7 replies to this topic

[GTRcktSci]

How can this game/sim be taken seriously when people are charging (literally) $0 on a route?

/rant

[watchdog]

You name tells us that you know the answer, so work it out

GTRcktSci
Rocket Scientist

[GTRcktSci]

You name tells us that you know the answer, so work it out

Yeah, good point, but I was just ranting with a rhetorical question.

[Glennos]

How can this game/sim be taken seriously when people are charging (literally) $0 on a route?

/rant

Well it's outrageous!!

http://sim.airlineem..._xfr.php?id=168

[buduku83]

Well it's outrageous!!

http://sim.airlineem..._xfr.php?id=168

And you have Ryanair permanently launchig thousands of tickets at 0.01€, so charging that amount is not as unreal as it may seem...

[LOT 737-300]

And you have Ryanair permanently launchig thousands of tickets at 0.01?, so charging that amount is not as unreal as it may seem...

Not until you factor in all those taxes and fees.
As a side note though. I think this brings up a good point. In the game, we notice a few players who think that the only reason why Ryanair and Southwest make alot of money is because they charge low fares. Though this is part of the equation, in the US, Southwest seems to have quite a few routes where they match the other US Majors. But Southwest seems to have a Load factor around high 60 percentage while the Majors have around 80-90. When the reports come out, we find out that Southwest has made alot more money.

The reason for this?

Carriers like Southwest and Ryanair are called Low COST Carries (well, Ryanair could be called a Low Fare Carrier too with the fares they advertise). They keep their COSTS low and this will help boost their profit. The way they cut the cost is by cutting things like meal service (in Southwest's case) and in Ryanair's case, cutting out seats that can recline, taking out the Window shades, and penny and diming the passenger to death. In Ryanair's case, this helps save them costs in maintinance. Unfortunally, there really is no way to cut the cost of a flight on AE, the only thing close to it is to put a plane with lower operating costs.

[StephenM]

FlyJetGreen offered FREE fares, including taxes and charges. Needless to say they were bankrupt within a week. There are airlines in Europe that offer free or €0.01 fares and depending on taxes and charges you can get a return flight for under €50. In the states from what I saw you lot get ripped off by low-cost/fare carriers!

[LOT 737-300]

FlyJetGreen offered FREE fares, including taxes and charges. Needless to say they were bankrupt within a week. There are airlines in Europe that offer free or ?0.01 fares and depending on taxes and charges you can get a return flight for under ?50. In the states from what I saw you lot get ripped off by low-cost/fare carriers!

We had a small LFC (Low Fare Carrier) like that here in the US too. It was called Independence Air. I think they used to be ACA (Atlantic Coast Airlines) flying CRJs for United Express. When they seperated from UAL, they also ordered A319s (I have a nice 1:400 scale model of one). Well, they did get delivered and did fly. But within one or two years, they went under. They usually charged like 25 dollar fares, but they had like 20% load factors.

But the carriers that are doing this in the game are established and don't just charge 1 dollar fares everywhere. They are also hubbed, so this helps boost their LF and Profit.