Chip Shots on the Fare Way

FMV didn’t get the memo – but it looks like it’s “new gadget” time for Metasearchers:

1) Kayak’s new “Weekend Feature” –

We actually think this is really a clever new idea to display the upcoming weekend trips. In one quick snapshot at the upper left corner – you can already see the cheapest weekends to go to.... say... Vegas and learn about statistics in a realtime environment (Hint: Backup bets are at true odds!). And seriously - anything that gets you to Vegas easier is a great addition.

2) FareCast predicting Hotels –

Farecast now has a “Hotel Rate Key” that lets you know if your hotel rate is a deal or not a deal. We think a natural extension of “past information informing the present”. The only problem MIGHT be that we think special rates are becoming more common on the hotel’s website rather than common public rates. Starwood and Hyatt seem prime examples. However, nice addition non-the-less.

3) SideStep’s “FareTracker”

SideStep launched “FareTracker”, which monitors price changes on fares on particular routes and offers fare alerts as well as some historical prices. However, the alert is not for a specific flight – but rather for the route. Oh Yeah – the alert isn’t for a particular day – it’s +/- 7 days. Oops, one other thing – how generic is the name "FareTracker"? Come ON !! Some marketing creativity would be nice - we're not asking for a lot here.

4) FMV’s Applause-Meter

OK – we feel left out so we need a gadget too – and we’re launching our own Applause-Meter™. We haven’t really worked out the scale – but we know that the Rating for "FareTracker": “Polite Golf Clap.”

Functionality?? Ehh. This is nice and all – but this is going up against the new guy Yapta – which pegs EXACTLY what you’ve said is interesting to you. Faretracker seems to take the opposite approach and kinda, sorta gives you information that MIGHT be useful.

Lots of innovation are coming out of these brands - more to come...

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do !!

Not what you would call a "good PR day" for Spirit.

This is going viral around the nets since FMV picked it up at Upgrade: Travel Better and it's now everywhere - The Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza accidently (we hope) hit “reply to all” to a customer that was requesting the expense of their entire trip (hotel, parking and all) be reimbursed - sending this snappy email back:

Please respond... but we owe him nothing as far as I’m concerned. Let him tell the world how bad we are. He’s never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny.

Read the whole exchange posted by Alex Rudloff here:

Now, we understand the frustration that airlines go through when customers complain about delays. It's a fact that customers have unrealistic expectations when it comes to flying and taking for granted all that has to happen to make a plane go from Point A to Point B. But this from the CEO?? We thought it couldn't get any odder than their Fibonacci sale.

WOW.

United We Sell !!

United just posted a new Miles Plus promotion:

Offer: Pay $20 and receive 1,000 bonus miles on your next qualifying United, United Express or Ted roundtrip.

Now, FMV is all for elite status on airlines - so we can see this "bonus" working out if it can help you reach or maintain elite tier status. Sign us up! But wait, there's more. United inserts this kicker of a clause:

"Bonus miles do not count toward elite qualification"

Excuse me? No thanks. Granted, this promotion does accelerate your earnings toward a reward. As a Premier Executive it might take only eight ORD-EWR trips instead of 11 to accrue a 35,000 mile reward. Yet that acceleration costs you $160! We GUESS this is a deal relative to the normal offer to "Buy Miles". United generously offers to sell miles every day, at an even suckier rate than this promotion: 1,000 miles for $64.57, and 5,000 miles for $182.82.

Yet the ONLY instance where we can see this promotion making sense is the case where you know your travel plans for the next several months and you know when you're done you'll be a few thousand miles short of the award ticket you want.

Otherwise, this is a blatant whoring of miles and lends more ammunition to the argument that the most profitable part of United is the Mileage Plus Program. There has even been talk that analysts believe United is preparing to divest the program - much like Aeroplan and Air Canada. If Mileage Plus were sold or taken public, it could be worth about $7.5 billion, compared to the airline itself with a total market value of around $5.5 billion.

Maybe this promotion helps UA demonstrate the consumer market price for miles? It certainly helps demonstrate that "there's one born every minute".

OK OK - This Time We're Serious !!

OK - It's been two MONTHS since we've posted. We know we've been slacking. We feel bad about abandoning our loyal readers. Trust us - it wasn't you, it was us.

To tell you the truth - we just kinda got into a lazy rut with the onslaught of summer. The combination of travel, work, and vacations just got the better of us.

But we're over it now - and we've rededicated ourselves and from here on out - It's on (like Donkey Kong)!