Saturday, July 2, 2011

The Fast Track Guide 2.0

 First I'd like to say that I did not originally intend on posting my guide here...but due to the boards not liking "quotation marks" and other grammatical symbols...taking them out would just further complicate the format.

The Disclaimer:

The following body of information is a compiled list of suggestions organized in a logical progressive format. Most of the suggestions will have explanation as to either how to accomplish or why it’s suggested it be accomplished…or most likely both. The following is by no means a declaration of the “correct” way to play, as there is no “wrong” way to play this game.  Please READ this guide before posing questions as to “why” or “how” otherwise the following is all for not. The aircraft suggested here are the best choices when used as instructed. If you decide to deviate from the instructions…then your results may vary. However, should you choose to follow this guide as it’s written, then prepare to have a large amount in your fake bank account. This guide is written for the player that desires to earn a LOT of money in very little time. If realism is what you’re after…you’re playing the wrong game, if you’re wanting to play with “realistic tendencies” then you’re reading the wrong guide. The purpose of this guide is to not suggest that you the player are incapable of playing without it…no truth of the matter is one doesn’t even need a brain to play this game, not that you don’t have a brain…you do, I mean you’re actually READING a thread…that means you DO have a brain and you’re not afraid to use it. OK that all said let’s begin.


Usage Tip: using the “find” function for the browser you’re using (cntrl+F for firefox) you can type in a word to find on the page…so if you think you know what you’re looking for…just search for it and save yourself the scrolling, because if you read the last guide and thought it was long…this one’s going to be longer.
This guide assumes that the player has not yet created their first route.


Step 1:
Before you fly or buy anything we first need to ensure that you don’t have a hub. Hubs prohibit you from making the most money possible, if you didn’t set a hub yet…great keep it that way, but if you did…it’s ok we can fix it.

Click
“Overview” -> “Profile”

On the “Profile” page in the center of the page there is a dropdown box, if it’s blank…leave it that way, if it’s not select the dropdown box and scroll up until you see the selection at the top of the list that reads “Select Hub” highlighting that selection click the blue button below it that reads “use as hub”
Congratulations! Please try not to contract an injury as you pat yourself on the back.


OK now it’s time for the first and most important decision you will make regarding this game (except when to quit…I’m still deciding on that one myself)

The question is this:
“How often per day do you intend to be available to play this game?”

The answer is crucial as it determines your playstyle and thus how to best follow the rest of this guide. Generic and vague answers will not do. Do not say to yourself “well pretty often” or “mmm when I can” no those answers do not quantify your available times. Answers with numbers in them, or a SHORT range of numbers (not between 1 and 100…but more like between 3 and 6 however “2 and 10” is about as long as the range needs to be per day) Why is this important? Glad you asked. (oh you didn’t…you mean you already understand why this is such an important piece of information to decide on at the beginning? Awesome go ahead and go on to the next step as I’m going to be here for just a moment)

The reason this is important is because, if you were to answer with “between 1 and 3 times per day” as the amount of times you’re willing to log in…that’s fine, I will advise you accordingly, although if you were to answer with “5-10+” that’s equally acceptable and will advise you in an equally effective though different manner. If you’re going to decide that you’ll decide later (hah read that out loud “decide that you’ll decide” that’s funny…SHUT UP it’s funny) well then you’re just going to waste your time fake money and effort. Why? Simple really…your availability sets your pace in this game, further it’s the one variable that helps shape not only the type of aircraft in your fleet but also the quantity. Yes people, one more little bit of strategy to make this game even MORE profitable with even LESS effort, IF you’re able to decide on how often you can log in to click.


OK I’m going to take this opportunity to create to general groups of players, now pay attention to this because if you don’t understand this then the rest of the guide won’t make nearly as much sense
The first group are the “casual players” which I consider to be those that log in to launch 4 times a day or less (if it’s zero…honestly you’re not casual you quit)
The second group are the “frequent flyers” which I consider to be those that log in to launch…wait for it…wait for it…MORE than 4 times a day.


Step 2

Before you buy you must sell. Odd I know but it’s true. In the previous iteration of this guide the suggestion was to only sell your starting aircraft if you were a “frequent flyer” well…things change. Even if you intend on flying just once a day…sell the 737 that you start with (you’ll never own one if you’re following this guide)
How do you sell this aircraft? Great question, rather than say “go search the boards” the answer is as follows

Click
“Fleet”

Listed here are your aircraft types followed by other erroneous information, but there are two buttons to the right one lists “buy” and the other is “show”

Click
“Show”

On this page the details of the 737 are listed. To the right there is a photograph representing this aircraft model (it may or may not be accurate…it doesn’t matter if it is or isn’t, no one cares) immediately below this photograph is a button that reads “sell” (if this button is NOT visible, do not panic…it simply means that you created a route and launched your aircraft. Which means you will need to wait for it to land before you can sell it.)

Click
“sell”

The aircraft will sell and the funds will be deposited into your account. (Alternatively I feel I should explain the “sell all” button that is at the top of the page. This button means exactly what it says…”sell all” all meaning “every” or “without exception” if the aircraft is on the ground…and you click that button…you just sold it…sort of. When you click that button, a dialogue box pops up asking for you to confirm your selection, if you ever click this button and it does not appear…try scrolling up and down…because it’s there I assure you. If you actually want to sell EVERY aircraft of that model that is n the ground…then confirm your selection…if you don’t then obviously you need to cancel your selection)


Step 3

The Time to Buy is NOW

So you’ve got more money now from selling that 737, great. Now it’s time to spend MOST of the money.

Click
“Fleet”

Click
“Aircraft Market”

When this page loads along the center are the page numbers for the Aircraft Catalog

Click
“7" (Top of page 8 if you have Cargo already)

In the middle of page 7 is the aircraft you’re going to purchase 4 of...it's named "Dassault Mercure" known commonly as "DM"

Click
“Purchase”

When the details page loads in the bottom right there is a drop down box;

Click
“4”

Immediately below that is a blank field for you to assign a registration number…this number means nothing to the game or to the players, no one can see what it is, you can type any 6 characters in there that you like. However, you need to know that as you progress in this game you will very soon be purchasing aircraft in “bulk” (10 at a time) and while you can buy them one by one assigning cute little numbers that you can only see if you go looking for them…fine. My advice? Type in the letters “DM” and

Click
“Buy Aircraft”

The system will purchase 4 of these and auto-assign progressive numbers following the letters “DM” (more on why this is helpful later)


So you have 4 aircraft instantly awaiting routes right? Awesome let’s move on


Step 4

No where to go but UP (literally)

Click
“Flight”

Click
“Find Route”

This loads a screen that allows you to query the route creation database for a list of routes sorted by either “demand” or “distance”

There are 4 fields…ignore the first 2 (ok fine if you want to go play with them do so, but they only inhibit your earning ability)

“Max Distance”
In this field you want to enter

“1700”

Why 1700? Well that’s the maximum allowable distance the aircraft you purchased is able to travel. Where did I get this number? Well it’s listed on the details page from the Aircraft Catalog.

“List by”
Leave this as “demand”

Click
“Search”

When the page refreshes you’re given a list of routes listing origin/destination distance and demand (for both pax and cargo) and then a button that says “create”

Scroll up and down on this list looking for a number that’s as close to the max range of the aircraft in this case “1700” AND has a high “pax demand” (there is nothing below 60% and nothing higher than 99%) These are generated at random…and are different each time. A tip at this point would be to locate anything within 100KM of your max range which in this case anything “1600” or greater is a good route and anything “80%” or greater in demand is acceptable (honestly any demand is fine as it fluctuates but you want the most money…so 80% should be your lowest) If nothing suits you…click the “search” button again and a new list will generate.

Once you’ve located a route that fits the criteria you decide

Click
“Create”

Doing so will cause a dialog box to appear (notice your list is still accessible…remember this) The dialog will prompt you to select an aircraft from a dropdown box

Click
“Create Pax Route”

The Aircraft Selection Dialog fades out and a “new route” dialog replaces it Listed is your departure in one box and your destination in another

Click
“Next”

If you didn’t click “next” and you clicked “suggest by…” then just click the x on the dialog box and re click the original route you wanted from the list that’s still active (told you to remember this…but don’t forget it’s going to come in handy even if you didn’t screw up)

So you clicked next…that box is now replaced with a “Route Confirmation” dialog
Here you can see the details of the route and the first time you’re seeing the ticket price (how are ticket prices calculated? Distance divided by 2) You also see the airport fees and taxes incurred (get over it…they’re not that much) You can view the individual route by clicking “show map” you can click “change route” (don’t do this…ever) or you can

Click
“Create Route”

Now  that box will change to a box that reads something like “your route’s been created” but if you’re fairly quick you can select a second route from your “find route” query and repeat the process a 2nd time. Doing so will save you a bit on the repetitiveness of “find route” for every single aircraft. Half actually…and while half of four doesn’t seem like much, half of 50 does to me. Either way do this until you’re left with no more aircraft to assign routes to.


Step 5
Inform the Public
You should now be staring at the “flight page” as once you successfully create a route you’re automatically redirected here.

Click
“Advertising”

Here you’re able to select the type of advertising…the length the advertising campaign will run…and for what routes. By default you’re selecting for all routes..but you’re welcome to pick and choose.
Scroll to the bottom and select the last option, it’s the most expensive one. (The most expensive one augments your demand percentage by up to 20% This is why I said choosing a route with a demand percentage of 80% was ok because the advertising will boost it’s demand to offset the difference from 99%...please remember I said “up to” meaning it can be less than 20%.) Now select the number of days you’d like to buy for. I suggest finding the sticky topic on the days and times for advertising being it’s lowest. Early on this is important...but in a couple of days it wont matter what the price of it is. If you’re lucky enough to have advertising at it’s lowest great buy for a full 7 days…if not…calculate out how many days it is until that low day…and do it for one day prior.
(So if advertising will be at it’s lowest in 4 days from today, buy 3 days. Why one day less? Because this advertising will expire at a specific time…and rather than chance this ad campaign still being active when the new price is lower…it’s best to fly a few times without it while waiting to capitalize on the low price.)

On a side note…it’s best to do advertising for all routes at once. As your routes grow…use the number of days to help synchronize the expiration dates of your old routes and new routes for example

The 4 routes you have bought for today…if you buy more aircraft tomorrow…buy one day less of advertising than you did today…and the day after buy 2 days less, this way all of your advertising beginning and ending at the same time

OK so…you selected the most expensive option…and then you chose the appropriate length of time

Click
“Calculate Price”

This screen will show you the total amount you’re paying, for how long the ads will run, how many routes are being advertised for. If this information is correct (and if it isn’t you only have yourself to blame)

Click
“Confirm Advertising”

The screen refreshes notifying you at the top that your advertising was purchased.
Congratulations! You’re fast becoming an allstar mouse clicker




Step 6
Feed ‘em or F#*@ ‘em


Catering…I’m sure you saw the tab for it. So the question is…do you cater or not? Only one option is beneficial, and it’s just BARELY worth it. At this stage…with 4 routes, no it’s a complete and total waste of money.  Later I will make my suggestions regarding catering, but not now it’s too soon.


Step 7
Ready to Go?


OK so let’s review…you sold a plane and bought some new ones, you set some routes, you bought some advertising, hopefully you skipped catering for now…OK it’s time to make some money


Click
“Flight”

Before you are now 4 routes awaiting clearance to takeoff, each route should have a leading “orange box” this “orange box” indicates the route has an active advertising campaign…so obviously when this box is not present that means…Exactly, that the advertising for that route expired…OR you have created new routes that have not yet had advertising purchased for them.
You notice the button at the far right that is labeled “Start Flight” this allows you to launch each flight individually. Alternatively there is a button near the bottom that is labeled “Start Routes” This button allows you to launch up to 10 routes at a time with each click (meaning if you have 20 flights you click it twice and you’ve launched all of your routes.)
Clicking “Start Flight” will raise your reputation up by 0.5 points each click…while clicking “Start Routes” will only raise your reputation by 0.1 The higher your reputation…the more people naturally are willing to fly with you (but you’re advertising so reputation will come on it’s own)

Click
“Start Routes”

You’ll be clicking this button a lot…and you’ll be seeing the screen that is now in front of you an equal number of times.
This screen shows you the routes that were launched, the number of passengers on each flight the number of incidents (mechanical) that occurred during the flight,  and the expenses for each.

The important information is summarized at the bottom, the bottom line number is the net total you profited after the launch, this amount is transferred automatically to your bank account.
I would suggest keeping a log of this bottom number to track your progression, the link at the bottom of this guide is to a spreadsheet documenting some interesting particulars regarding the effectiveness of the DM.
So that’s it…you’re done…for at least 1.9 hours, and that’s when you’ll click that “start routes” button again…and again and again.


So that’s the jist of how to play…but the age old question of “What Now?” is always asked. Well to answer that question I’m going to move on to my next section


Things to Buy and Not Buy


Buy Aircraft (yeah it’s something people have trouble doing…but I explained it…and regardless of what aircraft you wish to purchase the process is the same)

Buy Fuel – Buy a lot, buy low, so you can fly high. You can never buy too much fuel (the game wont let you…if you don’t have room in your tank or you don’t have enough money the transaction obviously doesn’t happen) There is a fuel guide with times as to when the best time to buy fuel is, read it, because maximizing your profit involves spending as little as possible. Also I’m going to take this time to inform everyone reading of the “age old myth” that fuel consumption matters...not in this game. If you choose to make fuel consumption a variable in your aircraft choices...fine but you’re only cheating yourself out of money. Following this guide after a week, you can afford to purchase fuel at any price and in nearly any “usable” amount... because if you’re actually keeping 5% of every launch then that 5% is huge after a week...you may choose to instead invest it in aircraft and “risk” not having a large reserve...and i say usable because you may decide against filling your tank all at once to avoid a stock price drop.

Do not spend all of your money. You spend MOST of it…but not ALL of it. If you keep 5% from each launch that will be more than enough to pay for the fuel you need, along with covering the expenses of daily maintenance and salary, as well as repairs, catering, and advertising.
If you don’t know what to buy…buy fuel

Catering...I said I’d go over this in detail later...well check the time...it’s later
First if you’re flying frequently you can do this with less than the suggested amount...but you could possibly be wasting some money...but if you don’t care then neither do i.

First 50 Routes...if you’re flying 50 routes with the Dessault Mercure  buy the minimum amount of the highest tier of catering (25000 meals) that’s if you’re launching 3-4 times a day...if you’re launching more than that...you can buy more meals (how to figure meals: 50 DMs x 150 passengers = 7500 x 4 trips a day = 30,000 people) Although this is a fair time to tell you...you will not sell a meal to everyone on the aircraft...in AM Land...the meals are sold separately and not included in the ticket price. 
The catering ratio on the Catering Screen...does not indicate how many people will buy a meal (for instance: the ratio for the top tier is 9/10...this is it’s ratio for it’s rating for those that bought one...meaning 9 out of 10 that bought one enjoyed it) the ratio for meals on a plane is roughly 60%. That being the case you can see why i say to only buy the minimum because best case scenario for 30000 people flying that’s offered a meal only 18000 are likely to buy LIKELY people...that doesn’t mean it’s for certain...but 18000 is fine since you only bought 25000. I suggest only the top tier because it’s the only option that’s been confirmed that catering is a minor variable with the formula for pax point awarding...i say minor because if there there isn’t a discernible difference in my testing of catering or not...i and many others will earn pax points regardless of catering or not...so that means you will too...does that cover catering? do you need to walk through how to buy catering? no...you’re smart.

Staffing and Morale

This page you should check at least once a day. Your staff are never happy for long, their morale is always on a slow decline. To counter balance this you’re given two options: 1) offer a raise 2) hire additional staff. If you offer raises 10x to each staff type you’re awarded an achievement...also offering a raise will raise the morale percentage up about 6 percentage points, and a raise the salary up 5%...which doesn’t sound like a lot.

As an example my current pilot salary is 700...5% of 700 is 35 dollars. so now every pilot will make 735 dollars i have 3,108 pilots
735 x 3,108 = 2,284,380 a day

conversely

I could choose instead to hire one additional pilot, doing this will raise the morale percentage roughly 3 percentage points. Following is the math on how much money you save by not offering ONE pay raise but instead hiring ONE employee

700 x 3,108 = 2,175,600 a day
2,175,600 + 700 = 2,176,300
2,284,380 - 2,176,300 = 108,080

You can see how after 10 raises this would be rather expensive, it may not seem so in the beginning, and it’s not. however there are some things to consider if you want the salary achievements.


You could get them early...this will impede your overall growth as you will be spending money normally used for aircraft purchases to strategically get the achievements. This is far less expensive than doing it in the “end game”
Although, when you’re making billions a day it wont matter, but doing so then will impede your daily income if you plan to save up to make a run at the leaderboards.

Either way you will have to deal with a strike...and if by now you think you’ve seen a few annoying features regarding this game and the mechanics of it...strikes take the cake (if there were a cake to take)

It’s important to note that when/if you decide to go for the salary achievements. Even after you’ve got them and want to return your staff salary back to the lowest possible. The only way to do this is with pax points. The game prohibits you the player from returning your staff salary back to default, you can get close...but you’ll pay a hefty amount to do so

Strikes - Strikes occur if the morale in any staff category drops to 50% or below. Your company is slapped with a daily fine for your staff for being on strike...those on strike are still paid though...wait it gets better...you’re forced to hire temporary staff and pay them as well...but wait...wait there’s more...this is the best...your aircraft can’t be launched because of the strike. Yes i know...WTF right? You’re forced to pay a fine the salary of those on strike...as well as people to do the jobs for those on strike...and you still cant generate income. Overcoming strikes is expensive but it’s a relative amount, though the ability to deal with them is easier once you’ve got a few hundred billion in the bank.

The morale percentages have colors assigned to certain performance indicators...when your staff are completely happy...the number is green (above 80%) when they’re content the number is orange (51% - 80%) and the number is red for 2 different reasons...when the number increases or decreases...and the number is red with an asterisk ( * ) when you have a strike. So it’s entirely possible for you to have a 99% morale that’s in red...why? because if you hire someone or give a raise the number changes...it’s important to know this so that you don’t believe the red number is a “bad thing” and go crazy with raises and hirings to combat a strike that you don’t have...thus costing you money you may not have or want to spend.
Some are of the opinion or belief that if you keep your staff morale at 100% you stand the chance of receiving more pax points. This is wrong. As long as your staff morale is listed in green (above 80%) your staff is operating at peak performance...81% and 100% are equal in terms of effectiveness regarding pax point awarding.



Thoughts on Maintenance

Maintenance…you pay it everyday…you don’t have a choice. This expense covers “tire rotations and oil changes” it does not cover “incidents” or “c checks” these both cost in addition to maintenance, you’re a long way from needing a c check, but an incident could happen the next launch. What is an incident you ask? It’s when something breaks.  How do you fix it you ask?
Me? I personally don’t I leave it broken. *gasp* yeah I know…it’s shameful, but it’s a game not real life and  I don’t care if that toilet seat stays broken or if that tire stays flat…the customers still pay and the plane still flies. (as of this writing)

incidents hurt your rep – true…they hurt it once…they don’t keep hurting it and thus reducing your rep to zero…once your rep takes a hit for an incident on a route…your rep is able to recover, further once an aircraft has one incident…it can not have a second (meaning once the tire goes flat nothing else will occur for that aircraft as long as the tire remains flat) If you want to fix it fine…proceed to the maintenance tab.

C checks…what’s a c check? In real life? Honestly I have no idea, but I’m told it’s where the aircraft is completely taken apart by veteran mechanics and then they test the new guys on putting it all back together, I could be wrong. But in the game it’s where when an aircraft that is approaching 400 flight hours is highlighted in red on the flight screen. This slight change in color of text causes severe panic in the game community.  I picture grown men crying at the keyboard wondering what they could have done to deserve this. You need to remain calm…it means nothing, while you could follow the game’s suggestions of paying for a C Check (prices vary but it’s going to cost you about what that aircraft makes in a day) and not only lose the money that it costs to perform a c check but also take that aircraft out of rotation of earning MORE money (c checks last anywhere from a couple of hours to nearly a day) The important thing to remember…C checks are optional. The aircraft does not in anyway become any less reliable than it was its first flight. Aircraft do not age, they do not wear out. They maintain their exact level of efficiency from the day you buy it until the day you sell it.

What happens if you skip your c checks?

The short answer…nothing

The long answer:
Nothing for quite sometime…it’s possible to incur what’s known in the game as a “severe incident” this entails you the player being slapped with a “huge” fine (huge is relative as it’s based on a few things such as your estimated daily income and your current company worth) These ground all planes of a particular model until the fine is paid. Your chances of incurring a “severe incident” are equal whether you do your c checks or you do not.

Will my plane crash?

The short answer: no

The long answer: not because you skipped a c check, the chances of your aircraft crashing are nearly a million to one…every time you launch. No literally it’s like a million to one. Since this game began there have been 17 crashes (as of this writing), total…and the last not being since 2009 (as of this writing)
I believe c checks are part of the game to add some bit of challenge…the challenge being that it’s taking money out of your pocket rather than being just another way of putting more in…but that’s just my thought I could be totally off base, however I can tell you that I’ve not done my c checks in years, and wont until evidence can convince me otherwise.


The Flight Plan

OK so you launched your four aircraft and made a net profit of about 400k (yeah I round…mostly down because it’s safer)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0An25Hd71LLCNdEREOWxuQ3BhLXVweDZaOFpBQXZLMmc&hl=en_US

The above takes you to two spreadsheets that will show you how I made use of the Dessault Mercure and ONLY the Dessault Mercure, to which I am basing my suggestions on.

The Table is for 9 days of flying where in I’m able to generate over 257 million and I only needed to spend 135 million to get it. This experiment tracks the date time and quantity that I purchased DMs how much they cost…and how much I was left with after the cost. From the difference You’re able to see how many more DMs I can purchase. This was all done with the income from the now 151 DMs I have flying.  I should note that I started my experiment with 10 Dessaults and not 4, so once you acquire 10…this will all be accurate and true.

Google Docs is an amazing thing to make use of if you find yourself at more than one computer/internet device. Tracking your route earnings and having it add them up and divide by the price of one DM easily calculates exactly how many you should buy…realizing that any remainder is not spent but saved

Example…after you’ve set up your formulas the result indicates you can buy 3.61 DMs…buy 3 subtract the cost of those 3 from your starting total…and track that as the difference remaining…this is kept aside to go toward the expenses in the game that are deducted daily (at different times depending on your timezone)


Some Earning Statements

These are conservative figures…why? Well because everyone likes to argue with “best possible scenario” my last guide did it…and while it was all true…it isn’t actually attainable so here we go

The Dessault Mercure is capable of traveling 1700KM carrying 150 passengers. We know the formula for ticket pricing is distance / 2 which means the max ticket price is $850 and 850 x 150 = 127,500 this is the maximum amount you may earn from a single trip of a single Dessault…but wait…there are fees for each trip and taxes too…so the best possible net is around 108,000 per trip. This is not what I’m going to show in the following…while this is all possible and doable multiple times…I’ll show you the average instead


All trip calculations are based on a distance of 1600 KM carrying 130 passengers and airport fees of 20,500 (none are this high for this aircraft)

1600 / 2 is 800
$800 x 130 = $104,000 – $20,500 = $83,500 per trip
$83,500 x 4 aircraft= $334,000
$334,000 x N = Daily Profit (N is the number of times you launch…every 2 hours max possible is 12…6 for a frequent flyer 3 for a casual player
$334,000 x 6 = $200,400  OR  $334,000 x 3 = 100,200 (both of these numbers are exceedingly low)


How many DMs should you buy? My old number was 50, but that was based on a max route limit of 400…that number is now 600 (free…100 more for pax points) so now my new number is 150.

150 aircraft x $85,500 per trip x 6 trips  = $76,950,000 net daily profit
It’s important to remember...6 trips is half of the possible amount...which means this number has the ability to be QUITE a bit larger...if we do the math...it’s about double...but even flying just 8 times a day is a substantial increase

If you’re a frequent flyer an even better number would be 250 to 300, but some people get bored buying the same aircraft over and over…they want to buy a different one.
Fine

Then go buy the DC-10-10 (it’s on page 11)

Use the “find route” method, plug in the max range of the DC 10 10 (6,436KM)
They’re 6.96 million a piece…oh wait that’s right you’re pulling in over 77 million at that number you can buy, assuming you keep your DMs flying the same number of times per day, is 11…but let’s just say you decide to buy 10 per day

1 DC 10-10 on a 6300 KM route carrying 230 passengers less $127,000 in fees is $597,500

You can fly this route at a max of 3 times a day…so we’ll figure twice a day
1 DC 10-10 twice a day is $1,195,000

Remember this is on top of the 77+ million you’re already earning from your DMs (assuming you’re launching them as you have been…and why wouldn’t you…that money is allowing you to buy 10 DC 1010s a day…every day)

But like I said you could buy 10 your first day…so
10 DC 10-10s twice a day is $11,950,000

So…let’s review 77+ million a day allows you the player to then add another 11.9million to your daily earnings
Which means the next day it’s not 77million it’s 88.9 million

So the next day you buy 10 more DC 10-10s
Which takes your DC 1010 daily earnings from 11.9 to 23.9 in one day…oh wait plus 77 million which is 100.9 million per day

On the second day you purchase 10 DC 10 10s
Continue this until you’ve purchased 150

At 150 DC 10-10s flown twice a day is $358,500,000 + 77 million = 435,500,000

So 150 DC 10-10s 150 DMs…you’re half way to your route limit

It’s important to note that if you fly just the DC 1010s 3 times a day that adds an additonal 179,250,000...and if you’re still flying your DMs as you should...you’re already logging in anyway so you may as well click that launch button 15 more times.

Earning 435m a day…you’re in a position to buy 10 IL-96-400s per day with plenty of money still left over for anything else you need/want

The IL 96-400 (on page 10)

Is a 40 million dollar aircraft that flies at twice a day has a range of 10,000 (yes exactly 10,000) and has a maximum passenger capacity of 436
10,000 / 2 = 5000 ticket price x 436 is 2,180,000 but fees are now about 220k which would be 1.96m
So let’s figure 1,700,000 per trip
1 IL 96-400 flown twice a day earns 3,400,000 (it’s closer to four but we’ve been conservative all this time why stop?)

You bought 10
10 x 3,400,000 is 34,000,000 per day added to the 435m that you already make which is 469 million per day


Day 2 you buy 10 more
That 34m addition grows to 68 million 68 million  + 435 million is 503 million

Day 3 you buy 10 more
Now you’ve added 102million to the 435 which is now 537 million

Day 4 you buy 10 more
136 million added to 435 is now 571 million

Buy 200 of these total
200 IL 96-400s x 1,700,000 x 2 = 680,000,000…added to 435 million is 1,115,000,000 per day


Now go buy a concorde and get it out of your system…oh what’s that? You’re not ready to waste your money yet?


So now you’re a billionaire…what’s left? Oh right…another 100 routes to fill.


The A380-800 (on page 1)
With a max range of 20,000 (don’t use this number, unless you only want to launch once a day, instead use 10,000 just as you did with the IL)

And a maximum passenger capacity of 644, as of this writing this is the largest passenger aircraft in the game.
How many do you need to  purchase? Technically? 600


Although at 1 billion+ a day you can only buy about 6…so buy 5

1 a380 at 5000 per ticket will net about 3 million per flight at twice a day…that’s 6 million
(and you wonder why people want this aircraft so bad early on? You just spent 215 million to earn 6…in case you didn’t realize that’s HORRIBLE)

5 a380s each at 3m a trip at 2 trips a day is 30,000,000 per day
On day 2 you buy another 5
And so on. Now when you buy your 100th a380 and have set your 600th route…you’re going to start the sell off
My first suggestion is to only sell as many as you plan to purchase…this way you’re able to maintain a full 600 routes at nearly all times, which means you’re selling at a 1 for 1 ratio…doing this keeps your stock from dipping.


Speaking of Stock...don’t worry about selling/buying it. Why? When you buy stock, it’s money you could have used to purchase fuel aircraft advertising or even catering...yes catering is immediately beneficial to your game’s progress than stock. Also when other’s buy your stock...you do not get the money they spent. You’re not supposed to, yes that’s how it’s intended to be, no it won’t change...ever. I could go into why but the point is moot...because it’s just not going to happen. Further, your stock price is directly impacted by the purchases you make...it rises with the purchase of aircraft, as well as when money is deposited but it drops with everything else...staff salary, maintenance, c checks if you do them, advertising purchases, catering purchases, and fuel purchases. You can counter act these with timing your “negative” purchases by making them prior to launching or prior to making aircraft purchases. (if i said this already somewhere whatever...i read through the 18 pages and couldn’t find it...yeah 18 pages)


OK so you’ve sold off every aircraft that isn’t an a380 and you’re now flying 600 a380s twice a day...if you’ve yet to calculate how much that is per day. Here it is

1 a380 with 630 passengers at 5000 a ticket - 220,000 in fees/taxes is 2,930,000

2,930,000 x 2 is 5,860,000 per day

5,860,000 x 600 is 3,516,000,000
billion folks...billion

you wanted to be a billionaire? so freaking bad? to buy all of those things you never had? fine...go for it
go buy a Concorde
go buy a 747...the cheapest one
go buy 200 Tupolevs...the cheapest one
go buy 200 Boeings...the cheapest one
go set a hub and reroute 200 of your aircraft from that hub
go buy 100,000 shares of stock or more to earn both stock achievements
go buy 30,000 catering meals if you haven’t already
go upload a logo

It's important to note that the above list will award you achievements

OK I think that’s it...if you’re asking about cargo...when it drops from beta i will be making a short (hahahaha...sorry it’s a little joke) guide regarding it...along with 200 routes as suggestions (yeah i researched 400...just as preparation) If i left something out...i’ll write an addition...but whatever i left out honestly is probably already on the boards. Keep in mind that this isn’t the ONLY way to play, but it’s the fastest...hence the title. If this guide offends you...that wasn’t the intention, but let me take this opportunity to say that you’re far too sensitive and i would advise you to stay off of the boards. If you’ve made it this far thank you for reading, and if you read the last guide, i’d really enjoy your thoughts on how this one compares. Below are a few things people i know are going to ask about



The removal of the 787-8 as a suggestion...i ran the numbers and factored in the overall time and investment it takes to build a fleet of 100+...and the money just wasn’t worth it. the speed of progression actually slows down when using this aircraft

The removal of the IL-86 as a suggestion...this aircraft was always the “weakest link” basing buying decisions strictly on “purchase price” it makes sense as it’s an 11 million dollar aircraft (much like the 787-8 being a 20 million dollar aircraft) but needing to fly it 5 times a day goes against the desire to make more money in less trips...flying it 4 times a day makes it ineffective compare to if you’re flying the DMs 4 times a day and the DC 1010s twice a day...this creates one more “schedule” to syncronize.

No 747s...nope

As always if you have a question...you can post it here, and i’ll answer it (even if someone else already has) or you can drop me an in game mail. Word of caution...read the guide first, if you ask a question that is clearly answered in this guide the response you receive from me may have nothing to do with your question.


Thank you for your time and attention,


Black Flight

Credit to Luzon Pacific and Whiteman for the correct page numbers for the aircraft catalog

21 comments:

  1. In step #2 it is important to sell the 737 when the aircraft value is at or above 85%.

    Equally important is the timing of starting your airline with fuel prices.

    Lastly, unless you want to spend money to get PAX points, purchase B747-400D aircraft, range is 2905 and result in a max of 8 flights per day. Pax points are necessary for cargo ops as well as increasing fuel tank capacity.

    Cargo ops do NOT get any damage yet increase your reputation. Keeping your reputation at 100% increases your odds of pax points.

    Nice review.
    JC§2

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Black Flight- Thanx for this post.. this has truly enlightened me.. I read a post a little late.. by then i had already bought a cluster of aircraft ranging from Boeing to Airbus (mostly for achievements).. What you have suggested is a long term and a very fast way to achieve them... now i started selling those aircraft in a heap after reading ur post and as a result my stocks dipped at like the twin towers had fallen down .. So right now i have about 100 DMs and 10 II-96-400, 30 B787-8, 20 B757-200, 11 B735-700.. Do u think i should keep them or sell it off and u think it's better to have 50 more DMs... Plz suggest ...
    Everest Airlines

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would suggest you sell your DMs

      Delete
  3. Hi
    Could you plz refer to the new a/c? specifically the new 380-900, much more expensive (396M$) but has 875 seats, would it be better to buy this model rather than the 800 model?

    ReplyDelete
  4. i think there is new aircraft called a380-900, can i switch this one to a380-800 in your guide? is that cause more money or less money? can you tell me? thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey - thank you so much for your guides! I had started my airline once and bombed it... after reading your guide Im doing ok :) You write really well... easy for this 'old lady' to understand and follow ... I really appreciate the time it took you to write everything down step by step - a monumental undertaking :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. if i don't have a money and my balance is in negative then how can i buy a380-800 plzz suggest me...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Holy shit!!
    This is shocking!!

    Wow Thank you really!!

    So~ do not buy 744(747-400)?
    Well, OK!

    ReplyDelete
  8. How-to-adjust-seat-configuration....?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Will be implemented in the new update(at beta testing right now, but achiev is shown anyhow)

      Delete
  9. did anyone ever get an answer about whether or not to but the A380 900 instead of the A380 800? I am at the point in the guide now and any insight would be great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bought several 900 already. And they are like the "old" 800, but have more seats. No Prob!

      Delete
  10. A380-900 is best compare to A380-800

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well done! And regards from MMcM (Wiesbaden/Germany)

    ReplyDelete
  12. A380-800 = 215,629,503 for 644 Pax
    A380-900 = 396,475,000 for 875 Pax

    You're paying 1.85 times more to carry 1.25 more. Crazy.

    If you buy 2 -800 you're nearly paying one -900 and carrying 50% more pax!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. The rates have changed with the update....are you recommending any other aircraft to buy. I currently have 150 DM and 150 DC10s, and about 35 IL96s.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi,
    This is a group of 3 Players.
    I am not getting PAX Points...
    Do we not get them in the start???

    Debra Air
    Nikki Air
    Utsav Airways

    ReplyDelete
  15. I bought a stack of 787-8s last night. I'm sorry to say I did that before seeing your guide. I was actually following your old guide which had 787-8s. Should I sell them or gather more 787-8s and build a fleet?

    ReplyDelete
  16. follow this

    its very gr8

    ReplyDelete
  17. Just started playing and purchased the 4 DM planes but as I try to set up my routes I get this message "The selected A/C is not capable of flying this route, as the distance is longer than the A/C range" even though the flights I am selecting are within the planes range.

    thanks for your help

    ReplyDelete
  18. just to say great article i have aqquired 41 DM when i started with 5 of them in just a few days

    you make it so normal when u say an income of a billion +

    i was wondering i have the best ad running the best catering and my rep is 100% but i have never received any pax points

    is it weird or is it too early for pax points

    ReplyDelete