77W First Class - Underutilized?

[StarG]

SQ just needs to play with their upgrade rules: Passengers in Z would get upgraded first to honor the highest fare paid: QPP in Z would be upgraded over TPP in C.

I think doing that will be more short term oriented (as SQ was in recent years before the latest financial crisis) with more focus on 'what you can give us today' than 'how good a customer are you'.

[SMK77]

On flights where waitlists are pages long and SQ is only offering Z fares it might make a lot of sense to overbook and upgrade to First. 8 empty seats on 77W don't make a sustainable business case over time.

SQ just needs to play with their upgrade rules: Passengers in Z would get upgraded first to honor the highest fare paid: QPP in Z would be upgraded over TPP in C.

[jjpb3]

Another factor against op-up is that flights overbooked in premium cabins tend to also have lots of top tier elites so the odds of any one individual getting an op-up is rather low.

Great point. I forgot about the passenger factor.

[Kiwi]

Another factor against op-up is that flights overbooked in premium cabins tend to also have lots of top tier elites so the odds of any one individual getting an op-up is rather low.

[jjpb3]

No my basis of that statement was that if you travel so often, to accumulate Solitaire through PPS only, that person must also be traveling at peak times because it would require a lot of traveling (I think), and so sooner or later if they still allow First opups, he/she would be bound to have a flight where J has been oversold sooner or later

Ah well, I think that's the wrong inference to make in this case. Op-up probabilities depend on the propensity to overbook (which the airline's revenue management system supports) and the airline's policy towards protecting the integrity of its offerings (for example, the willingess to give compensation or risk a backlash, rather than grant an op-up). I think you'll find that on average, both these factors lower the chances of an op-up on SQ, even for top-tier elites. The slippery slope SQ tries to avoid was described by agmhkg in his post.

[pavion]

Every two years on SQ? I'm curious on what you based this SQ inference on: which routes, what times of the year, etc. Excluding the recent downturn, how robust has this at-least-once-every-two-years trend been?

I'm curious because I've heard of TPPs who haven't been so fortunate.

No my basis of that statement was that if you travel so often, to accumulate Solitaire through PPS only, that person must also be traveling at peak times because it would require a lot of traveling (I think), and so sooner or later if they still allow First opups, he/she would be bound to have a flight where J has been oversold sooner or later

[Kiwi]

I take my point back for the sole reason that a Solitare would presumably at LEAST get one op-up every two years, if that person is traveling so much

Not necessarily. It has been a long while since my last SQ op-up as solitaire although admittedly my SQ travel has diminshed considerably the last couple of years. Prior to that I'd go for many SQ flights in between op-ups. On QF (which has similar policy as SQ) I have top tier status, flown with them several hundred times, and never been op-upped.

[hybridace101]

^^

SQ C is pretty desirable in and of itself. Anyone would be happy to ride it. As we agreed, it dilutes the image of SQ's F to grant upgrades very often. But soon, it might put SQ's 5-star status in jeopardy.

[TerryK]

..... otherwise you will end up A Full First Cabin with only upgrades, then you starts to find ways to cut the cost on First Class and eventually your first class will start look cheap.....

This is exactly what happened with all US based carriers. There are few F fare paying passengers for US based carriers. F cabins are full of upgraders and nonrevs.

I would rather fly SQ C than UA F.

[agmhkg]

SQ please keep you First Class exclusively for the paying F pax..... otherwise you will end up A Full First Cabin with only upgrades, then you starts to find ways to cut the cost on First Class and eventually your first class will start look cheap.....

[jjpb3]

I take my point back for the sole reason that a Solitare would presumably at LEAST get one op-up every two years, if that person is traveling so much

Every two years on SQ? I'm curious on what you based this SQ inference on: which routes, what times of the year, etc. Excluding the recent downturn, how robust has this at-least-once-every-two-years trend been?

I'm curious because I've heard of TPPs who haven't been so fortunate.

[pavion]

Yes <b>Kiwi</b> that is something which they would lose out on, however I am not saying EVERY single time, maybe like once every two years just as an enticement.

I always think that some people may not want to buy the service, unless they have tried it out, but wait a minute, I take my point back for the sole reason that a Solitare would presumably at LEAST get one op-up every two years, if that person is traveling so much

[hybridace101]

Point well-taken. That's why the value of an F service elsewhere could easily be diluted. SQ isn't a 5-star airline for nothing.

[hsf]

.. or the opposite. No need to pay for F if get it for free.

Precisely. The more unattainable, the more desirable.... something like that!

[Kiwi]

Yes but the thing is that if you are a Solitarie PPS who has made the status through Business Class trave exclusively, maybe giving one opup to him every now and then would be appreciated and it could cause him to spend that extra dollar for a First Class ticket

.. or the opposite. No need to pay for F if get it for free.