Here goes wily Delta again. The latest way the airline is picking your mileage pocket.
Changes in the airfare rules and restrictions are usually done in the dead of night. We’re not supposed to notice.
So, it came as no surprise when Delta recently changed—or should we say, brought back from the dead the old way of pricing—a fare-restriction rule pertaining to the lowest fares for both economy and First Class domestic travel.
The new rule: You must buy a round-trip ticket to get the lowest fare.
Before the change, Delta’s EasyUp First Class fares were actually two one-way fares. If you bought a ticket JFK-Miami on April 15 the price was $180 one-way and a round-trip was $360, two times the one-way fare. If you bought the same ticket on May 12, the one-way fare cost $529.
You may doubt that this is a very significant issue, since you have to fly home anyway. Not true. Here’s why.
1. Fewer flight options: By forcing travelers to buy a round-trip ticket, Delta limits flight options to Delta. In other words, you can’t combine a more favorable price and/or schedule with another carrier on one of the segments (which occurs all the time). You’re now locked in to one carrier per trip.
2. More possible changes by Delta: Obviously, Delta is trying to see how far it can push yield management to increase revenue. FCF thinks this is step one on the way back to the old way of pricing. Meaning, re-imposing minimum-stay requirements on discounted First Class round-trip fares. Now, you can fly out on Monday and fly back on Tuesday, a plus for the business traveler and even leisure travelers on a short trip.
Delta (and the next imitator, probably United) might next re-impose a minimum-stay requirement on domestic tickets, which would generate a lot of revenue from business travelers who have very little flexibility on travel dates, and often cannot meet minimum-stay requirements.
Take the JFK-Miami route. Let’s say that a month from now round-trip fares require a minimum Saturday-night stay. For the business traveler who flies on a Monday and comes back on a Friday, that ticket on May 12 was only $342 round-trip in First Class. However, by not fulfilling the minimum-stay requirement, the price increases to $1,058 (209%).
3. Other airlines could follow suit: Actually, will is the better word.
Final Thoughts
Last month Delta slipped in new restrictions for free award travel, and now it’s playing with one-way fares to get more revenue. Delta loyalists, it’s time to reboot.
Just In
We are now seeing that Delta is still fine tuning the round-trip restriction. JFK-Atlanta offered the round-trip rule the entire month of May, but JFK-Miami no longer required it for a few days, just to have the restriction return. This shows that Delta is continuing to play around with where and when the round-trip restrictions can be applied.