Pay as you go Trans-Tasman or Airline.

[serfty]

And it was promoting flying to Bali with a full service airline.

And so was AirNZ with their "Nothing to Hide" campaign (as in no hidden fees) along with a Safety video performed by naked FA's. A few months later and S2S hit the fan ...

 

[Sdtravel]

Looks like News.com.au has picked up the AUSBT article and run with it.
Should Qantas get on board with this cost-cutting idea?

 

[BAM1748]

Just another person playing devils advocate here, but "if" the fully inclusive product ended up being the same level as the current fares, what would the issue be? It allows people that don't want to pay for food, but want to fly QF the ability to do so. Or it allows those that are flying with hand luggage only a slight saving to what they currently pay.

Along with myself, I know a number of other corporate travellers who travel Air NZ and consistenty book the Seat only product for two reasons;

1. The use their recognition upgrades or bid using the OneUp program, and if it comes off, are only upgrading from the absolute base fare rather than wasting $30-40.
2. They travel with hand luggage only, eat well in the lounge, and do work on board...so see no value in paying for movies, meals, checked luggage.

I view it the same as buying a car. They have the entry level model, but you can get the bigger engine, the leather seats, the sun-roof, etc. There isn't a one sized fits all to much of what we do today!

I sort agree, but as mentioned earlier in the thread, different types of passengers use different types of airlines.

So QF would attract a lower spending level of passenger and over time the service erodes even further to not enough people say ordering meals so we'll can that option as the bean counters tell us it costs too much.

A gradual decline.

I dread anything other than full service these days.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

If you're a "Works" customer, then buy all inclusive. But if you're not, you've got a choice to pay less for what you don't need.

But I wonder if there is some point where economies of scale come in to play? If everybody on the plane gets a meal, QF might be able to buy those for $2 each. If only 10 people are buying a meal, it might cost the airline $15. Those choosing not to have meals aren't saving the $15, they're only saving the original $2. Would you give up a meal for $2?

It's not uncommon for LCCs to charge $3.50 for a cup of coffee. The low cost flyer thinks they are saving $3.50 buy not buying one. But in reality a cup of coffee, if provided to everyone, might be 10c. It's a false economy.

 

[AviationNZ]

But I wonder if there is some point where economies of scale come in to play? If everybody on the plane gets a meal, QF might be able to buy those for $2 each. If only 10 people are buying a meal, it might cost the airline $15. Those choosing not to have meals aren't saving the $15, they're only saving the original $2. Would you give up a meal for $2?

It's not uncommon for LCCs to charge $3.50 for a cup of coffee. The low cost flyer thinks they are saving $3.50 buy not buying one. But in reality a cup of coffee, if provided to everyone, might be 10c. It's a false economy.

Yeap, I do agree with you here. And believe me, the simple option is to have all inclusive. My point is that I see a future of full customisation, not just in airlines, but more broadly in many industries. As such, my personal preference is to jump on board so now have no concerns with booking Air NZ or any others for that matter. Different strokes for different folks however.

 

[opusman]

My point is that I see a future of full customisation, not just in airlines, but more broadly in many industries

Kind of like Foxtel's different packages, which always manage to exclude the one additional channel you want, forcing you to pay for a whole lot of channels you never watch? Not a great future

 

[Le Clair]

yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, NO! Never!

 

[Le Clair]

Looks like News.com.au has picked up the AUSBT article and run with it.
Should Qantas get on board with this cost-cutting idea?

You should read the comments in the News.com.au article. One Steve Patterson proposes "renationalising Qantas and sacking management". Imagine, a government owned airline with no management. Robert Mugabe had one of those, it was called Air Zimbabwe

 

[kamchatsky]

Sooner or later I can see Qantas would start charging extra for the privilege of using the Business Class toilet on B737 .....

 

[Strategic Aviation]

And so was AirNZ with their "Nothing to Hide" campaign (as in no hidden fees) along with a Safety video performed by naked FA's. A few months later and S2S hit the fan ...

I recall VA introducing Saver Lite (no checked bag) in 2013 and spruiking choice and savings for customers. Then removing domestic Saver Lite fares in 2015 and trumpeting "free" checked baggage.

 

[RichardMEL]

They won't. Crew are based in PER, and to top that off there are no east coast flights.

Right now absolutely.

My point was more that :-

a) the WA strategy could well be seen as a test case for rolling out QFLite flying on leisure routes (yes I know there's JQ, but still)
b) NZ, bar peak time utilisation flying of widebodies are all single class 320 trans tasman... so there's a model to copy
c) QF, if they go down this bundling route, is following NZ

combined... one could see "QF" 320's plying the skies. Again, I know there's already JQ, but what if QF wants to SELL thm as QF .....

that's all. Likely won't happen, but I could see this as a model going forward.

 

[AviationNZ]

Kind of like Foxtel's different packages, which always manage to exclude the one additional channel you want, forcing you to pay for a whole lot of channels you never watch? Not a great future

As opposed to everyone paying $100 for the whole package, giving me channels I'll never watch in a million years yet have to pay for. No thanks, much prefer the options I have available to me now!!

 

[dajop]

Probably one compelling reason for airlines to do this is the rise of flight search engines, like kayak, skyscanner etc, so the airline will appear in the lower cost end of the search range, where it has low fares available. So you see Air NZ at $150 and Qantas at $190, those sites will drive traffic to NZ, even though ultimately it may end up costing the customer more.

Kayak and skyscanner etc really need to up their game on customisation, I know kayak.co.uk at least allow you to add the number of bags in after the initial search - that is useful and reasonably accurate most of the time - but many other sites (including kayak.com.au) do not.

 

[dk4]

IMO Qantas shouldn't be competing on price, it has Jetstar to do that. Qantas should be competing on premium service levels (well at least "on paper" it should). Once the market determines what it wants, QF and JQ frequencies should be adjusted on routes to acknowledge demand.

All things equal IMO; without inclusive pricing (points, food, bags...) Jetstar will win over Qantas - because an A320 has a wider cabin than a B737, and therefore Jetstar offers a more comfortable seating experience (shoulder to shoulder) in economy than Qantas.

 

[Strategic Aviation]

Qantas says it has no plans to charge for meals, drinks and baggage - Australian Business Traveller

 

[Daver6]

Qantas says it has no plans to charge for meals, drinks and baggage - Australian Business Traveller

Yeah right.

“We often ask questions to get a sense of what the market thinks but that doesn’t mean we intend to do something,” a spokesman for the airline said. “Specifically on this question, we have no intention on unbundling our fares."

So they just like to waste their money on surveys when they have zero intention? If that's the case, someone's head should roll from an investor perspective.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So they just like to waste their money on surveys when they have zero intention? If that's the case, someone's head should roll from an investor perspective.

And for wasting people's time.

Interesting that I'm not sure this campaign even hits the mark for generating sales. The QF club dress code debate gained a while lot of free publicity for the 'exclusiveness' of the clubs (and presumably generating some sales). This campaign? Only seems negative.

 

[serfty]

Maybe the first results are in ...

 

[garyjohn951]

Just back from Newcastle on my 1st Jetstar for a number of years, had luggage etc so took their bundle excluded food. Cost 392.00 return.
QF don't do the route. Normally I have the time and go to Sydney and enjoy a leisurely train trip with the lovely scenery. The point is Mel-Syd would have only been 350.00 return and as Plat much more luggage than the 20kg limit on JQ. So for the traveller with baggage isn't really better off on an LCC.

 

[blaz]

There is nothing wrong with a "stripped" fare....one that is genuinely discounted for those of us that just require a seat on a flight. But this is not how it always works. You could still end up paying more for your "seat" than the person next to you who bought the works...it all depends on when you bought the ticket.