid space spoilage due to sub-optimal pax distribution. "We're selling out our trains! Let's cut fares!" just doesn't follow in my mind.

 

[cirdan]

Edit: I confess I also don't quite know why Brightline is introducing cheaper fares, except possibly to avoid space spoilage due to sub-optimal pax distribution. "We're selling out our trains! Let's cut fares!" just doesn't follow in my mind.

I expect that on the trains that are regularly sold out, that there won't be many cheaper fares.

I am sure that Brightline know they should be making hay while the sun is shining.

I expect that when the initial honeymoon phase is over that the market will even tolerate prices going up on such trains.

Offering cheaper seats on less popular trains might take some of the pressure off the more popular trains, however, and thus be overall revenue positive.

 

[jis]

I expect that on the trains that are regularly sold out, that there won't be many cheaper fares.

I am sure that Brightline know they should be making hay while the sun is shining.

I expect that when the initial honeymoon phase is over that the market will even tolerate prices going up on such trains.

Offering cheaper seats on less popular trains might take some of the pressure off the more popular trains, however, and thus be overall revenue positive.

Indeed. Just because there is a listed fare does not mean there is inventory at that fare on a specific train.

 

[joelkfla]

I expect that on the trains that are regularly sold out, that there won't be many cheaper fares.

I am sure that Brightline know they should be making hay while the sun is shining.

I expect that when the initial honeymoon phase is over that the market will even tolerate prices going up on such trains.

Offering cheaper seats on less popular trains might take some of the pressure off the more popular trains, however, and thus be overall revenue positive.

They already use demand-driven pricing. Regular smart fares from MCO-MIA range between $39 on early morning trains to over $100 on mid-morning trains during the next couple weeks. This is in addition to that.

I think it's primarily to generate more consumer interest by quoting lower fares in their advertising, and to draw traffic to their website for a "deal".