DALLAS -- American began testing a simplified fare structure in 23
domestic city-pair markets.
The test appears to favor business travelers, reduces the number
of fare categories to just five and eliminates the Y fare
entirely.
The Y unrestricted full-fare coach fare is replaced by B fares,
which also are unrestricted full-fare but at 40% off the Y
fare.
First class also sees a significant reduction, set at 35% higher
than the new B fare. There also is a 30-day advance purchase fare,
and two 14-day advance purchase fares.
So, what does this mean?
As of Nov. 15 on flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and Tampa,
the first class fare drops from $878 to $563 and full-fare coach
drops from $695 to $417, according to Bestfares.com.
On leisure fares, however, the $242 restricted coach ticket that
had been a 14-day advance purchase now is available only as a
30-day advance purchase. The 14-day advance tickets now cost $322
and $456.
Delta, by the way, responded Nov. 15 by offering a $417
unrestricted fare in first class, matching American's unrestricted
price in coach, said Bestfares.com CEO Tom Parsons.
At American, a spokesman acknowledged the structure isn't that
much different from the value pricing experiment that American
launched in 1992 -- and which crashed and burned after it sparked a
fare war.
But he emphasized that American is only testing this in 23 out
of the 50,000 or so domestic city-pairs it serves.
"It's a test of similar but not identical pricing concepts, just
in selected markets," he said. "We're seeing how a simplified
structure works; how it's received."
The 23 markets cover a broad range, including Dallas/Fort Worth
to Los Angeles and Philadelphia, St. Louis-Denver, New
Orleans-Seattle and Philadelphia-San Antonio.