Why is Domestic J so damned expensive????

[marki]

A few random comments:
...............Snip
3.- Aust Dom J product (other than the A330's which I have not flown) is still heaps better than some. For example, Lufthansa J class intra-Europe (so actually technically international J) is just a blocked middle seat on a ****ty little A320 - same seats, and even SAME PITCH!
4.- Supply and demand, but allowed by point (2) above.
5.- and last thing, ..............:snip

You forgot to mention here that your still at the pointy end and service. Service is a little bit better ! ...... Breakfast with hot food and a smile........etc

 

[Flying mermaid]

True, smit0847, but you and I pay for it indirectly in the price of goods and services, or in higher Federal and State Government deficits, when staff from private enterprise and government departments travel in J.

I have declined to join others in business class between MEL and SYD because paying such a huge fare premium cannot be justified for such a small sector. It's irrelevant if it's not coming out of my pocket - someone else has to pay for such largesse.
MEL - PER and especiallyI have to admit since reading this board SYD - PER is a different story, but yes, even these are outrageously priced given the distance and comparison with international routes where in most cases there is more competition.

Interestingly we have yet to unearth any AFFer who pays J fares domestically at full tote odds out of his or her own pocket.

Hangs head in shame - we do I have to admit since becoming a member of this board I am more likely to buy an award or a y fare on the shorter routes and put in for points upgrades and suck it up if we don't get it, but on longer flights say Darwin or Cairns or Perth we would pay if no J awards were available. In mitigation of this silliness, flying is my passion and I like to do it in comfort.....

 

[juddles]

.... flying is my passion and I like to do it in comfort.....

am with you there!

 

[under the radar]

market economy...supply/demand..simple economics...etc etc etc

 

[amaroo]

market economy...supply/demand..simple economics...etc etc etc

The best reason ... OPM

 

[MEL_Traveller]

market economy...supply/demand..simple economics...etc etc etc

When I was working in the UK many years ago there was a government policy of 'economy only' for all flights. Perhaps surprisingly, this sometimes resulted in economy being much more expensive than Club Europe... and on peak flights to say BRU or CDG a flexible Eurtraveller could be GBP100 (sometimes much more) than business! With none of the perks

 

[RooFlyer]

Usually only travel domestic J on a revenue ticket when connecting to International.

However I recently lashed out post a small windfall and paid ~$800 for HBA-BNE direct on VA. The return leg, Economy Saver with window seat ~$250.

 

[love_the_life]

The Federal Government makes a nice little earner for the airlines spending $377m on airline travel in FY2013 with 64% on domestic travel or $241m.
Never flying Y and always on points, thank my lucky stars the at worst double points outlay is such a bargain.

For almost all public servants Dom flights are all economy. SES only for J now as most EAs took out the provision for J when flights were over 4 hrs. There is a push for restricted class flights with messages about lost savings for higher fare buckets when booked and explanation for this required. WoAG arrangements mean all travel and accommodation has to be booked the single provider for each.
So that figure represents mostly Y travel by the APS.

 

[russ]

flying is my passion and I like to do it in comfort.....

Flying is not my passion, so I like to do it in comfort too

 

[Flying mermaid]

Flying is not my passion, so I like to do it in comfort too

That also works.

 

[Nizar]

Hangs head in shame - we do I have to admit since becoming a member of this board I am more likely to buy an award or a y fare on the shorter routes and put in for points upgrades and suck it up if we don't get it, but on longer flights say Darwin or Cairns or Perth we would pay if no J awards were available. In mitigation of this silliness, flying is my passion and I like to do it in comfort.....

I didn't want to be the first to admit it lol but I have paid for domestic J too. It was a couple of years ago when I was within touching distance of SG. I have otherwise flown Y domestically. I have thought of using points for domestic J but would rather "save" my points for international F.

 

[Boca68]

I'm interested in this question, my thoughts exactly, cause I cant see what the big deal is with either airline - for that type of $$$.

Does anyone actually pay those amounts?

Cannot supply the answer for Airline travel, but having worked in a major 5* Hotel chain, albeit some time ago, it was rare for someone to pay full rack rate for a Junior Suite and above. Horrible to say, but some staff silently chuckled when it did happened.

I'm imaging for airlines, it would be a similiar scenario.

Not the chuckling part.... just the rarity of it.

 

[Gabriel]

Supply/Demand and what companies are willing to pay. My company pays for me to fly between Sydnay and Perth in J and I'm glad it's expensive, means I can get the flight that I want.

 

[kermatu]

For almost all public servants Dom flights are all economy. SES only for J now as most EAs took out the provision for J when flights were over 4 hrs. There is a push for restricted class flights with messages about lost savings for higher fare buckets when booked and explanation for this required. WoAG arrangements mean all travel and accommodation has to be booked the single provider for each.
So that figure represents mostly Y travel by the APS.

Even most SES travel domestically is Y - sometimes flex but at least one leg will be Red E-deal (on QF) if time is guaranteed. But most of all, far fewer people travelling at all - use virtual meetings / telepresence etc. Saves departments (and taxpayers) a fortune.

More often than not the people I come across in J ex-Canberra (on ever-decreasing services with a J cabin) are connecting to or from an international J or F flight (me included).

 

[kalboy]

Must say I seem to be extremely lucky and fly PER-MEL leg in J on an classic upgrade with (so far) a 100% success rate at usually 2X a month. I pay for Flex regional WA to Tas so pick up enough points along with the CC points earn to almost cover the 10K points required for the upgrade. Would I pay cash..... NO WAY.

 

[muppet]

<SNIP>... But most of all, far fewer people travelling at all - use virtual meetings / telepresence etc. Saves departments (and taxpayers) a fortune.
<SNIP>

Very easy to calculate the travel expense savings. we'll never know the "cost" to taxpayers of much less oversight of contracts / grants etc. Physically witnessing a supplier / grantee's site provides much greater risk management ability than a teleconference. That's why the private sector do it [who the pubes are supposed to imitate]. Off topic I know... so i'll shut up now

 

[cove]

36,000 points on QF or 33,000 odd points on VA each way plus some dollars works for us. If there is nothing on QF I am ok with VA. The only recent time there was dust was to get to the AFL Grand Final this October.

 

[toowongman]

I'm interested in this question, my thoughts exactly, cause I cant see what the big deal is with either airline - for that type of $$$.

Does anyone actually pay those amounts?

Yeah, once. Had to do SYD-BNE without delay in 2002, only option to get out of town that Saturday afternoon was full walk-up fare QF J. $600-something.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Very easy to calculate the travel expense savings. we'll never know the "cost" to taxpayers of much less oversight of contracts / grants etc. Physically witnessing a supplier / grantee's site provides much greater risk management ability than a teleconference. That's why the private sector do it [who the pubes are supposed to imitate]. Off topic I know... so i'll shut up now

A lot of public service travel that I came across was in order to visit other public servants in other towns - can be done just as effectively and productively via teleconferencing. Certainly in the last few years I was actively involved in my business there was a huge growth in teleconferencing in private companies for that purpose. There will always be a need for face to face meetings, but they can certainly be cut down - just has to be done sensibly.

 

[cove]

When Mrscove got a double status credit offer recently I got her upgradeable seats PER-MEL-PER for about $1200 and the upgraded her to J both ways for a round trip total of 20,000 QF points. I felt that worked fine.