British Airways Joins the Budget Airlines in Locking Seats. Should It Stop There?
There are two kinds of passengers on airplanes: the people who recline their seats and those sitting behind them. As a tall person, my legroom vanishes when the passenger in front of me reclines. I usually kick the seat until it rocks and hopefully they get the message that they’ve just eliminated about 67% of my personal space. If my kids are with me, I’ll pay them to jump around, scream, and throw food so the person can’t get a decent nap and gives up.
Just kidding. I’m not a jerk so I don’t do those things. But it is a personal peeve of mine when people don’t think about others around them. I understand the need to get some relaxation and rest on a long and uncomfortable flight, but take a look behind you and even ask if it’s okay to recline first. If someone asks me, I’ll tell them a partial recline is just fine, but the full recline puts them directly in my lap.
Public domain from Pixabay
British Airways Locks Its Seats
Needless to say, I am a big fan of British Airways’ recent announcement that they’ll be locking seats in place on some of their airplanes. They’ll fix the seat position in “mid recline”, which is considered a comfortable spot that does not take up much additional space.
Legroom on an airplane. Source: Creative Commons via Flickr by Caribb.
In fact, a big motivation for this change is to enable the airline to pack in more seats. If your business is flying tin cans through the air and trying to earn as much per flight as possible, the game is to pack in as many fare-paying passengers as you can without making them angry.
Recliners may be upset they can’t recline, but if the seats are fixed, they’ll ignore the issue soon enough. Meanwhile, people like me are happy. And the airline might squeeze the galley by a few inches (because no one likes their food anyway) and jam in another row of seats – cha-ching!
British Airways is a trendsetter and I hope this catches on with its competitors. Of course, locked seats are not a BA invention. The idea comes from budget carriers, who have been doing this for years to boost the number of sardines they can pack in their flying tin cans.
Sardines. Image from New York Daily News.
What Other Good Ideas do Budget Airlines Have?
But why stop there, British Airways? There are some amazing ideas being piloted and proven by budget carriers. While you are adopting one of their innovations, why not consider their other bright ideas as well?
Let’s look at Frontier Airlines (“Low Fares Done Right”), which operates flights to and from many North American cities. Since I took one of their flights a few months ago, I seem to be on the e-mail list.
This week, I got an e-mail advertising $24 flights. Intrigued, I clicked the link and input my closest airport (which actually is not that close to me, but it’s the only place nearby that Frontier serves). From there, there was one $24 flight: to Las Vegas.
Vegas? Call the babysitter and pack our bags, honey! Wait, was this too good to be true?
I clicked on the button to begin the booking process, just to see if the $24 was for real. No surprise: It wasn’t. There’s always a catch.
Source: abcnews.com
And with Frontier Airlines, there must be at least six catches. British Airways and other big carriers, are you listening? I’m about to share with you the industry’s best innovations. This intelligence was not easy to obtain.
Budget Airline Innovations
Innovation # 1: The $24 price was only available for the next two months. That’s reasonable and I had expected it. This is the off-season.
Innovation # 2: The fine print says this fare is available only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Noted.
Innovation # 3: To get the deal, you have to join Frontier Airlines’ deals club. It’s not a free frequent flier program; it’s a deals club. Cost: $49.99/year. I’d skip that unless I flew this airline frequently and knew I could spread out that cost over more flights.
For just this one flight, without paying the club membership, the single ticket price just increased from the unobtainable $24 to $34. $34 now.
Innovation # 4: And that’s the one-way price. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but if you want to get home, you have to book another flight and pay for that one also. Cost: another $48.
Hey, British Airways, these people are brilliant. Pay close attention. They told me it was $24 and they’ve already got me on the hook for $82. But it’s Vegas, baby! Do you think they take extra advantage of people who are eager to go lose their money gambling?
So, $82. But that’s not the full story. Once you input your information and book the ticket, you have an opportunity to select your seats on the plane. (And I must include the disclaimer that I did not proceed with the Vegas booking -- I don’t really want to go there anyway). The rest of this intelligence is based upon the last Frontier flight I took, a couple of months ago, to another city in the western United States, and I assume the cost structure is similar now.
Innovation # 5: It costs another $6-$25 to select your seat, depending on when and where you book it. The last time I flew Frontier, there were four of us flying and the cheap seats were gone. Want to take your chances? Don’t pick any seats and try your luck at the airport. Got kids and a significant other? You might want to sit together. If so, you’d better book the seats.
It’s highway robbery; I think we ended up paying $8 per seat last time to select the seats. $8 x 4 people for that flight. And that’s one way. You need to select your seats for the return trip also, so double that price.
Innovation # 6: It costs money to bring bags. Yes, that’s not unusual, even for the larger airlines. They charge a fee for checked luggage these days. So if you’re going for a short weekend trip, you pack light and take only a carry-on bag, right?
Wrong! Frontier charges you for carry-ons also! The current price is $45-60 for carry-on bags, the lower price being available if you pay the charge from home in advance, but you pay more at the airport. For checked luggage, it’s $30-60. So if you think you’re saving money by packing light and bringing a carry-on, think again. Checked luggage can be more expensive.
Screenshots from flyfrontier.com
So let’s go with $82 for the round-trip ticket to Las Vegas, plus $12 for selecting your seats on both flights, plus $30 for a carry-on bag. And that’s if you plan ahead and pay from home in advance.
Final price tag and it may not include taxes: $124. What happened to $24? It increased by $100!!!
Lessons Learned
The first time I tried to book a flight on Frontier, I was so upset at all the fees that I gave up and closed the browser window. They almost screened me out. Later, Frontier had the only appropriate departure time for my trip, so I had to go back and choose it. But not only did they nickel and dime me on the fees at every step.
They also ran a very lean operation on the flight itself. As a budget carrier, forget any meals or snacks. I’m sure you’ve seen people paying for alcohol on planes before? On budget carriers, you also to pay for orange juice or cola also (and those are nearly the only choices). They seemed flustered when I asked for water and someone had to walk to the front of the plane to find me some.
Pay attention, British Airways and other big carriers. These budget guys and gals have it all figured out. The ones in other parts of the world (notably in Europe with its long experience with budget flights) are even more advanced than good ol’ Frontier. If you really want to make money transporting people, you pack them into your tin can, you make a stop at every town resembling an airport along the way, and you charge them for everything. More importantly, you tire them out with the process so the only people on your planes are very accepting and compliant folks. You’ve already assured that the angry and disagreeable people are on your competitors’ flights.
Consider charging your passengers to use the restroom also. Gotta go? Get out your platinum card. Too bad someone locked the seats; people would have paid to recline also.
Image source: thinkblue.com
Source:
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2018/01/09/british-airways-no-seat-recline/
Top image: Public domain from Pixabay.
I loved Budget Airlines as it is cheap and do not need a lot of money. But there are many weakness which may causes us loss. So I do not like it now.
I dont think so.
This was so funny. I laughed all through reading, especially the frontier $24 offer. I could guess it will have hidden charges, but did not figure it would be up to $100.
They would have made it easy by given the full fare charge and save one the trouble of going through every of those steps. And be left with the choice if you want it or not.
Anyway, i can try to understand as they are applying market strategy to get you hooked.
Interesting post to read.
Spirit Airlines is another low-fare rip-off. All that's missing is the credit card reader on the outside of the bathroom door.
Hahahaha
Thats indeed awesome.
Lets upvote men, steem for life...
Yes, it would have been easier just to provide the actual cost. Since you're an expert in aviation, I take your opinion seriously! Thanks for the comment.
Thank you. The economy suituation also contributes to the hidden charges. Airlines are having a difficult time making good profit. But that is no justification, as it is not pleasant to a customer to go through all that.
I'm willing to wager that if there was an airline that had "normal" seats with a lot of space, a "good" in flight meal, with friendly staff, and as little hidden nickel and dime charges as possible, it could do really well for itself by word of mouth alone, even if the advertised price as much as double. (What do I know though, it didn't work particularly well for JC Penneys)
People shit all over airlines, all the time. I've only flown a handful of times, but it was the worst transit experiences of my life, I enjoyed the greyhound bus more, and the greyhound was a third the price.
Hahahhahahhah, funny but actually there was no other option, that was why you went back
I've been such position before in which the options you have is yes or yes
The most hilarious part was the carry-on bag charge. I've never flown cheap flights such as Frontier or RyanAir, and after reading such lovely stories, I refuse to waste my money and efforts on these solutions.
Ryanair are an Irish budget airline and to be fair to them they run a very good service. The price is real without catches which suits people travelling simply but anything else is extra. I have often traveled into Europe with them for less than €20 just taking hand luggage and never had an issue.
On the other issue just having a bit of consideration for other people in general will take you a long way in life. Just try not to be a dickhead in general and people will respond in kind.
Ryanair is a very good one. Good custormer service and their prices are very good without hidden charges. But aviation is doing better in europe and asia than most part of the world presently.
Ryanair does a decent job for the price. They were one of the first true budget carriers and know their business. Yes, treating people well goes a long way.
I fly with them regularly myself and have no complaints, the fare gets your backside in a seat...that's it. Everything else is extra, for short flights it's a better system really, with the other airlines you pay whether you use the extras or not.
They are also very reliable, their whole business model is based on getting as many people on the move as possible with low per passenger profit margins. They are the fifth largest airline in the world by passenger numbers, so I guess that works. If any airline will get you on the ground on time it's Ryanair. I've been standing at the gate in Amsterdam, boarding pass scanned, 25 mins before departure time...waiting on the plane to arrive...and taken off on time.
Lots of people like to give out about them but personally i have flown with them 30ish times and never had one problem. On time and delivered on their service. It was great when they came first as it created a lot of competition in a market that needed it.
Ryan air is awful they don’t bother wifh your hand luggage till 5 mins before getting on the plane so they can try to put it on hold and charge £50 for it and tell you you don’t have time to move things round and repack it cause the planes leaving. The amount of arguments I’ve had with Ryan air about hand luggage but have always won.... so far. Last time it was cause the over head was full despite me always being 3 hours early for flying (fomo) and they wanted to put it on the hold. I carry my photography equipment which can no way go on hold had to pretend to cry on them and they sorted oht a seat for my luggage but it’s always always a hassle with Ryan air.
@donkeypong - Lol. The classic 'Bait and switch' strategy. The 24$ lure used to fish for more than $150 ultimately out of your pocket. Nice.
Reminds me of a classic sales story of the guy selling reading glasses (in those good old days when you had to go in person to buy them). When a customer walks in, points and says how much are those - the salesman says $50, looks at the face of the customer to see if he has flinched at the price and if not, calmly adds "for the frame". Then the customer asks "how much for the lens" and the salesman goes "$25" and again takes a look, pauses and says "For one glass" etc. etc. and so on.
I totally agree with the seat recline restriction decision, just like you but I would rather not have the 'bait and switch' getting used by all the reputed carriers as well.
Thanks for this eye-opening article. Upvoted
Regards,
@vm2904
Haha this is so true! we live in England and this is pretty much the same with most airlines here now. In fact sometimes it is cheaper to fly with the better airlines, never mind less hassle! We are off to Cyprus in April and I am dreading the flight, not for the flying, but for all the drama that goes with it. Last year, we booked a VIP option, which was amazing! We didn't have to que for 3 hours, we were taken to a private room where all refreshments were provided FOC and then once everyone else had been packed into the aeroplane, we were fetched from our comfortable room and taken straight through security with no issues at all and settled on the plane, 5 minutes before take off! I think this privilege cost us about £100 for 2 adults and a child, well worth it IMO!
There's something to be said for avoiding the hassle even if it costs more.
Very funny post but not funny when one is having to deal with all this nickle and dime bull they pull. One feels like what next? Will they start charging me for the air I breathe while on the flight? All the while everybody is mad at having to deal with the situation. Lovely customer experience! Lol.
While this is funny and hilarious, this reflects the nature of the business. Even in every business, to maximize profit, they will always find a way to attract customers. When you thought you can save by choosing cheaper alternatives, you want to consider your decision. Hidden charges are in every corner, waiting to ambush you until you will feel that you don't have a choice except to pay.
Well isn't this a new way of trying to earn too much for the same service the British airline offer?
At least they tell you what it costs up front. But yes, the service probably isn't much better.
Well it's kind of a calculated and sold so easily and people tend to always buy it.