Wow, you really do get what you pay for

[CpnCrunch]

Did you check Transat? They're usually pretty reasonably priced.

[tsgas]

Overselling at airlines is similar to buying and selling of insurance. Insurance companies sell you a policy which is calculated on the odds of a risk/reward ratio. Airlines oversell because there is a percentage of pax that miss flts due to health problems, traffic jams driving to the airport, problems with immigration etc.

Every business has a risk of customers not showing up due to traffic jams, health problems, etc.

and your point is ? FYI there is nothing more perishable than an aircraft taking off with open seats. If you decide to go to a barber today or tomorrow , there is no loss revenue for the barber.

[tsgas]

Every business has a risk of customers not showing up due to traffic jams, health problems, etc.

Yeah, and those non showing customers all have paid in advance for their seats. No risk to the airline whatsoever. In fact, I think they might even save the money on airport taxes, if customers don't claim them back.

A restaurant for example does have risk when customers with a reservation don't show up, they haven't paid in advance and he has an unpaid table in his room.

Exactly!

Incorrect !!

[FL007]

Overselling at airlines is similar to buying and selling of insurance. Insurance companies sell you a policy which is calculated on the odds of a risk/reward ratio. Airlines oversell because there is a percentage of pax that miss flts due to health problems, traffic jams driving to the airport, problems with immigration etc.

Every business has a risk of customers not showing up due to traffic jams, health problems, etc.

and your point is ? FYI there is nothing more perishable than an aircraft taking off with open seats. If you decide to go to a barber today or tomorrow , there is no loss revenue for the barber.

What if you decide not to eat at a restaurant tomorrow night? By your argument restaurants should charge more to each customer based on empty seats to protect maximal revenue.

Maybe it's lack of quality service causing the empty seats.. Maybe it's people who pre payed for the three course dinner getting turned away because the restaurant was overbooked.

[tsgas]

Every business has a risk of customers not showing up due to traffic jams, health problems, etc.

and your point is ? FYI there is nothing more perishable than an aircraft taking off with open seats. If you decide to go to a barber today or tomorrow , there is no loss revenue for the barber.

What if you decide not to eat at a restaurant tomorrow night? By your argument restaurants should charge more to each customer based on empty seats to protect maximal revenue.

Maybe it's lack of quality service causing the empty seats.. Maybe it's people who pre payed for the three course dinner getting turned away because the restaurant was overbooked.

You have been working as a buss boy for too long . I was discussing airlines.

[pelmet]

I've ZED fared from Can to Europe and back numerous times including flights within Europe. Often in biz class.. I've never had problems other than the odd bump here and there but the idea is you should have a back up, or the three. You can't really complain about loads when your get fares for so little, there's always a downside to any perk. You can't get something for nothing.

I think you need to read my original post again to understand it. I am not complaining about loads, but about gouging. The overselling thing is a widespread complaint in the industry that was almost banned recently that I happen to support as well. And I did have a backup.....WOW.

[FL007]

and your point is ? FYI there is nothing more perishable than an aircraft taking off with open seats. If you decide to go to a barber today or tomorrow , there is no loss revenue for the barber.

What if you decide not to eat at a restaurant tomorrow night? By your argument restaurants should charge more to each customer based on empty seats to protect maximal revenue.

Maybe it's lack of quality service causing the empty seats.. Maybe it's people who pre payed for the three course dinner getting turned away because the restaurant was overbooked.

You have been working as a buss boy for too long . I was discussing airlines.

Ah yes, sorry.

[pelmet]

OK,

I know that you have been waiting patiently to hear my WOW experience so here it is.

The online ticket purchase was fairly straight-forward. There were several fare options and I took the middle one(Comfy Fare) that includes 1 carry-on and 1 suitcase for about 50 extra dollars(the site said that carry-on for regular fare is more than 100 dollars), although I was a bit skeptical about the free baggage so I kept a screen shot on my computer just in case. The check-in confirmed no extra payment.

I arrived about two hours before the flight and the line-up was about 20 ahead of me with three check-in agents. We did end up all being cleared out of our section of the terminal for about 30 minutes due to an abandoned suitcase being found nearby. An explosives team checked out the suitcase and we were then allowed back to check-in. This did not cause a delay.

Although WOW has A330 aircraft, both of my flights were A321. It was a nice day in FRA but when we got on the aircraft(I was last in case there was a better seat somewhere), it was really hot. I assumed the APU was inop but after about 15 minutes, we had cool air and I suppose they were just saving fuel by delaying the APU start even though the cabin was so warm.

I was hoping for an early departure as I only had a 65 minute connecting time in Reykjavik but the captain said that the alternate in northern Iceland had been changed to Scotland and we needed more fuel with hopefully only a 10-15 minute delay. 45 minutes after departure time we were advised that the weather had improved at the alternate and we pushed back(I guess without taking any more fuel).

I had what are known as Comfy seats which which I suppose are better than the regular seats but they are nothing special. I would say that anyone much taller than 6 feet will find the legroom difficult. I did appreciate the website mentioning to me that my initial choice of seat(no extra charge for Comfy fare) was an exit row seat that does not recline which is very desirable on a fairly long flight when you are tired.

There are a few large seats at the very front that one can buy online or in the cabin. I was very happy when the guy behind me did that as he was one of those jerks that are repeatedly banging the back of your seat. Another person did move to the seat behind me but he was considerate and did like I do, try to minimize hitting the seat back. It helps that unlike AC, there are no TV screens on the seatbacks with people jabbing the screen and annoying the person in front of them.

The seat does recline reasonably well and aside from a baby three rows ahead of me making noise for an hour or so allowed for a reasonable snooze. Kudos to the good quality parents for making good efforts to keep the baby quiet. I had my own food but food is available for purchase. I didn't check the menu.

Several people were concerned about connecting time but their good communication appreciated when the captain gave an update nearing descent that the connecting flights had been delayed 40 minutes.

Depending on the airline you fly, you may or may not have very senior cabin crew flying. In this case, it was quite enjoyable to see an all female crew with a couple of them being very beautiful, something that always improves a regular flight.

It was cloudy in REK but I did get a view for the last five minutes of the approach. The terminal is not overly large and we, like many other flights used remote parking. It was windy and 9 degrees. I might be interesting during the not so nice nine months of the year getting on and off the aircraft.

The terminal seems much larger once inside and there seems to be a lot of good options for food including local cuisine. It is busy with a lot of WOW flights followed by a lot of Icelandair flights, both of which have extensive routes(each with a flight to YYZ within an hour of each other).

The second flight ended up being delayed almost two hours which was better than an on-time departure. The passport check was very slow. It was pretty much the same as the first flight with the same row 8 for me and the same baby three rows ahead. We used the infield terminal at YYZ which adds time for those in a rush. Baggage arrived in reasonable time.

I would recommend anyone to use WOW. It is especially good for those wanting a fairly flexible late booking of flights at a reasonable price(hopefully under 2000 dollars) to Europe instead of being gouged by the mainlines.

[Lightchop]

So you were in FRA and flew to YYZ on a full fare WOW ticket via Iceland? Are you not able to book ZEDs on other airlines? There are direct options from FRA with ZEDs.

[pelmet]

So you were in FRA and flew to YYZ on a full fare WOW ticket via Iceland? Are you not able to book ZEDs on other airlines? There are direct options from FRA with ZEDs.

Suggest you read the first post.

[Lightchop]

So you were in FRA and flew to YYZ on a full fare WOW ticket via Iceland? Are you not able to book ZEDs on other airlines? There are direct options from FRA with ZEDs.

Suggest you read the first post.

Sorry, maybe I'm not reading it right?

I really do enjoy using my zed fare tickets on AC. Has saved me tens of thousands of dollars with all the flying I have done. But every once in a while things just don't work in your favour. Oh well, that is part of the game. So what to do when stuck in Europe and having to buy a ticket back to Canada. The flight tomorrow is way oversold(which should be illegal of course) so why not try a different airline just for fun. How about WOW Airlines with a 65 minute stop in Iceland and then continuing on to Canada(where I will use my remaining zed ticket on AC.

My question is why didn't you try Lufthansa, Condor etc. on ZEDs. Or do you only have access to AC? Or did you try these airlines too but it didn't work out?

[pelmet]

So you were in FRA and flew to YYZ on a full fare WOW ticket via Iceland? Are you not able to book ZEDs on other airlines? There are direct options from FRA with ZEDs.

Suggest you read the first post.

Sorry, maybe I'm not reading it right?

I really do enjoy using my zed fare tickets on AC. Has saved me tens of thousands of dollars with all the flying I have done. But every once in a while things just don't work in your favour. Oh well, that is part of the game. So what to do when stuck in Europe and having to buy a ticket back to Canada. The flight tomorrow is way oversold(which should be illegal of course) so why not try a different airline just for fun. How about WOW Airlines with a 65 minute stop in Iceland and then continuing on to Canada(where I will use my remaining zed ticket on AC.

My question is why didn't you try Lufthansa, Condor etc. on ZEDs. Or do you only have access to AC? Or did you try these airlines too but it didn't work out?

I only tried AC and have used them quite a few times now from Europe. I did go on Condor to Halifax a couple of years ago in a similar situation and once on Air India to Newark at the last minute. This time, I figured if it didn't work, I would do the WoW thing on very short notice for the experience. Other airlines may have been possible with a Zed ticket on a circuitous routing but one day had already been wasted and I didn't want to possibly waste any more days when getting home was fairly important.

AC originally had about 30 seats open that day on that particular flight with less than a week to go but the seats disappeared. I believe there was actually an empty seat that I could have taken as the check-in agent said that there was one seat left for me but apparently it was reserved for the crew and she couldn't get it for me. Perhaps it was one of those seats that they keep in the back for the crew unless the flight is full. And perhaps it cannot be released for zed pax(but should be possible as well). I was told that the next day was way oversold(should be illegal) on all flights.

What really pissed me off was......seeing the AC price which I knew would be higher but not as ridiculously high as it was. That is why I am promoting Wow so much. The mainlines are a complete rip off for the last minute/one way traveller and we need to break their monopoly.

If it happens again in the summer, maybe I will try to see if I can stay a day in Iceland.

[pelmet]

What a shame....

https://atwonline.com/airlines/wow-air- ... 29127dadd6

[jakeandelwood]

Overselling at airlines is similar to buying and selling of insurance. Insurance companies sell you a policy which is calculated on the odds of a risk/reward ratio. Airlines oversell because there is a percentage of pax that miss flts due to health problems, traffic jams driving to the airport, problems with immigration etc.

Every business has a risk of customers not showing up due to traffic jams, health problems, etc.

Yeah but you are not paying for your Big Mick at McDowell's 2 weeks in advance, you pay when they give you the burger

[av8ts]

Wow. Sometimes you don’t get what you pay for and are left stranded

[tsgas]

Overselling at airlines is similar to buying and selling of insurance. Insurance companies sell you a policy which is calculated on the odds of a risk/reward ratio. Airlines oversell because there is a percentage of pax that miss flts due to health problems, traffic jams driving to the airport, problems with immigration etc.

Every business has a risk of customers not showing up due to traffic jams, health problems, etc.

Yeah but you are not paying for your Big Mick at McDowell's 2 weeks in advance, you pay when they give you the burger

What does a hamburger got to do with the way that airlines are managed ? Try to stay on topic, Wimpy.

[altiplano]

What a shame....

https://atwonline.com/airlines/wow-air- ... 29127dadd6

Is there any surprise? Selling a product below cost isn't a viable business plan.

[sanjet]

This aged well.