Now here's a novel way to increase sales of airline tickets - auction them! That's exactly what US carrier JetBlue have been doing lately. According to Autopia:
JetBlue's opened an eBay store to auction tickets and vacation packages to some of its 50 destinations, and early bidding has been strong despite a technical glitch that shut the store down for a few hours.
The store features seven-day auctions for more than 300 one- and two-person round-trip flights. Bidding starts at a nickel and there is no reserve, but it's tough to say how much shoppers will save -- or JetBlue might lose. Still, it could be a smart move for the airline.
"It's a way for the airline to bolster its direct sales, and it's different from a traditional fare sale in that other airlines can't simply match it," Henry Harteveldt, an analyst with Forester Research, tells us. "From that standpoint it's a very smart idea."
This afternoon the high bid on a flight from Chicago O'Hare to Long Beach was $202.50 versus $300 when booked on the JetBlue website, but with six days left in the auction, it's anyone's guess how much higher the bidding will go. Round-trip tickets for two from New York to Vegas on Sept. 26 were going for $620, compared to a maximum of $349 through the airline's website, further proving the best deals aren't always on eBay.
Read original post - 'Place Your Bids: JetBlue Auctioning Tickets on eBay'
-
No comments:
Post a Comment