I have done some searching on google about the possibility to have a monthly subscription to an airline for recurring round-trip flights every other weekend between two destinations.
Do you know of anything like this?
asked Nov 8, 2023 at 23:04
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1I'm confused - paying monthly for flights every other weekend (so multiple times a month)? That's just buying flights 2-3 RT flights every month. Where does the subscription come into it? Or do you need it automated? A travel agent might be able to handle that for you– MidavaloCommented Nov 9, 2023 at 0:50
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6Does this answer your question? Recurring roundtrip flights (every weekend)– mlcCommented Nov 9, 2023 at 3:30
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Which two destinations? Or at least what country and what airline?– jcaronCommented Nov 9, 2023 at 3:36
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2Are you interested in setting up a service or company that does this, or are you looking for an existing service or company that does this so that you can use it?– shooverCommented Nov 9, 2023 at 5:21
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Air Canada offered one but I wouldn't think it was a way to save money: aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/special-offers/flight-pass/… $2200 a month minimum, but you do get all the domestic flights you can take :-)– Kate GregoryCommented Nov 9, 2023 at 18:20
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2 Answers
Some airlines like Frontier or Volaris offer "all you can fly" passes with yearly or monthly subscriptions. Thre tend to be a lot of restrictions on routes and availability so often it's not that useful.
Many airlines offer "prepaid" ticket for a specific route. Here is an example (https://www.flytap.com/en-lt/flight-pass). Again, there are complicated rules and many restrictions, so you need to study the exact terms in details and compare the pass to the "going rate" to figure out whether this makes sense or not.
These almost never make sense if you don't live in a hub of the marketing airline. Even if you do, you need to check the conditions really carefully against your needs.
By and large, the times for flight passes are gone and most airlines are fiercely protective of their idiotic "dynamic pricing" system and rather fly empty seats than selling cheap.
FWIW: the undisputed king of the flight pass is Tom Stuker who has clocked a whopiing 23 million miles with United (and happens to be a really nice guy as well!). He bought an unlimited lifetime business class pass from United in 1990 and sure has made good use of it :-) (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/23/united-airlines-very-frequent-flyer/)
These passes have all gone away and some airlines have tried to invalidate, repossess or buy-back the few ones that are still out there.
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To put this into perspective, that's more than 920 times around the earth. Commented Nov 9, 2023 at 9:20
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2and rather fly empty seats than selling cheap => the pricing is based on statistical simulations and is based off decades of historical travel data in the case of the largest airlines. If anything, it's the other sectors of the travel industry (like hotels or buses) that are leaving money on the table by refusing to adapt a fully dynamic pricing model.– JonathanReez ♦Commented Nov 9, 2023 at 18:30
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1@JonathanReez: Fortunately these simulations misfire sometimes. I'm currently sitting in the Concorde lounge in Heathrow on a spiffy first class itinerary that was substantially cheaper than business :-) . Unfortunately hotels have gone that way as well: Recently a dinky Holiday Inn south of Boston cranked up the price to over $1500/night since rooms in town was mostly sold out. Normal rate for this hotel is about 1/10th. I guess next thing will be Starbucks doubling the price for coffee between 6am and 10am.– HilmarCommented Nov 10, 2023 at 14:33
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Pricing a first class flight below business might seem like a bug but I won’t be surprised if simulations show that this is more profitable for the airline because it encourages more people to buy a premium seat. I won’t even be surprised if this is a deliberate move on behalf of the airline to make customers feel like they’ve outsmarted the business and thus happier about their purchase.– JonathanReez ♦Commented Nov 10, 2023 at 14:54
SAS sells a product called "TravelPass Unlimited". It's not monthly but for 6 or 12 months. Only offered in "Plus" class. Link. Examples (there are of course more destinations to choose):
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4At 200 kSEK, you'd have to travel an awful lot for this to be economical.– gerritCommented Nov 9, 2023 at 8:27
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@gerrit Since there are people who do travels like this basically for a living (higher-ups of Scandinavian companies who want to attend in-person meetings in all branches weekly doesn't sound too farfetched), they can't really sell the unlimited passes much cheaper, or they would lose a lot of money.– ArthurCommented Nov 9, 2023 at 8:47
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2@gerrit A typical one way Plus ticket Stockholm-Copenhagen seems to cost 1500-3000 SEK, so you might need close to 100 trips in a year to break even. Maybe a flight every 4th day. But I guess the people who buy these tickets are doing it more for the ease and flexibility of just showing up and not having to bother about booking tickets and plan for specific flights.– jkejCommented Nov 9, 2023 at 10:15
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A Mon-Fri trip at convenient times on SAS between Stockholm and Copenhagen is priced at $231 for next week. Given that the Stockholm-Copenhagen pass costs $20k/year, you'd need to do 86 roundtrips in a year to make it economical. I guess it would make sense for people who will basically use the plane to commute to work every day.– JonathanReez ♦Commented Nov 9, 2023 at 18:33