This is a little off the usual Fares material, but it highlights a risk of onboard sales, so here we go:
The Chicago Tribune reports that during October, Delta Airlines is offering passengers pink lemonade for $2, with proceeds going toward breast cancer research. Great call. The problem is, some enterprising onboard staff started offering "Pink Lady Cocktails" (vodka with the lemonade) for only $3 additional. Health professionals in the know alerted Delta that alcohol consumption in fact INCREASES breast cancer risk.
Doh!
Delta tells the Tribune that the clever product bundling will stop. Is that the end of the story? Maybe.
Who out there thinks that Delta has really strict controls on the sale of lemonade and collection of donations? Closer to Fort Knox or the take-a-penny tray at 7-11? In fact, who would wager that if a passenger opted for alcoholic lemonade, the $5 went to exclusively to Delta to cover the vodka (which probably is counted like gold bricks)? That leaves nothing for the charity!
We also know that flight crews HATE collecting this type of money since they have to sign for it and are responsible for any shortfalls. Delicate balancing act for airline exec's to keep in mind as they continue to expand onboard sales - - especially for non-consumables like video player rental...
Showing posts with label Delta Airlines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Delta Airlines. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Rewarding Sites
FMV caught up on some reading over the weekend, so we'll share the wealth with you. First, we present a review of the new reward booking sites at Continental.com and Delta.com.
One interesting note, author Ed Perkins found that he could not access all of Delta's new functionality without logging in as a SkyMiles member:
"On Continental, you can search for seats without logging in as a OnePass member. On Delta, however, you can get yes/no answers to flights on specific dates without logging on, but you must enter your frequent-flier number and PIN to use the new flexible-date system."
Why would this be? Perhaps most likely, Delta is trying to keep their IT costs down. Or could it be that Delta wants to gather information about where their most valuable customers would like to travel for free? FMV would be shocked, but certainly applaud that effort.
Overall, Perkin's has a common gripe about almost all Frequent Flier programs:
"Sadly, however, improved search capability doesn't increase the number of available seats; it merely makes it clearer, more quickly, how scarce those seats really are."
This may be true since airines typically offer somewhere around 8% of seats available for award redemption, but cusomers now have more ways to earn miles as ever. However, improving the online capabilities are still crucial for airlines because the call center times needed to address award travel are staggering. FMV has heard averages of 20 minutes - so there are huge cost savings here by automating this functionality. Even if it means a little more transparancy on the dearth of seats.
Kudos to both carriers (and American Airlines) for investing in functionality to help users find reward flights. Especially if customers find some surprising rewards they may not have originally considered.
One interesting note, author Ed Perkins found that he could not access all of Delta's new functionality without logging in as a SkyMiles member:
"On Continental, you can search for seats without logging in as a OnePass member. On Delta, however, you can get yes/no answers to flights on specific dates without logging on, but you must enter your frequent-flier number and PIN to use the new flexible-date system."
Why would this be? Perhaps most likely, Delta is trying to keep their IT costs down. Or could it be that Delta wants to gather information about where their most valuable customers would like to travel for free? FMV would be shocked, but certainly applaud that effort.
Overall, Perkin's has a common gripe about almost all Frequent Flier programs:
"Sadly, however, improved search capability doesn't increase the number of available seats; it merely makes it clearer, more quickly, how scarce those seats really are."
This may be true since airines typically offer somewhere around 8% of seats available for award redemption, but cusomers now have more ways to earn miles as ever. However, improving the online capabilities are still crucial for airlines because the call center times needed to address award travel are staggering. FMV has heard averages of 20 minutes - so there are huge cost savings here by automating this functionality. Even if it means a little more transparancy on the dearth of seats.
Kudos to both carriers (and American Airlines) for investing in functionality to help users find reward flights. Especially if customers find some surprising rewards they may not have originally considered.
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