Desdi

Here and there in case by case basis perhaps…. I’m just trying to tell you why you might see no S1s available on a flight yet showing 50 seats open weeks before the date of operation (which is when you should be booking your S1s). I think we are talking about two different things.

Bluedriver

So what you're really saying is positive space isn't available on the flights you NEED it on. The ones the company forecasts weeks ahead of time will sell out.

Flyhayes

I believe that each city pairing will have a set amount of PS available seats per flight. On my commute it's 7 PS per flight. As long as you book early, it's usually not much of an issue. If those seats are gone, you can still book S1 which trumps the other standbys. So far I've had really good luck with the PS commute.

Desdi

Nope just telling you the facts. I said it’s constantly revising “anticipated loads”, One day S1s will be available, the next day they won’t, then week after that when the sales presumably aren’t accelerating at the rate they expect then S1s are available again (and simultaneously they will start lowering the ticket prices to the public on that flt to maximize revenue). Now when the company opens up S1 commuting in advance of a winter storm with a cancellation package pending yes you are absolutely correct, it’s useless. However these days with blanket PS commuting I’ve never had a problem booking any S1 when I book when the bids come out.

Desdi

Somewhat correct, it’s actually “at least” 7 bookable (corresponding to the maximum seats able to be shown on Sabre to the 3rd party booking engines so the competition can’t see our full inventory)… as evidence book your PS on a wide open flight, then go back to book again and you’ll still see 7. When the numbers are less than 7 that’s when you are snapping up the remaining PS seats 1 for 1. Also a correction PS IS S1, I think u meant if all the PS are gone you can still book an S2 which trumps all standbys . And yes I’ve never had any problems with availability when I book everything when I get my schedule on a notoriously heavy commuter hub-hub route. When the company invariably comes to ask for relief on something this should be one of our asks.

pilotpayne

Should be made permanent

Desdi

Well when the company comes back and asks relief for a late bid, or some administrative snafu as they do every few moths… that should definitely be one of the demands, alas they’ll probably give the relief away for free or a promise to stand up a committee to study a flica waiting room.

PSU Flyer

Last week, I tried to book a PS commute in mid July. I think there are three flights that day and none are bookable via PS. The particular flight I was looking at is an E-190 with 65 open seats. It’s a Sunday, so the history algorithm may say it’s likely to sell out, but it seems a little ridiculous.

Bluedriver

You said, when sales aren't accelerating at the rate they expected, they will open up more PS. If the flight is on track to sell out, no PS. So yes, if they forecast a future sell-out, you likely won't get PS.

I have seen flights with 15+ seats open, a week out, NO PS available, and definitely not 7 PS already booked. There were 2 or less PS already booked.

Something isn't adding up.

Desdi

Yup that’s completely in line with what I explained,it just sucks sometimes when no PS is available, they are trying to protect potential revenue based on “anticipated load” (which like I just said we do not see) not the seats remaining when you look at it a week out (as you state)…. There could be 40 seats open for example a week out, but if they are projecting a full boat at the clip they are selling seats there might be 0 PS avail, just as I said. And like I said (in response to a different poster) the “7” does not mean they have dedicated 7 PS slots to each flight and if you see zero it does not mean all 7 have been booked… it’s the same concept as the booking codes and color faces in myidtravel. There are AT LEAST 7 bookable for PS (to prove this go ahead and book PS on one of those flts, if you go back and look it will still remain 7 even after you book). The point is don’t book ur PS commute a week out, do it the second you get your hands on you schedule. I’m just trying to provide some info for the posters who asked, I never said the system isn’t overly conservative and can be of little benefit right when you need it the most!