Commercially Important Passenger

[Paraport]

Does anyone know what benefits accrue to a CIP (Commercially Important Passenger) ?

 

[oz_mark]

Does anyone know what benefits accrue to a CIP (Commercially Important Passenger) ?

None really. See http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/commercially-important-passengers-8208.htm and http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/cip-what-does-it-mean-6675.html. Might be slightly better looked after if something goes wrong somewhere (e.g. less likely to be denied boarding in an overbooked situation), but don't expect much.

 

[Paraport]

Thank you 'oz mark'. I am learning to use the forum and will try not to waste people's time!

 

[oz_mark]

Thank you 'oz mark'. I am learning to use the forum and will try not to waste people's time!

No problem, I had an advantage in knowing those other threads existed. Unfortunately the search function is not the best so I find it more useful to point people at the other threads than say 'search'

 

[JohnK]

Unfortunately the search function is not the best so I find it more useful to point people at the other threads than say 'search'

You could have said this has been discussed before and why didn't you search before posting. Oops, wrong forum!

 

[mollyanna]

does anyone know what a Commercially Important Passenger is, please? its for my coursework.

 

[JohnK]

Try this thread and look for the post by Lindsay Wilson.

Otherwise Google may be able to provide some additional answers....

 

[samh004]

does anyone know what a Commercially Important Passenger is, please? its for my coursework.

Welcome to AFF.

A CIP is exactly as you’d expect it to be, someone that is commercially important to an airline, in that they probably spend a lot of money with them.

Thus, having CIP next to your name means staff should be more likely to accommodate any requests you may have, or help get you to your destination if something should go wrong.

Basically same as a VIP, but from a commercial standpoint.

Apparently it’s not all that common anymore though.

 

[NM]

Commercially Important Passenger - a passenger who stars in an airline advertisement

 

[Mal]

does anyone know what a Commercially Important Passenger is, please? its for my coursework.

Welcome to AFF.

Which coursework asks you this question? It doesn't really strike me as something in the normal courses offered in Australia etc - even for tourism/travel agency related courses.

If you're after the more 'global' term - then "Commercially Important Passenger" is of course the correct answer. However, various airlines interpret this differently. The definition "that the passenger is to be looked after well" is probably the best definition I can give.

 

[Mal]

Commercially Important Passenger - a passenger who stars in an airline advertisement

Groan - as I think of the Turkish Airlines advert that I've seen too many times to want to recall !

 

[Mwenenzi]

A CIP is exactly as you’d expect it to be, someone that is commercially important to an airline, in that they probably spend a lot of money with them.

The more usual interpretation of CIP is they have the infuence to have a large amounts of money spent at the airline. The person himself/herself does not need to spend a lot on money for tickets in there name.

 

[oz_mark]

The more usual interpretation of CIP is they have the infuence to have a large amounts of money spent at the airline. The person himself/herself does not need to spend a lot on money for tickets in there name.

pfft. I never had any influence when I had CIP on my boarding passes. Of course, the company at the time did have a significant spend with QF.

 

[djfuzz]

The more usual interpretation of CIP is they have the infuence to have a large amounts of money spent at the airline. The person himself/herself does not need to spend a lot on money for tickets in there name.

That seems to be more along the lines of a Chairman's Lounge member, right?

I believe QF's idea of a CIP (to the extent it still exists) is someone whose travel is paid for/arranged by a corporate/government client which has a particularly large annual spend with them, as oz_mark suggested. For example, I believe employees of certain federal government departments and large companies had these printed on their BPs for a time (though it seems not to be around as much any more). I believe it was supposed to ensure some degree of preferential treatment, but I'm not sure it meant much in practice (certainly not the few occasions I had it).

On the other hand, the CIP acronym appears to be used quite a bit in Asia for prominent business people, who by virtue of their CIP status get special privileges, such as fast track immigration / security, special lounges or even access to the airside of terminals to meet deplaning passengers.

[Edit] Some reports of better treatment regarding seats / upgrades here:

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/commercially-important-passengers-8208.html

 

[samh004]

Whether you’d call it personal influence or spend, it’s about a large amount of money that means they’ll go the extra mile for you to get you to your destination.

Spend would be CL/Concierge Key though.

 

[drewbles]

I had CIP on a boarding pass once when my TA put a note in the reservation saying I was CEO of a big company and treat with "TLC".

Apparently someone/something noticed it and put CIP on it in the system. Didn't get me anything except some strange looks from me when I got it wondering what the hell it meant.

 

[Bang4Buck]

That seems to be more along the lines of a Chairman's Lounge member, right?

On the other hand, the CIP acronym appears to be used quite a bit in Asia for prominent business people, who by virtue of their CIP status get special privileges, such as fast track immigration / security, special lounges or even access to the airside of terminals to meet deplaning passengers.

True, CIP status is much more respected in Asia, particularly if its from SQ, CX, JL or NH. However, those likely to receive the above benfits are CL equivalent in Asia, not CIP.

Of course, most F/ J pax get fast track immigration these days. If you're talking about escorted immigration clearance, then its normally confined to CL equivalent, barring "big" CIPs. The more people you have escorting you, the more important to the airline you're perceived.

CIPs are not as a matter of policy admitted to the VIP lounges. Nor are CLs, unless again they are the more prominent type. Note, these pax do not request this service, they are simply escorted to the most appropriate lounge, given many factors such as load, gate location and previously noted preferences.