Hey to all out there!
I asked Zing Martindale how he made one billion in about 6 months at s3-a. He said that I was not the first one who asked that and asked me to post his "strategy" so you all have the opportunity to be, what is my thought to it, an extreme capitalist.
Here it goes:
1) Technique will ONLY work at the start of the game.
2) Starting aircraft ought be the one that seats the most pax. Starting airport ought be the most expensive, in terms of gate lease cost, that your going to set up INITIAL routes through---example, I might be Pacifica, but I'm based in ORD. This means that I intend to set up an initial set of flights passing through ORD and will need gates, but not that I intend to build-up exclusively at ORD.
3) Go to "airline options" select "Human Resources". Set "reserves" at 0% from the 15% it is set to. Reduce the salaries of every employee group to $7 an hour---EVERY EMPLOYEE GROUP. Also, you should have 2 additional "mechanics"---downsize and lay them off. Your initial median payroll ought = $28,000 if your doing this "step" correctly.
4) Go to "configure In-Flight Services. Many would term this as Spam IFE, yet it is an option, so why not reap the benefits of the option---and who is to say you don't want to offer this "spam" option? Also the point is to make money---not "imagine" that your airline serves the finest food in the world. Thus, you configure for the worst/least costly Services. Next you must configure for food services, again chose the worst food and charge the most. Next via the drop-down that will appear apply whatever you have named your IFE/Food to all the cabins Y-C-F and all distances.
NOTE: I set up the airline with 10C 170Y seats or whatever....I don't offer First Class. I have no clue what offering all 3 classes would do in terms of profits, etc.
5) Go to "Airline Financing" tab. Select "Bonds" take out two (2) $5 million bonds and one (1) $2.5 million bond. This will give just under $20 million dollars in start up capital & you've yet to do anything and world has yet to start. LEASE PLANES with this capital. For instance it should be enough to lease 2 727's 2 737's 2 DC-9's...or maybe buy an A300 (I'm referencing the World we are in). Don't worry about the interest rate, etc....YET!
6) LEASE THE PLANES FIRST, PRIOR TO DOING ANYTHING IN REGARDS TO ROUTES OR CONFIGURATION OF THE PLANE YOU START WITH---DOING ANYTHING LIKE THAT COSTS $$$ WHICH MEANS YOU HAVE LESS MONEY TO BUY PLANES
7) Wait until shortly before the "world" is schedule to start to begin scheduling flights. AN OBVIOUS TIP-OFF TO A PLAYER WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS ONE WHO KEEPS THE 5 GATES THEY ARE PROVIDED AT THE START OF THE WORLD. YOU OUGHT TO "RETURN" ALL OF THE GATES YOUR NOT USING, OTHERWISE YOUR PAYING FOR GATES THAT ARE GOING UNUSED.
8) AIRLINE EMPIRES BUG: When scheduling flights your provided with "starting fares" that can be adjusted upwards for more profit. A BUG exists in AE. For example, the starting fare for LAX-ORD is like $400. Previously, I would increase it by $7-$8 with the obvious goal of keeping capacity at 100% (NOTE IT IS CRITICAL TO AVOID COMPETITION, AND SELECT ROUTES THAT HAVE NO COMPETITION...YET POSSESS A DAILY PASSENGER COUNT OF LIKE 1,000+ PASSENGERS). I personally set up 7 flight a week for frequency (1 per day) on a route. On the LAX-ORD route...I then increase the fare to $1,000 and it generally shows 100% capacity and a fantastical profit. If capacity isn't 100% I adjust the fare up or down by $50-$100 until I get 100% capacity. I then set up 2-3 more routes depending upon the number of available hours the plane has. I HAVE "HEADLINED" THIS PRICING BUG IN THE FORUMS...AND THE RESPONSE WAS HOOO-HUM....IT WILL BE FIXED IN THE NEXT VERSION.
9) To keep "things" going your need to keep buying planes. Some players like to be partial to a specific type of plane, or believe they are keeping maintenance costs lower with a single type (which they are---but when your earning $50 million plus a day inside of 5-6 months or game world play, does that truly matter?). It is critical that you diversify the planes you purchase from all of the manufacturers so that you keep deliveries rolling in. 727, 737, 707, A300, DC-9, L-1011, etc-etc-etc.
10) It is important to note that by taking out $12.5 million in bonds, your credit rating, and the # of planes your allowed to lease, during the initial 2-3 months is going to suck. For instance...if on the 23rd of the month you plow $15 million (this is just during the first few months) into new aircraft leases....your going to start the following month in the "negative" and will thus default on your bond interest payments. The result of which is you won't be allowed to lease additional planes...planes equal growth & growth equals lots of profits. So, you just hold off until the start of the 2nd and 3rd month...and wait until the 2nd day of the month to make a big plane purchase (lease).
11) As time progresses you will be making about $4 million+ a day in the first month or two...if you get caught in the no more "allowed" leases problem...just save up and buy one of the planes you have...you can then order a plane since one lease is now available...also your valuation will always be at least the value of the plane you just bought.
12) By the 5-6th month you should have a ton of money. Thus click upon finances again and then aircraft leasing and buy the planes that are due for lease payments.
13) During the first 3-4 months avoid ALL COMPETITION and search for obvious high traffic routes...if a competitor comes onto a route---simply drop the route and move elsewhere so you can charge the $1,000 fares....ultimately, with your constantly buying planes, and the months passing...competition is unavoidable. So...clobber the competition. How? You will have so much money and so many planes that when a competitor comes on onto a route and it shows a red 0% for my capacity...I simply set the fare back to where the competitor has their fare set...I then plow a load of flights onto that route and essentially overburden the capacity demand on that route to above what is the daily passengers (i.e. 1,000 daily passengers)....I place a load of frequencies on that route and get it well above demand...in turn this means the fares must drop below what was the starting fare...the result is that I earn a lot less money, but so do my competitors who are---I would assume trying to catch me...they can't if they are on a route where the fares are so low and I basically control the fares because I have enough planes to overwhelm the capacity a sing fare prices.
Hope this one will be more recognized than the posts he already made. And, though I also think that this "technique" looks a bit unfair to the realistics of us, we can't say that we don't have the option to do it the same way, now.
Cheers to all,
Lord Corner