Airfare Logic - an oxymoron if ever there was one!

I have traveled a lot.  To those of you who read this blog occasionally, that should not come as a shock.  So why am I stating the obvious?  Only to emphasize this next point;  As much as I fly, and as many times as I have to make and change airline reservations, I am no closer to understanding the enigma of the airfare pricing model than I was the first time I stepped on a plane.  It is a complete mystery to me and it ain't gettin' any clearer. 

Case in point.  I am flying next week to Europe on Delta; Minneapolis to Prague via Paris, and returning Dusseldorf to Minneapolis via Amsterdam.  Simple enough, I suppose.  The original airfare was just over $2000.   However, a little digging about turned up a cheaper option.  If I were to spend the night in Amsterdam and fly back home the next day, the fare was only $1000 - half the price, and all I had to do was kill some time in Amsterdam...(its a tough job, I know...).  Even after adding in a hotel and some meals and taxis I was still saving the company over $600.  But this is not the part I fail to understand. 

I know that airlines, hotels, and even tourism boards have some agreements in which they try to make a longer stay more attractive.  I get that. What I don't get is this:  I tried a few moments ago to eliminate one leg of my flight home.  I could drop the Dusseldorf to Amsterdam leg, instead taking a train to Amsterdam from Belgium.  I would still be on the same flight back to America.  I would still be at the same hotel in Amsterdam.  The only difference to the airline is they would be able to sell my now vacant seat from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam to someone else.  They could even charge me the same $1000 airfare and everyone would win, right?  Well, apparently not.  Dropping that one leg off of the flight adds $700 to my airfare and I am not willing to pay it.  So now, thanks to whatever f'd up algorithm Delta is using to compute pricing, they miss an opportunity to increase revenue, Eurail misses a fare opportunity, and I will ride 3 hours in a car back to Dusseldorf just to hop on a plane the next day and fly back almost to where I started from. 

From "win-win" to "lose-lose".  Nice job guys!

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace?

I was in a meeting in Japan recently, at a customer's plant having discussions with their Purchasing team when Miss Saiguma entered the room.  I had met her once before in another meeting in China.  She is younger than most people I work with, mid twenties perhaps, rather pretty, but also somewhat shy.  One of the Purchasing Managers, a man of maybe 50, gesturing towards me commented to the others in the room "I think he only came here today so he could see Saiguma-san again."  This comment caught me off guard, I did not really know how to react so I just smiled but didn't otherwise reply.  He continued.  "You must take special care with Saiguma.  Pretty young girls are unusual in Purchasing.  We want her to stay for long time!"  Saiguma did not seem phased by any of this.  I felt a bit embarrassed.

As the meeting wore on, there were more comments about Saiguma's beauty, her smile, her youth.  Nothing vulgar was said, but clearly the standards for what is acceptable to discuss in a business environment are different in Japan.  To be sure, the strictness with which codes of conduct are adhered to vary greatly even in the US.  Small companies often put up with behaviors that would never be tolerated in the Fortune 500.  But this was not a small company.  In fact it was one of the largest corporations in Japan - in the world for that matter.

I am still not sure what to make of the whole thing.  Miss Saiguma did not act offended by or even uncomfortable with the comments.  At least if she was uncomfortable, she did not let on.  However, the whole exchange made me uneasy.  Who knows - maybe I offended her by not adding my own "compliments". 

I know cultures around the world are different, and Japan is very new to me.  I work pretty hard to assimilate in most situations wherever I travel, but some things just go against my nature...