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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 2, 2009 11:41:36 GMT -8
Just an idle thought... If high fares have nothing to do with decreased ridership, as David Hahn maintains, why does BC Ferries keep offering these Coastsaver rates? Guess it's just because they're really nice folks. I think it actually has something to do with the cap-rates for fares. The financial statements show a "regulatory liability" which basically means that regular fares on some mainline routes were too high in comparison to the cap-rates, and so they really do need to offer discounts/sales to bring them back into compliance with the approved rates. Coast Savers is the way that they do that. That's what I've been able to glean from reviewing the Financial statements and MD&A reports over the past few years. ============ [edit] - here's the info from the 3/31/2009 financial statements: $ 2,858,000 size of liability at Year end. Here's the description of the item from Note #6 to the annual financial statements:
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Post by Mike C on Jul 2, 2009 13:04:20 GMT -8
...so in theory, the higher the fares go, the lower and more frequently the CoastSaver prices have to occur.
Does this include extra charges, such as fuel surcharges, Port Authority fees, etc?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 2, 2009 13:49:15 GMT -8
...so in theory, the higher the fares go, the lower and more frequently the CoastSaver prices have to occur. Not really. The "regulatory liability" is because avg fares exceed the price-cap. I barely understand the price-cap, but I think it's simplest explained by saying what the "Average fare" on the mainline routes "should be". Most fare increases are because the price cap has increased, so there's no excess. We need to get Nellie Maxey on here to explain it all.... ;D Does this include extra charges, such as fuel surcharges, Port Authority fees, etc? - fuel surcharges: No, because that's not part of the base fare. It's an extraordinary add on. - Port Authority fee: No, because this is just BCFS collecting a fee on someone else's behalf.......so again it's not part of BCFS fare revenue.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,171
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Post by Neil on Jul 2, 2009 15:29:18 GMT -8
Just an idle thought... If high fares have nothing to do with decreased ridership, as David Hahn maintains, why does BC Ferries keep offering these Coastsaver rates? Guess it's just because they're really nice folks. I think it actually has something to do with the cap-rates for fares. The financial statements show a "regulatory liability" which basically means that regular fares on some mainline routes were too high in comparison to the cap-rates, and so they really do need to offer discounts/sales to bring them back into compliance with the approved rates. Coast Savers is the way that they do that. I like my explanation a lot better. Yours is so... bean counter-ish. Unfortunately, yours is a lot more accurate.
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Post by hwy19man on Jul 2, 2009 19:33:00 GMT -8
It is nice that they are back. The bizarre statement in the BCF link is that it mentions "BC Ferries customers can spend the night and save even more by booking overnight accommodation with one of BC Ferries’ partnered properties, the Coast Hotel & Resorts in Victoria, Vancouver, Tsawwassen and Nanaimo for only $129.00 per night."
Checking those various locations on the Coast Hotel website, one can get a cheaper hotel price from there.
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Post by deepsea989 on Jul 10, 2009 16:49:27 GMT -8
Pfft, I just saw a motel for $49 in Nanaimo, not far from Duke. It's weird, because usually ferry travellers would already have acommodations prior to going on the ferry. Unless they happen to be ferry geeks
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 10, 2009 17:33:35 GMT -8
Pfft, I just saw a motel for $49 in Nanaimo, not far from Duke. It's weird, because usually ferry travellers would already have acommodations prior to going on the ferry. Unless they happen to be ferry geeks I suppose you're referring to a motel on Terminal Ave or Nicol Street. Not that close to Duke Point, and not the kind that usually rents for the full night.
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Post by Scott on Jul 10, 2009 19:39:30 GMT -8
Anyone heard the BC Ferries advertisements on the radio for this Coastsavers promotion? I've heard two versions, both very annoying. One is a boss telling his employee to take a long mid-week weekend. The other is similar, except this time it's a boss/wife to her husband. Both end with the "boss" commanding the guy to "NOW, GET BACK TO WORK". I think they could do better. Now the radio ads are a kid telling his dad to "get back to work" and a dog "telling" his owner to "clean up his puddle". Someone in BC Ferries has a preoccupation with the submissive male.
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Post by Ferryman on Jul 12, 2009 0:40:19 GMT -8
Pfft, I just saw a motel for $49 in Nanaimo, not far from Duke. It's weird, because usually ferry travellers would already have acommodations prior to going on the ferry. Unless they happen to be ferry geeks I suppose you're referring to a motel on Terminal Ave or Nicol Street. Not that close to Duke Point, and not the kind that usually rents for the full night. Haha. Funny thing is, right after I read that post, I had to drive into Nanaimo to pick up some friends at the Ferry. I ended up keeping an eye out for the motel that has the $49 sign on it.....Value Lodge on Nicol St, right across from the old ABC restaurant.... Re: Radio ad I've just happened to hear these ads a couple of times now. At the end of them all, they have the Queen of Nanaimo horn doing a quick blast at the end of it. Glad to know that BCF still uses that sound as their trademark ferry sound.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 25, 2010 15:43:48 GMT -8
A short CoastSaver event:
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Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on Dec 31, 2010 10:08:37 GMT -8
Does anyone remember if the Coastsaver Fares they had last Jan Feb??? I thought they had them for like all of Jan and part of Feb before the Olympics but I could be wrong.
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 16, 2011 11:46:20 GMT -8
Back again. Weekend coast-savers for June.
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Post by Dane on May 16, 2011 14:20:41 GMT -8
Finally I will be in Vancouver to enjoy some CoastSaver fares. Good to see this promotion being used yet again with the absurd cost of ferry travel these days. My parents have a home on both sides of the pond, but only travel between them on CoastSaver times now, unless there is an emergency which is pretty rare.
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Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on May 16, 2011 15:14:55 GMT -8
Seems odd the Coastsavers are on the weekends which are usually the busier times!
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Post by Scott on May 16, 2011 16:10:34 GMT -8
I agree with Karl. Why are they making CoastSavers for the weekend? I thought the purpose of them was to even out traffic levels throughout the week? Maybe their traffic levels have fallen so low they're just trying to get more business?
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Nick
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Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,078
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Post by Nick on May 16, 2011 16:13:48 GMT -8
This is pure speculation, but I suspect that this time they are trying to even out traffic on a larger time scale. By offering weekend CoastSavers in June, they hope to lure traffic that would otherwise travel in July or even August.
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 16, 2011 16:16:31 GMT -8
I agree with Karl. Why are they making CoastSavers for the weekend? I thought the purpose of them was to even out traffic levels throughout the week? Maybe their traffic levels have fallen so low they're just trying to get more business? ....or maybe it's a way to soften the impact of the longer-term fuel surcharge? CoastSaver's true purpose is to meet the regulatory price-cap for average-fare for the year. - it's likely that the actual average fare is too high, and so they need to quickly reduce the average fare by doing this short-term sale.
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mrdot
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Mr. DOT
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Post by mrdot on May 16, 2011 21:01:18 GMT -8
:)I guess you have been around a long time when you can vividly remember a coastsaver fare used to be a five dollar bill for car, and 2$ for driver or passenger, of course the brand new Sidney and Tsawwassen came in at just over 3 million $ and my good seamans wage 300$ monthly, but then a coke was a nickel, plus 2c. deposit! :)mrdot.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2012 13:42:21 GMT -8
Not sure if there's a specific thread for Coast Saver Fares but... They're back. May 25-June 25. Of course they will be appreciated, especially that this year they're going to be available Thursday through Monday.
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Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on May 20, 2012 14:55:29 GMT -8
Yes love Coastsave time of the year, lol! I see a few more trips in the month and maybe I can get back to Anacortes while the fares are cheap up here!
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Post by hwy19man on May 28, 2012 15:38:25 GMT -8
Not sure if there's a specific thread for Coast Saver Fares but... They're back. May 25-June 25. Of course they will be appreciated, especially that this year they're going to be available Thursday through Monday. The Coastsaver fares are available from Friday to Monday. www.bcferries.com/promotions/coastsaver.html
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Post by Scott on Jun 29, 2012 17:38:00 GMT -8
www.vancouversun.com/news/local/Ferries+ridership+flat+despite+discounting+fares/6862749/story.htmlSo it looks like Coast Savers was a dud. Ridership is down 6.5% from last June. Of course BC Ferries is saying that this proves that lower fares don't increase ridership. I think there are several reasons why ridership is down, like weather etc. ... But I don't think a 4 weekend sale is going to erase the perception that most people have that fares are too high. The decline in ridership doesn't prove anything.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 7, 2014 15:06:27 GMT -8
This one is a bit technical, but it involves Coast Saver fare discounts, so this is relevant for us, the educated ferry travellers... BC Ferries is soon to start a new round of fuel surcharges. This surcharge is calculated and allowed based on "Regulatory Accounts" which means that the Coastal Ferry Act allows it and sets the process for its determination. BC Ferries would otherwise also be likely to soon start a new round of Coast Saver fare discounts. This item is also a "Regulatory Account" and the discounted fares are done in order to REDUCE the Average-Fare amount down to the regulatory-approved limit. BC Ferries thinks that having a surcharge at the same time as a fare-discount would be confusing to customers and would possibly have a negative impact on traffic. So they are asking the Ferry Commissioner for permission to offset these 2 regulatory accounts. The result would be that any Coast Saver fares from time to time would just disappear as an offset against the fuel surcharge amounts. And because fuel surcharges are usually a larger overall item system-wide then coast savers, the explicit coast-saver discount would likely go the way of the Dogwood (ie. disappear). Here's the request letter from Robert Clarke of BCFS to the Ferry Commissioner: Appendix 1: All of the above is from H E R E
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Post by Low Light Mike on Apr 10, 2014 10:55:53 GMT -8
This one is a bit technical, but it involves Coast Saver fare discounts, so this is relevant for us, the educated ferry travellers... BC Ferries is soon to start a new round of fuel surcharges. This surcharge is calculated and allowed based on "Regulatory Accounts" which means that the Coastal Ferry Act allows it and sets the process for its determination. BC Ferries would otherwise also be likely to soon start a new round of Coast Saver fare discounts. This item is also a "Regulatory Account" and the discounted fares are done in order to REDUCE the Average-Fare amount down to the regulatory-approved limit. BC Ferries thinks that having a surcharge at the same time as a fare-discount would be confusing to customers and would possibly have a negative impact on traffic. So they are asking the Ferry Commissioner for permission to offset these 2 regulatory accounts. The result would be that any Coast Saver fares from time to time would just disappear as an offset against the fuel surcharge amounts. And because fuel surcharges are usually a larger overall item system-wide then coast savers, the explicit coast-saver discount would likely go the way of the Dogwood (ie. disappear). The Ferry Commissioner has ruled on this, and it was a "No, but" type of response: see H E R E Relevant quotes shown:
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2015 9:50:50 GMT -8
Breaking: Walk on fares will be 50% off for mid day, mid week sailings on major and minor routes, as well as on Saturday afternoons and evenings. In effect Sept 8-Oct 15.
For the Northern Runs, all walk on fares will be 50% off for October.
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