Jon Worth

There's yield management

And there's WTF 🤯 yield management

Morning of Friday 5th June I need to go to either Bruxelles or Maastricht (I don't know which yet). If Maastricht I will change in Liège

Tickets then...

Paris - Bruxelles, Eurostar
€95 single, standard class

Paris - Liège, Eurostar
*SAME TRAIN, and FURTHER THAN BRUXELLES*
€39 single, standard class

#CrossBorderRail

3:48pmWeb
Show threadpglux.bsky.social7h ago
1 single train path, 2 different trainsets and train numbers.
Show threadJon Worth7h ago
@pglux.bsky.social Ok, but it still doesn't make it right!
Show threadKnud Jahnke6h ago

@jon @pglux.bsky.social

Isn't this something that DB also does, so your price could drop if you went to further destinations?

Show threadJon Worth6h ago
@knud @pglux.bsky.social Sure, but never to this extent! 10-15 Euro perhaps, not more than €50!
Show threadOliver Blanthorn7h ago

@jon my understanding is that the idea is to save some seats for Liège, which only sees 1tp2h vs 2tph to Brussels. the Brussels passengers can just take a different train

that doesn't particularly explain why the non-liège trains are also expensive, though

Show threadJon Worth7h ago
@bovine3dom I see the idea, OK. But this much discrepancy? Simply shows they run too few Bruxelles-Paris!
Show threadOliver Blanthorn7h ago
@jon come on, this is the SNCF, they will do everything on the planet _except_ run more trains 😅
Show threadJon Worth7h ago
@bovine3dom Crush em. Competition. Next.
Show threadOliver Blanthorn7h ago

@jon well, exactly. but then they cry about competitors stealing their "vache à lait"

no shit they're going to compete on the lines where you're overcharging and undersupplying

that's capitalism doing what it's supposed to do

Show threadJon Worth6h ago
@bovine3dom Or if you want to maintain your monopoly that you have because you're a state owned firm, well, damned well behave in a way suitable for a state owned firm!
Show threadpglux.bsky.social6h ago
youtu.be/fy5ewMwLvMc?...

Les Inconnus - Rap-tout (vampi...
Les Inconnus - Rap-tout (vampires)

YouTube
Show threadpglux.bsky.social6h ago
Yield management à la SNCF has become a semantic over years: it's now closer to shortage management.
Show threadpglux.bsky.social6h ago
*semantic abuse
Show threadCycling on Rails6h ago

@bovine3dom @jon But incidentally the Bruxelles-only train is the more expensive one 🤔 Not much of a nudge, is it?

(Of course that's not rigorous A/B testing, perhaps baseline demand is way higher on the 07:23 train and 109€ is a relative bargain. Although that's only an half-hour gap.)

Show threadit_is_now_23417h ago
@jon
Same with Interrail/FIP availability (identical availability for both fares). Cologne to Brussels almost no availability in 2nd class even when booking several months in advance, Cologne to Paris (so same train number in this case) good availability. And with FIP it's only 10 % less for a ticket to Brussels, so for an extra €2 might as well book to Paris.
Show threadBen6h ago
@jon I saw that this was the case recently as well for Paris-Antwerp. And it was very surprising to me, because for several years the situation was opposite: eurostar would charge an arm and a leg (ok more like 50 euros) for those 30 minutes between Brussels and Antwerp, and it's not even high speed.
Show threadJon Worth6h ago
@bentorfs I have seen it this way before (cheaper to Liège), but more like 10-15 Euro difference. Not more than 50 Euro!
Show threadBen6h ago
@jon In fact I was sure they were doing that to extinguish demand in Antwerp, so they could remove that stop.
Show threadAjinkya Dahale5h ago

@jon is there some airlines logic: that they'll come for your wallet if you're found not to take the complete journey?

I recall reading somewhere that this doesn't happen in European trains, but the situation is different in the UK.

Show threadJon Worth5h ago
@ajinkyapdahale There are no ticket barriers at Bruxelles Midi. So if you got off early no one would even know.
Show threadAjinkya Dahale5h ago

@jon I reckon. Yet, is it possible to be randomly checked and asked for your reason to be on the platform? Or once you're off the train you're legally indistinguishable from someone who walked up to the platform?

My main intention behind this is to learn where this can come biting.

Show threadJon Worth4h ago
@ajinkyapdahale In Belgium, no. In Germany, no. The only places it could theoretically be a problem would be France, Netherlands, Italy and Spain (only major stations in all cases). Because there the access to platforms can be restricted. And UK, but it isn't EU, so I don't count it 🙂
Show threadTom Tom2h ago
@jon @ajinkyapdahale I seriously doubt that it could be legal to forbid you getting off in Brussels if you have a valid ticket to go further. If I were a lawyer, I would very much enjoy going all the way up to the top court to check it.
Show threadAjinkya Dahale2h ago
@tomtom @jon In this hypothetical scenario, could you also bring the fight to the airlines that make it more expensive to take one flight that that flight plus another? 😅
Show threadJon Worth2h ago
@ajinkyapdahale @tomtom thing is airlines can control it. Trains, well, not so much!
Show threadTom Tom3h ago

@jon I didn't take a screen capture but just last week, looking at a Lausanne - Montpellier train on the SBB/CFF I was quoted more for the 'discounted non flex' 2nd class ticket than for the 'discounted non flex' 1st class. The cheapest of all being... the full flex 2nd class ticket

That was very weird... But maybe this is AI piloted.

Show threadRaphaël V52m ago
@jon I've seen a similar price difference when I went to Paris in February: the Antwerp-Paris price was twice the Rotterdam-Paris price on the exact same train. It was well worth the extra 30 minute travel time (also with 5tph to Rotterdam and 1tph to Antwerp, the stress/risk of missing the connection is much lower and ICNG is nicer than i11 with heavy luggage). Also (but this might be a coincidence), we never got the cramped tail end of coach 18 seats the times we booked via Rotterdam.