New Oceania Air Program

[clo]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

I suspect this was an "I heard it from a friend, who heard it from their TA, who heard it from another TA who heard it from an O rep."

 

I just googled the first sentence of OP's post and nothing applicable came up.

[Thought2go]

17 hours ago, TonicTraveler said:

Beginning July 1, 2024 the only Simply More published pricing will be without air. Either an  Oceania agent or TA will be able to add Oceania Air and the fare will be determined by the city you’re departing from. Oceania is calling this dynamic pricing. Everything else will remain the same, including transfers. 

So “Simply More” is becoming simply less.😂🤣😂

[DrHemlock]

2 hours ago, Thought2go said:

So “Simply More” is becoming simply less.

Becoming?  That ship sailed when SM was inaugurated.

[mauibabes]

Just maybe they are being forced to retire that Airline Rate Crystal Ball because based on my flights over the past few years, the Airlines are not helping anyone but themselves. The included Oceania Air Plan with its one size fits all value must have been impossible to manage and even break even. 
I do not know how they have lasted this long, probably ate a lot of cost to some ports of call. I know we have all pretty much given up on O business class tix because it was too high and that was “With” airline contracts in place. We have seen friends using Consolidators to get better prices seats. 
I can not recall when I used O Air last but it has been years. Maybe this is nothing more than O, and possibly others,  throwing up their hands and putting a stop to beating their heads against the wall. 
 

I guess we will have to see what the new deal looks like in detail come July 1. 
Call me Crystal Ball less

Mauibabes

[TonicTraveler]

With regard to dynamic pricing, this from Oceania, "Air pricing is dynamic and fluid, dependent on the itinerary, gateway(s), and availability at the time of booking, among other factors."

 

If you have any questions, let me know.

[FlyerTalker]

49 minutes ago, TonicTraveler said:

With regard to dynamic pricing, this from Oceania, "Air pricing is dynamic and fluid, dependent on the itinerary, gateway(s), and availability at the time of booking, among other factors."

 

If you have any questions, let me know.

 

Yes.

 

How can they know the flight itinerary and availability when the airline itself has not released flights more than 11 months out?  In other words, on July 1 2024, what will be the availability for flights in July or August of the following year?  And therefore the pricing.

 

I'll await the answer.

 

 

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, mauibabes said:

We have seen friends using Consolidators to get better prices seats.

 

Be very careful.  Most of those "consolidators" are actually reselling FF award tickets, in violation of FF program rules.  If discovered, those tickets will become instantly worthless, with the airline cancelling the ticket.  Business class load factors are close to 100% on major routes, so there's no reason for airlines to use consolidators to move that inventory.  There are some legitimate consolidators who tend to specialize in economy class tickets to various ethnic markets.  SoCal to Vietnam is one such case.  But you won't find those out in the open market - they sell through specialized ethnic channels.

 

Caveat Emptor.  Big time.

 

 

[mauibabes]

@FlyerTalkerWOW, thanks.  I am not that familiar with Consolidators so I really appreciate your input and share your comments with those friends. 
Mauibabes. 

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, TonicTraveler said:

With regard to dynamic pricing, this from Oceania, "Air pricing is dynamic and fluid, dependent on the itinerary, gateway(s), and availability at the time of booking, among other factors."

 

If you have any questions, let me know.

I believe Oceania used to price their air based on their contracts with the airlines. From this statement, depending on the Oceania contracts, I can see that the air may (or may not?) be more expensive when booking closer to the sailing date compared to booking far out.

[TonicTraveler]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Yes.

 

How can they know the flight itinerary and availability when the airline itself has not released flights more than 11 months out?  In other words, on July 1 2024, what will be the availability for flights in July or August of the following year?  And therefore the pricing.

 

I'll await the answer.

 

 

 

 

They will not be able to tell you what the specific flights are but they will be able to tell you the price. Even with the current air program, they do not tell you the specific flights until 60-70 days out, in most cases, unless you request a flight deviation. 

[FlyerTalker]

7 minutes ago, TonicTraveler said:

They will not be able to tell you what the specific flights are but they will be able to tell you the price. Even with the current air program, they do not tell you the specific flights until 60-70 days out, in most cases, unless you request a flight deviation. 

 

Try once more.

 

If pricing is truly "dynamic" as you averred in Post 1, dependent on availability, as you state, how can it be priced if there is no inventory in the system at all - as is the case for flights more than 11 months out?

 

Dynamic pricing relies on the routing, fare buckets, yield management calculations and INVENTORY in the various buckets.  But if there are no schedules and no inventory, dynamic pricing is impossible.

 

 

[TonicTraveler]

3 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Try once more.

 

If pricing is truly "dynamic" as you averred in Post 1, dependent on availability, as you state, how can it be priced if there is no inventory in the system at all - as is the case for flights more than 11 months out?

 

Dynamic pricing relies on the routing, fare buckets, yield management calculations and INVENTORY in the various buckets.  But if there are no schedules and no inventory, dynamic pricing is impossible.

 

 

I cannot tell you how Oceania is doing this only that this is how the program will work. If you book a cruise with air 18 months out, Oceania will have pricing for the air. 

[FlyerTalker]

4 hours ago, TonicTraveler said:

I cannot tell you how Oceania is doing this

 

 

4 hours ago, TonicTraveler said:

this is how the program will work.

 

 

[osandomir]

Oceania current air program is far from optimal. It definitely doesn’t work for many people and possibly doesn’t generate enough revenue for Oceania too. We ourselves almost never book the air through the line. Hopefully, they will figure out how to make it work better whether with the dynamic pricing or not. If there’re any changes I’d like to think it’ll be a positive improvement both for the company and for the customers as well.

Edited June 14 by osandomir

[TonicTraveler]

5 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

 

 

 

I don't really care whether you believe what I am saying or not.  This is directly from the Oceania VP of Global Sales FAQ document.

"How far in advance is air available for bookings? Airfare can be added to any reservation at the time of booking and air pricing is available on all itineraries from the moment they are released for sale."

FlyerTalker, I will no longer reply to your posts.

[Vallesan]

47 minutes ago, TonicTraveler said:

I don't really care whether you believe what I am saying or not.  This is directly from the Oceania VP of Global Sales FAQ document.

"How far in advance is air available for bookings? Airfare can be added to any reservation at the time of booking and air pricing is available on all itineraries from the moment they are released for sale."

FlyerTalker, I will no longer reply to your posts.

So you can book a a flight when you book a cruise but you won’t know the price of said flight until the flights are released for sale, usually 11 months prior to the flight. Why would anybody want book a flight ‘blind’ unless of course you have the option to cancel when the prices are released?

[Psoque]

On 6/12/2024 at 11:05 PM, CurlerRob said:

 

Interesting.

 

Given that the airlines don't publish pricing anywhere near that far out, it suggests that Oceania will be making "educated guesses" about pricing. That may require them to include significant contingency in their pricing to pax, or pressure them to arrange low-cost carriers/routings if they have guessed wrongly.

 

Perhaps @FlyerTalker will offer some insight here based on his knowledge. 🍺🥌

Actually, by not selling the cruise with included airfare, they don’t have to second guess the prices/profit margin associated with airfare anymore.

 

I think this change is in response to complaints by many that their advertisement was grossly misleading regarding “free” airfare, especially when you could have bought the whole cruise without airfare for a lower price.

[CurlerRob]

25 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Actually, by not selling the cruise with included airfare, they don’t have to second guess the prices/profit margin associated with airfare anymore.

 

OP suggests they will still sell airfare, but separately.

 

As long as O plans to offer pax a price for future air travel, especially outside the airlines' release dates, whether it's included or not in the fare has no effect on the financial assumptions regarding profit.🍺🥌

[ORV]

2 hours ago, Vallesan said:

So you can book a a flight when you book a cruise but you won’t know the price of said flight until the flights are released for sale, usually 11 months prior to the flight. 

See the line I bolded, I would interpret that as when the cruise is released, not the flight. 

 

The use of the term dynamic is where I have a problem. My experience with Dynamic pricing is like Uber, the price of the ride is determined by the supply of drivers and the demand load of passengers. This changes on a minute to minute basis. If Oceania will give a price for the flight when I book a cruise I don't really think dynamic pricing is the best term for them to use. But I can see how it will change from week to week or day to day. 

3 hours ago, TonicTraveler said:

"How far in advance is air available for bookings? Airfare can be added to any reservation at the time of booking and air pricing is available on all itineraries from the moment they are released for sale."

 

[Vallesan]

8 minutes ago, ORV said:

See the line I bolded, I would interpret that as when the cruise is released, not the flight. 

 

The use of the term dynamic is where I have a problem. My experience with Dynamic pricing is like Uber, the price of the ride is determined by the supply of drivers and the demand load of passengers. This changes on a minute to minute basis. If Oceania will give a price for the flight when I book a cruise I don't really think dynamic pricing is the best term for them to use. But I can see how it will change from week to week or day to day. 

 

Funny how we all read things so differently! I read that prices are available  ‘the moment flights are released for sale’ rather than the cruise itself! I think we will all have to wait and see what Oceania have in mind when the new policy is actually published, rather than just the ‘hearsay’, which is all we have at the moment!

[TonicTraveler]

3 hours ago, Vallesan said:

So you can book a a flight when you book a cruise but you won’t know the price of said flight until the flights are released for sale, usually 11 months prior to the flight. Why would anybody want book a flight ‘blind’ unless of course you have the option to cancel when the prices are released?

Please reread my post:

 

Airfare can be added to any reservation at the time of booking and air pricing is available on all itineraries from the moment they are released for sale."

[TonicTraveler]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

See the line I bolded, I would interpret that as when the cruise is released, not the flight. 

 

The use of the term dynamic is where I have a problem. My experience with Dynamic pricing is like Uber, the price of the ride is determined by the supply of drivers and the demand load of passengers. This changes on a minute to minute basis. If Oceania will give a price for the flight when I book a cruise I don't really think dynamic pricing is the best term for them to use. But I can see how it will change from week to week or day to day. 

 

It means the moment the cruises are released for sale.

[Vallesan]

23 minutes ago, TonicTraveler said:

Please reread my post:

 

Airfare can be added to any reservation at the time of booking and air pricing is available on all itineraries from the moment they are released for sale."

 

22 minutes ago, TonicTraveler said:

It means the moment the cruises are released for sale.

OK. I did read your posts. Yes can book air at the time of booking a cruise but Oceania can’t give you a price for that flight until they released by the airline, usually 11 months before.

Which bit have I misunderstood?

[TonicTraveler]

8 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

 

OK. I did read your posts. Yes can book air at the time of booking a cruise but Oceania can’t give you a price for that flight until they released by the airline, usually 11 months before.

Which bit have I misunderstood?

Oceania will quote air on any cruise you book, no matter how far out it is.

[Vallesan]

6 minutes ago, TonicTraveler said:

Oceania will quote air on any cruise you book, no matter how far out it is.

With the new system?