Messages

1

Private World Discussion & Invitation / Re: Now Opening PW#1215. Shangri-La

« on: January 10, 2010, 07:26:08 pm »

Very few players have joined this excellent scenario.  What does that mean for you?  Join and get the choicest city hubs still available!  Only 1 hub has 2 or more players: Rome.  That means you could start anywhere and have a great chance of success!  Start with 3 ATR 72s and begin making 1 mil to 3 mil DOC right at the start!

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Private World Discussion & Invitation / Re: Now Open - PW 1201 Air Empires II - Golden Age

« on: January 08, 2010, 09:33:16 pm »

Count me interested, playing as Northwest Airlines.

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Private World Discussion & Invitation / Re: Now Opening PW#1215. Shangri-La

« on: January 08, 2010, 09:29:56 pm »

Great world. Excellent starting aircraft: get started fast! Having fun. Thanks!

4

General Chat / Route Frequency: 1 vs. 2, 3, etc.

« on: April 19, 2008, 03:20:51 am »

Thank you, CornField.

Thanks to everyone who has made such great, constructive comments.  Please feel free to add more comments.  I look forward to hear from the veterans.

As I am new to this game, I would like to know if it makes sense to add larger and larger aircraft to a route.  This might seem like a wierd question, but I've noticed you can raise the price very high with a low capacity aircraft (even in the face of much lower ticket prices on the same route!).  Obviously, if you put a much higher capacity aircraft on the route, you would need to significantly lower the price. Also, you would pay more flight expenses (more fuel and bigger crew).  You may also spark some kind of minor (or major) price war, reducing your profits even more.

So, to you veterans, what works better: smaller capacity aircraft with higher prices or larger capacity aircraft with lower prices.

As an aside, does the passenger demand model take into consideration that passengers may prefer to get to their destinations faster (turboprop vs. jet)?

Thanks!

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General Chat / What does DOP stand for?

« on: April 15, 2008, 07:47:14 pm »

It stands for Daily Operating Profit.  

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General Chat / Route Frequency: 1 vs. 2, 3, etc.

« on: April 15, 2008, 07:45:18 pm »

Wow!  Thanks to all of you who gave such great responses!  This is very good information.  Maybe it should be a sticky.  :wink:

Finally, are you sure no one touched their prices? :wink:

LOL!  Quite so.  You're right: it is possible someone changed their price. I just remember recording in my mind what the lowest prices were.  The prices had not dropped, but it is possible that someone with quite a bit higher prices dropped ticket price a bit.  As Shawa suggested, maybe someone changed to a larger aircraft.  

Thanks again, everyone!!

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Bugs / [Not bug]Lease Aircraft: "You do not have enough cash .

« on: April 15, 2008, 04:27:44 pm »

Thank you for letting me know.  The negative sign is VERY difficult to see. It is right up next to the Euro symbol.  Perhaps negative values should be in RED and in PARENTHESIS (as in accounting).   Thanks!

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General Chat / A side question . . .

« on: April 15, 2008, 04:24:55 pm »

Something else I have just noticed: my load factors are dropping even though (a) no more airlines have been added to the route (b) no one has dropped their price.  Why would my load factors automatically drop after some time?  Does the program take into consideration seasonal fluctations?  Are there other considerations other than price and capacity (size of aircraft and frequency of flights)?

Thanks!

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General Chat / Re: Route Frequency: 1 vs. 2, 3, etc.

« on: April 15, 2008, 04:22:38 pm »

1 route x 1 frequency x 500€ + 1 route x 1 frequency x 500€ > 1 route x 2 frequencies x 300€

Almost :wink: You forgot the additional gate costs. But those have just a little affect on the formula written above.

Yes, this is the reason why I thought it made more sense to make as much profit as possible on one route.  I want to get the most for my money. I'm already leasing the gate for $300,000.  That's a fixed cost.  Why would I not want to maximize profits on that route?

Thanks!

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General Chat / Route Frequency: 1 vs. 2, 3, etc.

« on: April 15, 2008, 04:20:10 pm »

You know, that is a great point, mg35pt.  I had thought of that before, but I wanted to see what others had to say about the issue as well.  I wondered if it were really true.  I thought it would be better to get as much revenue as possible from one gate, since I am paying such a high price to lease the gate. Also, from a competition point of view, wouldn't you want more frequencies?

Herrgoda, that is a great point also.  I did not realize that happened.  So, are you saying that most routes are already at max capacity (meaning: all passengers who want to fly that route are already flying and everyone is fighting for the same passengers).  If not, I do not understand how adding more capacity would strip others of passangers.  If the route can handle 3,000 daily passengers and current flights are only carrying 2,500, what is the harm if I add another 325 capacity?  I guess I do not quite understand the dynamics of the game program.

Thanks for your help, guys.  Great stuff!  

11

Bugs / [Not bug]Lease Aircraft: "You do not have enough cash .

« on: April 15, 2008, 03:54:36 pm »

Good point!

My Airline ID is 10645 in World #4.

DOP: ~281,000
Airline Cash: ~1.652 million
Airline Value: ~2.53 million

Attempted to lease aircraft 9, 202, 796, or 5163.  For all of them, I get the message, "You do not have enough cash for this leasing arrangement."  The first aircraft I leased went fine.  All subsequent attempts have not worked.

Thanks!

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General Chat / Route Frequency: 1 vs. 2, 3, etc.

« on: April 15, 2008, 03:43:55 pm »

Hello everyone,

I do not want to start a flame war, so please do not hijack this thread with hateful comments.  I would please like a meaningful discussion.

I am very new to this game, but I have already seen comments about the "haters" who create routes with frequencies greater than 1.  Such players are considered as "not knowing how to play the game" or similar comments.  I open this thread to understand why some players make these comments.

I would like to start with an example.  

When I attempt to start a route, say Chicago to Detroit, I try a frequency of 1.  I increase the price until the return starts to drop (profit begins to fall).  That way I find the maximum price I can charge to receive max profits at that frequency.  Let's say it comes to be ~$45,000 DOP.  I then try a frequency of 2.  I must drop the price to entice more passengers to fly. However, I am able to obtain a DOP of $65,000.  I then try a frequency of 3 and end up obtaining a DOP of $89,000.  I then try a frequency of 4 but cannot obtain a higher DOP (I have to drop the price too much to entice more passengers).  So, I settle on a frequency of 3.  I would think that makes perfect business sense.

Now, I am VERY careful not to lock in a ticket price lower than the lowest price already on the market.  I understand that it is bad for everyone to start a price war.  So, in all of my routes, I have made sure to set my price at least a few dollars higher than the lowest price already on the market.  Even so, I am able to use frequencies of 3 and receive good profits.

Why would I want to settle for a frequency of only 1 when it would result in less profit?

Thank you for your help!  

13

Bugs / [Not bug]Lease Aircraft: "You do not have enough cash .

« on: April 15, 2008, 03:31:42 pm »

I wanted to lease an aircraft with a fee of 600,000 per month.  I have 1.652 million.  Why did it tell me I do not have enough cash?  Maybe I do not understand how leasing works.

Thanks!