Tag Archives: Airlines

Downward Spiral of Airlines

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Catch Me If You Can?

I am not an airline man and nor will I ever be!  I hate flying!  But the airline business on the other hand is a glorious business, or so it was a long time ago. But, really what happened to the days when the airline industry was all about service? Exceeding expectations?

I’ll tell you what happened. The other day I was flying on a commuter flight (reputable company which will remain unnamed), and I was told that most seats were booked-up but for an additional charge of $9.95 I could get more leg room by sitting in a different part of the plane, or for an additional $19.95 I could sit on the exit row by the wings, and oh and peanuts are $2.00.

So what really happened? You have all these once-upon-a-time companies with great employees and millions of dollars of creative marketing and public relations, yet everyone is missing the forest for the trees? Nobody has the guts, decency or fortitude to stand for what is right? So now that company A is charging $295, then airlines B and C will have to do the same thing so they can be competitive as well. AND, in order to fictitiously make this prices seem cheaper everything else is A la Carte…really? It started with the bag fees, then the blanket/pillow fees on longer flights, the F&B service, and now the auctioning of “prime” seats.

What a shame that a billion dollar industry forgot the basics, doing things right the first time!  If you cannot do it right the first time, when will you have the chance to do it over again? That’s correct – never!

So who really is at fault? Who is responsible?  WE the customers are. We now find it acceptable to wait on the tarmac 6 hours at a time, paying for every little item just so that we can feel good that the overall ticket price was only $99.00 for a cross country flight!

Where will this mentality of “penny pinching” lead this industry? To what end? Rest assured that this “penny wise pound foolish” standard operating procedure (SOP) will only lead to more and more re-organizations, bankruptcies, thousands of great employees losing their jobs. And, why?? Because their employers do not have the foresight to do what is right and their customers have become accustomed to accepting and, dare I say even demanding mediocrity!

Someone once told me: “Take care of the boss and you’ll never be wrong”. If the customers are indeed the “boss”, why not take care of them, provide the right service, the right experience, provide value for money and do it all with a smile!  Show me the airline that does that and I’ll show you the friendly skies indeed!

Here again, friends:  There are two things you can do!  Either you do it or you don’t!”

At Your Service,

Aurelian

Needless Markups

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Hello Again,

The other day I read in the USA Today about this new trend where large casino hotels and as a matter of fact most hotels are starting to copycat what the airline industry has been doing for the past few years, namely charging A la Carte for various services in order to keep their published room rates as low and competitive as possible!

So the Bellagio Hotel on the Strip is now charging a $10.00 fee for anyone that books their stay with a reservation agent on the phone, whereas if one were to book online it would be free!  $10.00 surcharge to speak with a reservation agent to book your stay?  What is going on? This would be on top of your traditional “resort fee” which many resort hotels charge on a nightly basis, and which now large gaming hotels are implementing as well.

While resort fees can be explainable, even though they tend to range from 5% – 20% of the room charge, and typically are used to cover such fees as “free Wi-Fi”, 24-hour room service, beach and pool services and such…to now charge an A la Carte price for various services which traditionally are built-in, is most certainly a downward spiral to doom.

Why is it happening you ask?  Because everything is market driven, and if the Joneses do it, why not the Mitchells and so on. Until we, the consumer, start voting with our feet and stop accepting these shady practices, nothing will change!  But that is the problem with complacency, with accepting the status quo and for laziness.

So while a $225.00 room rate in a  5-star resort on the Strip sounds like the deal of the century, when you add in the 20% resort fee, the $10.00 reservation surcharge, the $15.00 turn-down service…you’re looking at $295.00 ++…not to mention the fact, which is the true insult, that these additional surcharges are for services/amenities which are always typically included in the hotel operating budget anyway…so these fees in effect simply translate to more profit on the bottom line of these companies, at the cost of the consumer!

Talk about the magic of marketing – making people feel they’re getting a deal and value for money, all while making them spend for things which they should have access to in the first place?

What will you do about it?

Like I always say, there are two things you can do!  Either you do it or you don’t – the rest is up to you!

At Your Service,
Aurelian