Will the passengers value low prices over high services?

[JohnLiam]

self-explanatory.

[Tha_Ape]

Long story short: no.
Long story long: go back to the thread you previously opened. Not everything's explained, but almost.

[JohnLiam]

I've reviewed it a couple of times but I haven't seen an answer that satisfies my new question.

[gazzz0x2z]

Overall, low price effects have been toned down compared to reality, for a simple gameplay reason : make price wars insaleny prohibitive.

My own rule of a thumb for price wars is that when you cover exactl the same lines than your target(unlikely), each dollar lost by your target will cost you 5 dollars. Which might be still worth it in some specific situations, but most of the time, pricewarring is a bad idea(and mutual price wars that kill both companies are not unheard of).

Seating effect is limited, especially beyond "standard", which is little sad IMHO, could be more striking. But it still has a measurable effect.

[Cedric3108]

well, you can't really lower service in this game. You can't exclude checked bags or in-flight meals. All you can do in order to emulate an LCC is high-density seating. The economic model of AWS isn't modeled towards LCC operation though. So putting in HD seating and offsetting that by lower prices is not favorable in my experience. You make much more money keeping normal seating and driving up the prices to +20% over default.

[wilian.souza2]

.
Seating effect is limited, especially beyond "standard", which is little sad IMHO, could be more striking. But it still has a measurable effect.

That's bad, as type of seating is the only "service" available in AWS - along with flight frequency to a certain point.

Putting in HD seating and offsetting that by lower prices is not favorable in my experience. You make much more money keeping normal seating and driving up the prices to +20% over default.

I don't agree with this. Every time my ticket prices went over 15% above average, my load factors would drop dramatically, even if I was the only guy on that route. More recently I figured out that the acceptance of passengers to your ticket prices depend largely on the supply vs demand, so large overprices may work if you keep the demand undersupplied.

[Luperco]

More recently I figured out that the acceptance of passengers to your ticket prices depend largely on the supply vs demand, so large overprices may work if you keep the demand undersupplied.

On the other hand, is better to serve all the demand with standard or little more prices.

[MikeS]

From my testing, LCC model with HD seating can/does work. You need the right aircraft though. At the end what happens in AWS is that there is a balance that
you cannot really break free off:
You can increase seating in an AC by let's say 15% using HD seating but then will have to lower prices by about the same percentage to keep getting the same
demand. So basically, yes you can play as a low cost carrier but you cannot kill full service carriers as in real life. Which keeps the game balanced for playability
reasons I suppose.

As Gazz mentioned, price sensitivity is there but only to a point. In real life people would accept flying in the cargo hold if given a good discount....

Mike

[Talentz]

I think ya'll have the wrong idea here. In AWS, the goal is not to under cut your rivals as you would in RL. The true secret for success in AWS is charging the highest price possible while maintaining the lowest costs possible. That sounds like like a famous quote I've heard somewhere 

AWS pax are not RL pax. Everyday they will wake up and pay money to fly for the day. As long as there's supply to there destination, they will pay and never complain.



Talentz

[JohnLiam]

From my testing, LCC model with HD seating can/does work. You need the right aircraft though. At the end what happens in AWS is that there is a balance that
you cannot really break free off:
You can increase seating in an AC by let's say 15% using HD seating but then will have to lower prices by about the same percentage to keep getting the same
demand. So basically, yes you can play as a low cost carrier but you cannot kill full service carriers as in real life. Which keeps the game balanced for playability
reasons I suppose.

As Gazz mentioned, price sensitivity is there but only to a point. In real life people would accept flying in the cargo hold if given a good discount....

Mike

So that means that they consider the low price?

[schro]

So that means that they consider the low price?

Yes, you will sell more tickets if you reduce your prices with all other things being held constant.

Whether that strategy maximizes your revenue for a given flight or not is a different question with a different answer.

[Tha_Ape]

Said otherwise, as you can't cut on costs unlike IRL, you can't lower prices and stay as profitable as you would be IRL.
So either:
- you lower them just a bit but can't really be considered LCC (plus you would have financial issues due to using HD seating on classic lines without lowering those said prices enough)
- you lower them way more, but will most certainly meet some financial issues at some point as well.

[MikeS]

So that means that they consider the low price?

You have to see it this way:
The suggested price is the price passengers are willing to pay for an optimal flight: Decent hours, decent seating, decent equipment. So when you deviate from
these optimal conditions, you can still maintain a decent demand by lowering the price accordingly. But it all works up to a certain point. If seating is too tight
for a longer flight or departure/arriving hours are too bad then pricing cannot make up for it anymore. It's all about fine tuning.

Example: If you want to be a low cost carrier, no problem: take for example the B737-300 and squeeze in 143y HD seats (not the max 149) and lower your prices by 15% from suggested pricing and you'll have a route just as profitable as your competitor with a normal configured 126y B737-300 and 100% pricing.
Now if you lower your prices beyond that point, you would get a bit more passengers but overall earn less. So you need to find that sweet spot.

Mike

[JohnLiam]

I understand. If that's the case then they still kinda value the price. That situation is absolutely impossible with AirlineSim. I guess that I'll switch to AirwaySim next month.

[MikeS]

I've always wondered how AirlineSim was. It has a big following, but for me the UI was really uncomfortable. At least at first sight. I haven't really tried it yet.
AWS's web interface is very well made and the constant improvements keep it interesting.

[JohnLiam]

I really prefer the AlirlineSim's UI since it looks clean and professional. It also has a fantastic depth on any family aircraft. But the community there is almost nonexistent, the forum is barely touched at all.

[wilian.souza2]

In real life people would accept flying in the cargo hold if given a good discount....

Airbus is taking this joke seriously - watch out: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/airbus-to-put-passengers-in-cargo-hold/