Posts Tagged airlines
More unbundling unbundling
Posted by murray in Latest News on July 7th, 2010
We are not really unbundling airfares at all, are we? Let’s face it, what it boils down to, is increasingly frenetic attempts to milk more money from long suffering cattle class passengers. No, really (say airlines) we are giving people the choice.
Are they? I want to travel; from A to B – but in first class. So, how much has, say, my pushing £10,000 fare across the pond been “unbundled”? I don’t have any bags, so the 3 pc allowance can be discounted – No, it can’t, say the airlines. I don’t want any food, so that can go as well. Erm… No, again, says the airline. I don’t drink… Nope. No allowance for that. Okay – Now, Here’s a real killer – I don’t need the lounges or the shower on arrival or the extra special check-in or the…. No, no, no say the airline. Actually, the same applies in business class and, where appropriate, in Premium Economy.
So, tell me, Why have others got the “choice” whereas I am stuck with having to pay for all this stuff I don’t want or need – Why can’t I get a cheaper first or business class fare? Well, you see, (says Mr Airline) we are basically making you pay something towards that lot down the back so we have to make it worth your while. And as you have clearly more money than sense, Mr My-Company-is-Paying-The Bill, what we are offering does not really cost all that much anyway, as we charge you a going rate….
My point is this. If unbundling is really a concept airlines wish to pursue, then all passengers should have the “right” to have an unbundled fare. Just unbundling the Y cabin, really supports the premise that it is all about trying to claw back some of the money lost, in a despotic attempt to offer fares that are hoplessly out of kilter with legacy airlines air travel costs, rather than deal with the real cost problems inherent in their arcane structures.
There are other issues as well. Unbundling works for low cost carriers because they operate short haul point to point stuff, aimed mainly at leisure travellers and the real budget end of the air travel spectrum. When we move into the medium and long haul arenas, it’s another ball game. Especially when we stray beyond simple there-and-back stuff.
One of the big features of present medium and long haul arrangements is that the rules (perhaps I should say “conventions”) are pretty much universal. So, I can go from Zurich to Riyadh to Dubai to Karachi and back to Zurich in the knowledge that, having bought my ticket and established at my starting point what I am taking with me and what I get is all included, I can be sure that the same conventions will apply throughout my trip. If things get unbundled without taking present conventions in mind, things get a bit tricky. So leg 1: Luggage Okay, but have to pay for food. Leg 2: Food included but have to pay for baggage; Leg 3: No luggage or food included… and so on. We also find another issue: What does my ticket include? Would the ticket selling airline have to tell me what is and what is not included – and would I be able to take it all in without a) having a laughing fit and start shouting “You can’t be serious” down the line – or b) simply give them the address of a good pshyco-analyst? Or do we find ourselves in the same hoplessley banal situation similar to the UK’s railways, whereby if I walk into my local railway station and ask for a ticket from Gerrards Cross to Leeds, I will be told that I can buy a ticket to Marylebone and then would have to buy another ticket at Euston – so, in airline terms, the carrier from Zurich would say “I can sell you a ticket to Riyadh and then you will have to buy another one there”.
It would not take long for anyone to work out what a devastating affect this would have on the practicality of global air travel, not to mention the cost of buying one way, point to point fares.
… just thought I would throw this in!
What is really useful …. to a travel agent…!
Posted by murray in Latest News on July 6th, 2010
So, we are, what? 10 years in? 20 years in? to the internet, with all it’s developments. Every five minutes, we are told about this or that “new” internet “tool” and how each and everyone of them is going to “revolutionise” travel. Well, do they? What has really proved useful to the average agent-in-the-street? I can’t speak for everyone, of course, but I will tell you what I find invaluable on a day to day basis.
Needless to say, I cannot live without my GDS. I am not going to debate the pros and cons of each, but you need one. Further, you need to be able to work it and by that, I mean by using the “native” or as some would say “cryptic” entries. Point and click is a waste of time. It has been tried but never really caught on and as long as you know your entries, working using the native language is very much faster.
What else? Google Earth is essential. Now, when I am asked for a hotel, no matter where it is in the world, I can ask the client where the meeting is and then say “Yes, I have a hotel booked. You come out the hotel, turn left and it’s about 300 yards down on the left hand side” – And I can do that for any address, anywhere in the world.
Expedia is next. “Expedia is a booking system” I hear you cry. Well, it is – but have you ever looked at a fare on your GDS and thought “That doesn’t look right” or “I wonder if I have missed a very much cheaper way of doing this itinerary”. Now, as we all know, you either have contracts for CAT45 etc fares, or you don’t. So, if in doubt, I will run the itinerary through Expedia. You have to be a bit careful with connections and times but it means that you can be sure your fare is right and that you have not missed something. Further, it allows you to weigh up options – an Expedia fare may be cheaper, but is it worthwhile making two changes (say) instead of one, to save maybe £30 on a £800 fare.
Tripadvisor has its uses. We all tend to book the big groups, mainly because we know, then, that we will get a standard. If we book Leading Hotels of the World, it will be good. Hilton, NH, Marriott or Ramada are safe for middle management, Intercontinental for the boss and Mercure, Novotel or Ibis for the clients lesser (but nonetheless important), troops. Trouble is, the group hotels, the “safe bets” can be full and then we may be working in the unknown – and this is where Tripadvisor comes in.
Wegolo is an invaluable asset to know, as well. This is almost like having a GDS for the low fare carriers – and it’s global, too. Odd low cost types pop up on the GDS system but this can be more of an irritation than anything else – How many of us have managed to do a USA connection from, say British Airways to JetBlue! Worse, airlines such as Aer Lingus who try to get the best of both worlds and wind up falling in between the two. Airlines should be either a) On or b)Off GDS systems. Wegolo lets you check (and book) on low cost carriers that may exists practically anywhere in the world – without having to, effectively, remember all sorts of airline names – and not to mention, remember their routes as well.
I should also mention seatguru. I don’t use seatguru that often but GDS seat maps are, though accurate, not as clear as seatguru can be. Especially when one has a very particular client. Also useful for seat pitches and the like.
Apart from the obvious email, the most useful mobile communication tool is the humble SMS text message. Iphone apps have their uses, but no internet access, no app. The SMS text message gets through, no matter what. It lurks in the ether and when it sees a chance – zip! – it’s there. This I know from my experience trying to communciate with my brother who was caught up in 9/11. Mobile phone calls were neigh on impossible – but a text message got through, each and every time. If there is a disaster, communication lines get clogged – fast. Whereas the iphone-dependent person cannot get through, the SMS person can get through to their agent. A big plus, when the chips are down. (And so is having an agent). The same applied, incidently, during the more recent volcanic ash saga.
Do you know any other really useful tools?
The Hidden Mysteries…
Posted by murray in Latest News on April 17th, 2010
We have not grasped this at all. Nothing is moving which operates over the height of, say, a double decker bus. If, that is, you can get on one. It is not a question of a later flight, or even tomorrow or even the day after tomorrow. Europe is grounded – and we are all going to stay grounded for a while yet. I have never come across this – even after the calamity of New York, there was something that could be done, we knew, at least, that in a few days time something could be done. Now, we don’t.
There is a great mass of humantity which stretches across the continent of Europe, indeed, of our globe who all wish to be somewhere else and that somewhere else, is home. We cannot, at this stage, even think about starting a new venture.
So what will we discover? Air travel, at best, for anyone who travels cattle class, is a miserable experience. Even before you start, you are faced with long lists of what you cannot do, followed by long queues, followed by more people telling what you cannot do, followed by being confined to your seat, followed by more queues, followed by people assuming that you are hard, psychotic terrorist until you can prove otherwise, followed by…… To get home, you have to do it all again. America is wondering why their tourism is down, airlines wonder the same.
I should add that it is different for the budget airlines – they do exactly what they say on the tin, and no more – we have come to accept that – so for them the issue is not as dire.
Coupled with this, air travel has now demonstrated it’s vulnerabilities. Air travel was always vulnerable to extremes of weather; now it also is vulnerable through strike action, it is vulnerable through acts of terror – now it has shown that it is vulnerable through it’s own technology. Aircraft engines are designed to fly at x thousand feet or they use too much petrol. They are not designed to cope with ash in the high atmosphere – although the famous case of the Jumbo came through, having gone right into an ash cloud – as technology advances, it becomes more sensitive – more fickle, even – we do not realise this until an event such as this occurs – and this is a great failing of technology – it may be clever, but it is not robust. If British Airways had kept a few Vickers Viscounts knocking about the place, many may be able to get home. Think of cars, a battery failure on a modern car means you are stuck – in the old days, you just got out the starting handle.
The increasingly vulnerable nature of air travel coupled with the unpleasant general experience is a poisonous brew. The vulnerabilities may, in some measure, be addressed. The experience – the “holistic travel experience” can be easily dealt with. Airlines, however, choose not to. Indeed, with things like unbundling of fares, they are intent on making that experience even worse.
Then there is the matter of choice. People can choose which airline to fly on and all airlines compete. What may have been missed, is that people may choose simply not to travel, unless absolutely necessary. Worse, it may be the premium traffic that decides not to travel. Not because of cost (though that is an important aspect) simply because it is all simply too much like hard work. What is dangerous for airlines, is that firms may discover that they can manage very well without having people flitting about the place. After all, global business managed to get on before the advent of mass air travel. Firms may decide that a person based at an outpost, with greater executive powers, is a better way of doing things than someone having to go there all the time. An example of this (on a different level, of course!) was British “Gunboat Diplomacy” where decisions were made and actions taken by young naval officers without the benefit of even being able to telephone a higher authority. It actually worked rather well (at the time).
Then we will have the knock on – and for the airline business, this just adds to the cost. Premium traffic can just decide not to travel. Premium traffic has the financial ability to hole up in a nice, comfortable hotel and wait until it is all over, premium traffic has satphones, communications technology, a yacht that it may be able to call on – even a mate with a light aircraft. What airlines have to deal with, when the skies re-open, is us normal people. People on cheap tickets, away with the family, on charter flights, who now have maxed out credit cards, no cash and are sleeping at terminals. Premium traffic does not want to travel in amongst all this – so they wait. Revenue not only falls, but airlines then have to spend money flying with aircraft full of people whom they may even have to pay, rather, compensate, for being on board.
This is not the end, not even the begining of the end. In realising how vulnerable air travel is and by realising how miserable air travel is for many people – and above all, by doing something about those aspects – it may just be the end of the beginning.
Where “Unbundling” Unbundles…
Posted by murray in Latest News on April 9th, 2010
This is the latest thing – “unbundling” – take out all the things you may not want on your flight and then charge for things that are optional. This keeps the fares low – Right?
Not exactly. Fares are regulated by a very pure form of supply and demand. They always have been. As any flight fills up, so the price rises. At which stage, therefore, does it become unreasonable to charge for things that are “extras”?
I have just checked RyanAir for a flight from Luton to Lanzarotte – out on the 11th April back on 15th. At the time of writing I would be charged £59.99 (really, £60) to get there and an eye-watering £239.99 (£240) to get home – total £262.33. I happened to pick RyanAir, but I could have used any airline that is getting their snouts into the unbundling trough. Now, if the “unbundling” theory holds true, really all seats should be, say, £5 and then one can add in all the extras, including the charge if you need air at 32,000 feet – with justification. The thing is, if I have to pay £239.99 rather than £59.99, why should I have to pay all the “extras” on top, still?
This begs the other question – What should the “Man on the Clapham Omnibus” reasonably expect a fare to cover? An aeroplane that goes to the appointed destination, a qualified crew – yes, obviously. Now, with a holiday flight (as Lanzarotte is) why should I not reasonably expect the fare to cover my holiday bag – and given that it is pushing 3 hours or so, a cup if tea, say, a wee even a sandwich (God forbid). Further, and no-one in the airline business seems to want to ask this, would passengers not prefer to pay an extra few quid on their fare in order to have the items mentioned, included? Who says: “Fares must be cheaper than chips”? Answer: No-one. Given that I am paying £239.99 rather than £59.99, I think that I can reasonably expect a few things – Even a “Good morning” and a smile would be a start!
Well, That Just About Sums it Up For Travel…
Posted by murray in Latest News on June 5th, 2009
Now everyone really has lost the plot. Credit card companies have decided that the best way to get their money back, after a tour company collapses, is by simply re-charging whoever sold the holiday in the first place. In other words, you buy a holiday from Expedia or even Joe Blogs Travel and the tour company goes up the Swanny, the punter gets his money back from the card company who in turn recharges the travel agent. As that Meerkat would say, “Simple, Huh?”
Not quite. Agents are not mega-rich people who have fistfulls of cash floating about the place. Secondly, in case anyone hadn’t noticed, they are agents. That is, they flog the holiday and pick up (hopefully) a (small) commission as a result. Recharge any agent for a couple of £5,000 holidays and you will simply bankrupt every agent in existence. Overnight.
Coupled with this assault on an already fragile sector of the industry, IATA is thinking about taking money every two weeks rather then monthly. The agent will barely get enough time to get the money off the client before airlines, operators, Uncle Tom Cobbly and all are jumping up and down like startled rabbits demanding the agent pays over everything they have including two pints of blood and a small mortgage “just in case”.
Trust has gone with the agency system (I hate the term “model”, let’s deal with the real thing). In any shape or form, online or offline.
Decisions need to be made and the most fundamental one is if airlines and operators wish to distribute through any – and I mean any – kind of agency type arrangement. It matters not if they are on or offline.
What benefits do travel agents, of any ilk offer? Without them, you have to do it yourself. Large operators have the ability to do this and so too would major airlines – at least those airlines that see the UK as a main market. Airlines do have an issue. They do not want to pay for distribution, but at the same time do not want to have to incur the cost of doing it themselves. Legacy airlines view the Easyjets of this world with envy. Easyjet manages to sell their product almost exclusively online; but then again you can do that with a simple and restricted product range that does not need to interact with anything or anyone else. This is not the case with legacy airlines – or indeed, any airline which has a global network – or anything resembling a network, for that matter. As soon as you need to interact, there must be a mechanism to do this and the GDS booking method does this very well. Over time, airlines have, however, lost the ability to network well. They have drawn in their horns and really only want to sell their own product; or at best, their alliances’ product. Fine, perhaps, if you are in the Star Alliance or Skyteam – but Oneworld? BA has no-one left to interact with on anything remotely resembling a “world class” alliance.
The trouble is, when airlines are required to interact, unless an agent can accomplish some tidy footwork, these are invariably for big ticket journeys – valuable top level income which airlines really do need at this time. So, legacy airlines do not want to do the fiddly stuff, they do not want to pay agents to do it and they want the money for it yesterday – but they desperately need this top level income. They want their cake and they want to eat it.
Large tour operators have a love/ hate relationship with agents. Some, such as Thomson, have their own de facto chain of shops and have the resources to “train” staff (ie teach them how to flog their product over anyone else’s). But even Thomson are not TESCO – they do not have a shop every so many miles, so they need to cover the gaps – and the agent does this job for them. Like airlines, however, they do not want to pay for this distribution. Smaller operators are the one group who do use agents and do pay them for referring business; the trouble is, all the small operators together, do not provide a wide enough offering to pay for and maintain a high street presence. The small operator can go online, yet here he faces the issue of reach and exposure; if one is a small operator offering mainstream resorts, then the cost of getting noticed on the internet can run into many, many thousands of pounds.
Now, let’s layer onto the above, the issues of bonding, regulation and now, the cost of even being able to take money off a client. The point is, no-one is going to sell something if they cannot make a reasonable return. Brewers tried this long ago – instead of saying “you pay a low rent and we make money by selling you beer” they said “That property is worth £5mill and we want 10% return from you – You can do what you like” Result: No pubs. Reason: Because there is only so much available in any one transaction. Each person can have a portion of that pie, but as soon as the dominant party wants someone else’s share, the system collapses.
The other reason agents are useful, is because they are retailers. They sell stuff and they sell in volume. The likes of Expedia and Travelocity sell travel and travel products. They are good at it, it is their speciality. AMEX sell business travel (so do I – Plug, plug – and my fees or low ‘cos I have a low cost base!!) they are good at it, they know what the customer likes and understands the customers needs. British Midland, say, run airline services – that is what they are good at. But wholesalers and especially “manufacturers” do not make good retailers – you do not see any DIAGEO shops about, do you? Many airlines have appalling customer service systems, often based in parts foreign, staffed by parrotts or the cheapest humans they can find, with little, if any holistic training. There are airlines, such as BA who have customer service facilities which are excellent, but this is the exception rather than the norm. Most low cost airlines even go as far as to discourage customer contact. The question remains as to how long this style of operation can last.
Agents are a useful intermediary, a foil, twixt client and travel provider. Not all travel, by a long chalk, is simple. Some of it is very complex – not difficult, just complex – so there is a place for “technicians” who have an understanding of how travel works. People who know how part A bolts onto part B. Yes, tour companies and airlines could do this themselves but we come back to the training thing – or rather the total lack of any form of holistic travel training and that no-one with any nounce is going to train themselves for a business that pays rubbish money and shows little if any prospect of real wealth. Ultimately, this leads to “Bankers Syndrome” – as with RBS, one finds that no-one at the top knows anything about Banking. And we all know what happened next, there.
This all leads down a path that leads to a lose-lose situation. As the returns get less, there are increased attempts by various bodies to regulate. More regulation leads to greater cost on the on hand and so even less return on the other, a deep spiral that so encourages the darker side – and with the presence of the internet meaning that one can distribute on a global scale with virtual anonimity – it is easy for this dark unregulated side to take over. Large operators lose their incremental sales and airlines lose their ability to market their high end products – unless they wish to do everything, and I mean everything, themselves.
So the big question remains and before anyone in the travel industry goes any further, it must be answered: Do travel providers wish to do everything for themselves – or do we retain the off and online agency style distribution system? If the answer is no, then fine – get on with it. If the answer is Yes, then the agency system must be allowed to be profitable – and must have a voice that is respected and acted upon by the suppliers. If things just continue along the same road as now, we will see just a few online retailers and a few high street retailers (probably a combination of both – eg Expedia shops) and these retailers will simply dictate who can sell what, for how much and on what terms. Can’t happen? Well, it has in many other fields – Grocery, for example, or computers or DIY….
Murray’s Competition – Part 1!
Posted by murray in Latest News on May 29th, 2009
Not relevant at all - My eldest at Niagra Falls.
So, let’s put it to the test.
The challenge is to fly around the world for the least amount of money. There are some rules:
1. The trip must include a touchdown in Europe, Middle East, Far East, Africa, Indian sub-continent, Australasia, Northern and Southern Continental America. You can start from where you like, but your start and finish must be at the same airport.
2. The itinerary must be fly-able. For example, if you connect from a legacy carrier to a low-cost carrier, the connection must be practical.
3. Backtracking and anything else is allowed.
4. There is no time limit, but extra points awarded for the fastest trip.
Prizes – we need some. So would any airline or hotel group who would like to contribute some free flights or hotel nights, please let me know. Now would be good. So, won’t cost you any money just some flights and hotel nights! And a lot of Twitter/ Social Networking promotion.
These are the basics. So, before we launch away, if anyone has any comments suggestions or tweaks, let me know now. The prize, by the way, would be for the cheapest workable itinerary – you don’t actually have to fly it (unless an airline will sponsor such a prize!)
Off Loading Costs
Posted by murray in Latest News on May 2nd, 2009
Here we go again! As airlines run out of profit and money, the hunt is on for more bits and bob’s they can pass on, so as to keep “low” prices. It seems to me that the time has come to step back and take a deep breath.
Airline travel is not a cheap item. An Airbus costs a lot of money, so does the petrol, the crew, getting it up, getting it down, getting it loaded, off-loaded. Hell! Even parking the thing up, costs a lot more than £2.40 at the local NCP.
What we have here, is a situation where someone wants to sell a service cheaply, which inherently costs a lot of money to provide. A situation where one now wants to charge a reasonable fee for something which over the years, one has spent many thousands of Dollars telling the world (quite successfully, as it turns out) people can have for next to nothing. And people wonder why there is a problem.
The latest bette noir is the GDS cost – the cost of getting the seat from the aeroplane to the client. This should be paid for by the travel agent (online or offline) and …. Whoooah! Stop there. The travel agent is not going to pay for anything. The client will pay, always has done and always will. What has come about over the years, is a price for a service whereby one has somehow managed to fool the various advertising standards people, of many countries, that the £1.00 (or $1.00) that appears on the promotional stuff is a valid figure. It isn’t. What we really have, is an industry where “transparency” is not a word which features in their dictionary. Air fares are not transparent. Exactly the opposite. Many charges appear after the “fare” and are buried under various codes which are meaningless to the travelling public.
But let us go back further. What are airlines about? What do they really want to do? The so-called “low cost” airlines are about simple A to B stuff, 2 hours or less, you get exactly what it says on the tin and no more. Fair enough. They do not need the GDS (that said, it is getting increasingly difficult to track them down. From a business travel agent’s point of view, sites such as “Wegolo” are proving increasingly invaluable as a “low cost GDS”). For legacy airlines, it is a different picture and these airlines need to decide what business they are in and if they, indeed, wish to continue in it.
A lot of business travel is not about going from A to B. It is about going from A to B and C, D and very often E as well. It does not all start from the home country and involves bits of the world which involve many agents grasping for their atlas (or, in modern terms, Google Earth). Here, the GDS is invaluable. This is where it does it’s job. The thing is, many of these flights involve going from airline to airline, changes of flight at various points en route and lot of general fuss and what-not. The key elements in being able to do this are: 1) The ability to interline and 2) The relevance of the “minimum connecting time” or MCT. The former allows one to mix airlines on one ticket and the latter, to regulate the time one needs to make a change of airline. If all airlines go “me only” (that is, come off the GDS and go it alone on their own websites), the all flights become just, what is known as, “point to point”. So, if you want to go from, say, Cairo to Dublin via Larnaca (’cos that is where the connection is) in old money, you get, on one ticket: Cairo to Larnaca to Dublin. The airline would interline (hence, on one ticket) and the MCT applies so you can be booked thorough and so, you make your “1 hour and a bit” Larnaca connection – most importantly, if the connection goes all pear shaped, you are able to get on the next available connection without having to worry.
BUT – in new money, that does not happen. You can only buy a ticket Cairo to Larnanca and then have to buy another ticket Larnaca to Dublin. Now, the MCT does NOT apply. You have to arrive at Larnaca, collect your bags, go through security, walk around to departures, re-check-in… and how long should you allow? If you miss your connection flight, tough. Buy another ticket.
Even more (airline) stupidity: This interline traffic is valuable stuff. Since, secretly, airlines have been dumping cheaper interline fares what is left becomes worthwhile traffic. You must have a GDS to book it and invariably (now! here’s the rub!) you need an agent to book your travel. Many airline reservation department, these days, are staffed by pretty clueless types from all sorts of places whose training is very precise (no “holistic” travel training) and if what you want does not drop in front of them straight away, they just can’t cope. Indeed, getting them to tell you their name can be a major thing…. sometimes.
The GDS, therefore, contributes a major and vital element, not only in airline traffic but generally, in making the whole concept of business travel possible. The GDS systems have been fiddled with by the EEC and various other bodies who are intent on making a very clever and practical system, which works into a cumbersome and pedantic system that doesn’t. It is not a question of viewing the GDS as a cost to be moved, the GDS is a lifeline which should be nurtured and developed (and in the case of Amadeus, just made to ruddy well work sensibly) – it is a cost that should be in the price of the ticket, because without the GDS, advanced air travel would simply not work.
I am not a number!
Posted by murray in Latest News on April 23rd, 2009
This low cost lead in price mania with airlines is doing no good. Indeed, we read about many people complaining that their initial price, to get from A to B, has mushroomed from £1 to £100 (or so).
Airlines, having offered a cheap fare, find that they are simply not generating enough money and fish around for something else. Scratchcards, charges for extra luggage (or just charges for luggage), no food, charges for a glass of water and, perhaps, charges for being able to breath air at 30,000 feet.
Where to go? Okay. I know that if I buy a cattle class ticket I know I am not going to get a big seat. I know that I will have to stand in a line and that the queue will move and that I will always wind up behind the single person who suddenly, at the last moment, really has 14 kids, three sets of Grandparents, enough luggage for a year in a far flung land and wants to know why he cannot take the goat in the cabin.
But that does not mean that I cannot be treated like a human being, more importantly, be made to feel like a human being. It does not mean that I have to be looked down on, herded and generally have things done to me that make air travel one of the worst experiences known to man; like shopping at IKEA.
I never said that I wanted to fly from here to there for £1. I am quite happy to pay a bit more – if I get value for that bit more. What does a cup of coffee and a nice sandwich cost? A bit of leeway on my luggage? A paper? A sweet at take off? A smile, even? An extra £5 a ticket an extra £10 or £15 a ticket? For me, I would prefer to pay that. Getting anywhere these days, by air, will cost me at least £75 – if not £150 or £200 so what is an extra £10 or £15 – if that extra money takes away the things that really winds people up and installs in those of us that have to travel in riff-raff, a little touch of sunlight.
What marketing outfit tells these airlines that people have to have fares for £1 or £5 – yet ignores the myriad of travellers who get very angry and frustrated by the eternal add-ons? Air Berlin is an interesting example, Air Berlin manage to do this: They manage to make you feel human, they do manage to smile (No, I am not get paid by Air Berlin – I used them, with my family, to fly from Stansted to Munich and I was very, very, surprised and pleased with their excellent service). They give you a decent sandwich, even a paper, gave me a (very welcome) bit of leeway on the luggage and did not look at me as if I had just appeared from a rather unsavoury manhole. Easyjet manage it (but may be going down the route of finding things to charge for) They still manage to smile, have a few humans about the place and certainly at Luton, have some customer agents who can show the legacy, Heathrow, lot a clean pair of heels when it comes to customer service.
So, my message is: Do not keep trying to find ways of winding up us punters. If you need an extra few quid to make life that bit more bearable, as far as I am concerned, be my guest. Be bold and be brave. An idea: If needs be, sell a ticket and then sell an inclusive ticket – An extra £10, £15 or £20 and for that you get to sit a bit up front and all the bits of leeway we had before – not £5 here or £2 there – it is not difficult to do. If more people book the extra, just move the curtain down the cabin a bit, I am sure that the airlines can work it out. And if they have to move the curtain all the way down the cabin, well – Who’s complaining?
Amsterdam – A view
Posted by murray in Latest News on April 20th, 2009
Well, I am back after three days in Amsterdam (where the tulips come from). KLM are really very good. I cannot explain why they are good, save that a) They had cheaper flights from Heathrow than anyone else did b) They seem to make a lot less fuss than anyone else does and c) I rather prefer the sky blue of KLM than the dark blue of others. Schipol is an interesting place. Lots of signs to the shops, more shops, things you may need which are really important, like the position of Orion in the night sky, more shops (perhaps, indeed, on Orion) and very few signs to things which they obviously deem unimportant like the Exit and the arrivals or departure lounges. Lesson number 1: if you have a humungous 6 runway airport then you also get humungous distances involved, such as from the plane to the baggage hall, for which trek you will need water, a good pair of stout boots, a sleeping bag and possibly, a tent.
We stayed at the Crown Plaza in the centre of town, mainly because they offered a good rate with breakfast. True, there are hotels that are advertised cheaper than this one, but they seemed to be miles away from anything remotely resembling, er… Amsterdam or were slightly dodgy places where you can get stoned, for free, on the way to bed.
I did not like the famed Red Light District (well, one has to, doesn’t one). It is dirty, smelly and full of drunken butchers from Luton singing “Hoodah hardah hardenhaden, Jimmy’s on his stag night, up the lads” and girls wearing something about “Helens Hens”. This is a very, very sad place with some very sad people in it. Oh! Yes! That reminds me, the language. You know I am sure there are no Dutch singers, I mean, with that awful gutteral language… Someone said, once, that Dutch is not a language, it is a disease of the throat. They were right.
Gastronomically, the place is a desert. There is no such thing as “Dutch Cuisine” which probably explains why they all seem to have bad skin. Certainly, the rubbish eating places (I don’t think “restaurant” is a viable word, here) that litter the place would have Gordon Ramsay not just shutting an eaterie down, he would shut the whole country down.
Crossing the road is a nightmare. In fact, you take your life in your hands walking out of the hotel. In the UK you have to contend with two sides of the road. Most of us can deal with that. Not in Amsterdam (where the Tulips come from, by the way) No, no, no, no…. you have to contend with the car bit, the tram bit and then the cyclist bit. It is the cyclist bit that is worst. Bicycles are driven by complete psycopaths who stop for nobody. The trouble is, you have no idea which bit belongs to whom and who is driving on what. I mean, you check the tramway and suddenly a taxi switches from the road and starts driving down the tramway, you check the cycle path – (or what you think is the cyclepath) and then along roars a motorbike. The only safe thing to do is walk in the road.
Coffeshops. Dumps. Full of rather unsavoury people doing rather unsavoury things in rather unsavoury surroundings. Avoid these. Oh! and Fashion has been abolished in Holland (Well, what does one expect from a country whose contribution to the world’s catwalks is, er……. clogs)
Amsterdam (where the tulips come from) lacks a “buzz” which you have in London or Paris, Prague or New Yoik (even Brussels – and that’s saying something!). There are redeeming features to a trip, here. Like going to the Tulip Gardens at Keukenhof. These are truly stunning when in full season. Take a tip, though, book a trip from your hotel, do not try and DIY it. You queue for the bus, then for the tickets, then to get in…. Zaansche Sands is worth a trip so is the Van Gough Museum. Public Transport is efficient and cheap.
So, all in all, worth a day or so to tick this capital off your list. Useful for passing through on the way to somewhere else (anywhere else!) but no big deal.
Apart from the tulips, that is….
Future Technology
Posted by murray in Latest News on April 9th, 2009
Technology will be important in the future of travel. This is not news. The travel business was at the forefront of technology whilst many of today’s travel journalists (and many of those generally in travel) were babes in arms – or even just a twinkle in their parents eyes. As long ago as the 1960’s airlines came up with the Computer Reservation System – and it was so far ahead of it’s time that one did not even need any further clarification as to what it did for a living. Within a few years, a system was available within the travel business that could book anyone from a point on the globe to another point on the globe, easily, quickly and securely – and this included car hire and hotels. When etickets came along, one just needed to turn up and take off.
What about Viewdata? Another ’70’s bit of technology that enabled agents to book holidays, ferrys and such in the same way. Instant guaranteed online availability and secure booking for all. Okay, so you had to go and visit a person in a shop to do it but it cost you (the customer) nothing. So sucessful was viewdata, that it survived for over 20 years with little change.
Nowadays I look with consternation as techy types try to emulate 1960’s and 1970’s technology within the medium of the internet. How can we have come so far, yet have so much trouble to replace that man in a shop? How can it cost so much? Why is the travel industry so keen to throw everything out of the window – before it has found something new – that works – to replace it?
It is not technology that is the issue. It is the thinking that goes with it. Many cannot see the wood for the trees. When the internet came along, travel providors made the leap from internet = cheap distribution to internet = get rid of all other distribution channels faster than you could say “… the flight departing from Gate 7″. People have now realised that it is not quite that straightforward. Even so, the travel business is still dismantling the age old distribution systems that already exist, without producing a viable alternative.
Legacy airlines (I do not include the low cost carriers – that’s another story) and operators alike suddenly see the holy grail of cheap distribution slipping from their grasp – worse, their control – and are invoking desperate measures to try and restore that control. This frightens them. With the traditional system of many small agencies, one could divide and rule. If airline A said this was going to be, it was so; because no-one was big enough to say any different. Many retailers did not like this, but the system worked and all in all everyone got along. Overnight, some opertors and legacy airlines decided that they did not like the established system and the new-fangled internet was the long awaited panacea. Airlines and Op’s arrogantly assumed that they would simply sell direct to clients, and the retail arm would just “go away”. Kismet.
They forgot (because they had, in the meanwhile, got rid of everyone with the experience of years who could have told them) that retail is King. Always has been, always will be. Therefore, retail is highly dangerous. It is a very brave person that removes “divide and rule”. They forgot that their skills are in providing holidays or flights and not in retail. This is why people like Thomsons acquired Lunn Poly. They had a company that was good at providing holidays and a company that was good at flogging them -even so, Thomson did not neglect the rest of the then agency network.
They also forgot that retailers are not stupid (in a nation of shopkeepers!!) and retail being retail, retail found ways around minor issues like the cutting of commission. Now, airlines and operators find that they have to fight rearguard actions on two fronts. Because of their actions, retail has consolidated (as it did in DIY or Computers and of course, food) Suddenly, airlines find that they are not dealing with lots of little people (who can be ruled over) but a large chunk of their premium traffic – premium traffic – is coming from a much smaller (and decreasing) number of large retailers. Tail wags dog. Front 2 is technology. Costs have just shifted from “commissions paid” to “technology” and in certain cases (as British Airways say) “bounty”. Millions of pounds are having to be spent just keeping up – worse, it is spending on keeping up with the cheap stuff. How much are you going to put behind selling a seat for £10? Why bother? How much are you not going to spend on looking after the person who sells the seat for £3,000? If one had thought this through, one would have let the retailers bear the burden of developing internet systems – even if one did have to pay commission. In any event, nemesis!
People need to see the wood for the trees. The Emperor’s New Clothes. It is not technology that is the issue, it is understanding where that technology may lead, what it is for, who may lead it, asking the right questions not just developing technology for technology’s sake – and is re-inventing the wheel the best use of resources?
