Window seat ... at a price

[oz_mark]

Australian travellers could soon pay more for the comfort of sitting in aisle or window seats on low-cost airlines, an industry expert predicts.

Flight Centre marketing general manager Colin Bowman said Australian carriers would soon follow the lead of their American low-cost counterparts and charge less for middle seats.

"We will be going, in the near future, to be deciding which seat we want to buy," Mr Bowman told a Queensland Tourism Industry Council breakfast in Brisbane.

Window seat ... at a price - Travel - BrisbaneTimes - brisbanetimes.com.au

 

[drron]

They will charge less for middle seats?
my guess is that middle seats will be the current price and more desirable seats will be a surcharge.but then again I am a cynic.

 

[Reggie]

They will charge less for middle seats?
my guess is that middle seats will be the current price and more desirable seats will be a surcharge.but then again I am a cynic.

I think most of us would agree the middle seat is the worst choice. I would pay more to avoid it. Would I prefer not to pay - yes.

 

[dajop]

Wonder how this will play out. Whether it will be confined to DJ, JQ & TT, whether it won't happen at all (unlikely) or will QF also enter the fray? I suspect the latter may be problematic given the preference given to higher tiers, but who knows!

 

[Evan]

Our company gets extra discount LH J class fares ex Europe but they are likley to be not the best seats. Some corp deal. So some top tier airlines may already do it even if in a limited way.
Thats what i am told anyway.
E

 

[oz_mark]

I would expect that there are all sorts of surcharges being thought about in boardrooms around the world at the moment. It would be quite interesting to sit in a brainstorming session to see what sort of ideas for fees get thrown up. Of course, many of these would never see the light of day...

 

[Travel Guru]

While I don't have info from the airlines themselves, i'd think this is very likely, though i'd suggest it's something that will for now remain confined to the LCC's (DJ, 1* etc).

They're in a very precarious position at the moment, they can't raise their fare too much but at the same time, world oil prices are making their businesses alot less attractive than they might have been 12-24 months ago.

I think this will only be the start of extra revenue generation by LCC's

I actually can't understand why DJ won't offer a paid upgrade to Y+ at checkin in order to A. raise extra revenue & B. not fly with an empty 3 rows.

I think the next few months will certainly be interested times in the LCC business.

TG
Precarious

 

[comint]

"We will be going, in the near future, to be deciding which seat we want to buy," Mr Bowman told a Queensland Tourism Industry Council breakfast in Brisbane.

If this guy is the head of marketing at Flight Centre... he is extremely out of touch!

Tiger, a pretty major interstate domestic jet airline, ALREADY charges extra if you want to select a seat. Their system is far more effective than just charging for window/aisle/exit/bulk-head, as it also guarantees that passengers on the same itinerary will be seated together.

By default, on a TT service, if you don't pay for "seat selector" and end up on a full flight, you are likely be issued a middle seat at check-in.

This guy really has no idea about the Australian airline industry today!

 

[Travel Guru]

This guy really has no idea about the Australian airline industry today!

I think that's pretty harsh, if you knew how little Tiger and agents have to do with each other, you'd understand.

I wouldn't expect someone at FC to know what TT is doing because quite frankly as an agent be it them or I, we couldn't give a **** how they run their business because FC and most agencies do all they can not to sell them.

I don't think an airline like TT really matters all that much, they're just a tiny blip on a large radar, and its what QF, DJ and JQ do that someone like him is really concerned with.

TG

 

[oz_mark]

If this guy is the head of marketing at Flight Centre... he is extremely out of touch!

Tiger, a pretty major interstate domestic jet airline, ALREADY charges extra if you want to select a seat. Their system is far more effective than just charging for window/aisle/exit/bulk-head, as it also guarantees that passengers on the same itinerary will be seated together.

By default, on a TT service, if you don't pay for "seat selector" and end up on a full flight, you are likely be issued a middle seat at check-in.

This guy really has no idea about the Australian airline industry today!

I would imagine that if TT were to take this a step further to incorporate the idea of charging for windows or aisle seats, then their seat selector would come up with different prices based on which seat you select (window, centre or aisle could all have different pre-select surcharges)

 

[clifford]

By default, on a TT service, if you don't pay for "seat selector" and end up on a full flight, you are likely be issued a middle seat at check-in.

By default, maybe yes. But in my experience, if you check in reasonably early and ask for your preference (window or aisle) you will get it.

And I'm not sure which US LCC(s) that Flight Centre guy is talking about. Not one I've flown. But I'm sure he's only pushing his company's own barrow (Flight Centre, reminds me of a bunch of used car salesmen).

 

[comint]

@ Travel Guru – please don’t take my post as indicative of my feelings about agencies as a whole. Retail sales people (hopefully) know a bit about "what they sell" and probably very little about "what they don’t", and that seems a reasonable proposition to me. In my opinion though, the head of marketing for a company the size of Flight Centre, should not make a gaffe like that. It is even more significant given the audience he was speaking to!
In regards to Tiger really mattering all that much, my opinion is different to yours. I pay more respect to an outfit set up by two of the world’s largest – Singapore Airlines & Ryanair.

@ oz_mark – how do you get someone to pay extra for a centre seat? (When there is an option not to pay, and get it anyway.) Tiger’s system seems intelligent; because it encourages people to actually pay for a centre seat - so they can sit next to someone they are travelling with (whom has selected a window or aisle)? (Of course the challenge is duo-travellers selecting window + aisle, but I don’t think this will stop with an increase in price between window/aisle & centre seat, anything’s possible though. Especially if it's a few extra dollars revenue to them?)

@ clifford - agreed checking in early with TT, is often rewarded with a good seat allocation (even though seat selector has been declined).


The over-riding issue would seem to be that at a Queensland Tourism Industry Council breakfast, they need to hear from people who, not only know what is happening in Australia today, but can also offer new suggestions and ideas for short-long term industry change (and halting the decline). And for that, Queensland should turn to Tiger.


TT currently operates at ROK, MKY & OOL airports in Queensland.

 

[simongr]

Tiger may be a good outfit backed by two very large brands but that doesnt increase the number of seats that are being filled by TT as a proportion of the Oz market.

 

[straitman]

Tiger may be a good outfit backed by two very large brands but that doesnt increase the number of seats that are being filled by TT as a proportion of the Oz market.

.... or the really bad taste they have left in a lot of mouths thus far.

comint,

I suspect you are probably unaware of what some here think of SQ let alone Ryanair :!: They have some seriously good points BUT also some seriously bad ones. :evil:

 

[clifford]

I'm not sure which US LCC(s) that Flight Centre guy is talking about.

Now I know (I think I'll be avoiding Spirit)....
http://i.slimg.com/sc/sl/graphic/u/ul/ultimate-guide-to-airline-fees.pdf

I note that VX or Allegiant Air haven't been included in the chart.