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Could the secret to a more profitable business be a priority line that occasionally lets others skip ahead? Recently published in Queueing Systems, 鈥溾�� reveals a counterintuitive strategy for businesses to increase revenue by relaxing the strictness of their priority lines. Authors Zhouzi Li, a third-year doctoral student in the School of Computer Science, and Professors Mor Harchol-Balter, Computer Science, and Alan Scheller-Wolf, Tepper School of Business, challenge the traditional priority customer model used in theme parks and airports. The study proves that businesses can significantly boost revenue by relaxing the strictness of their priority lines. By occasionally allowing standard customers to jump ahead of priority holders, service providers gain the flexibility to sell a higher volume of premium passes without overwhelming their regular service lines.

The research addresses whether the extra flexibility of partial priority is worth the added complexity. While businesses like Disney World offer a lightning pass to monetize shorter wait times, the authors found that these systems often leave money on the table. Under strict priority, in which high-priority customers always go ahead of low-priority customers, the need to keep regular wait times within reasonable limits forces service providers to cap the number of priority passes they sell. Partial priority breaks this deadlock by slightly improving the experience for regular customers, which in turn grants the provider the flexibility to admit a larger volume of high-paying customers into the system.

Li says, "Although partial priority offers much more flexibility than strict priority, partial priority only increases revenue if there are two additional constraints on the service provider, one setting a maximum price and the other setting a maximum waiting time." This highlights an ideal situation for businesses that face public or regulatory pressure to keep prices affordable and wait times manageable. In the absence of these real-world constraints, the researchers prove that strict priority remains the superior choice for maximizing profit.
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To illustrate the impact, the researchers applied their mathematical model to a scenario resembling a popular theme park attraction. In cases with high traffic and strict caps on wait times and pass prices, they found that adopting their hybrid partial priority policy could increase revenue by more than 50 percent. By transitioning to this more flexible model, a service provider could increase the number of priority customers served per day from 80 to 120, effectively raising daily revenue from $2,400 to $3,600 for a single attraction.
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This research provides a new analytical framework for service providers to determine exactly how much they can improve their bottom line by adjusting their queueing logic. The study鈥檚 findings suggest that for industries facing high demand and tight operational restrictions, the most profitable path forward involves a more balanced, partial approach to priority service.

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听Summarized from Zhouzi Li & Mor Harchol-Balter & Alan Scheller-Wolf, 2026. "," , Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 1-35, March.