As the Middle East crisis rolls on and fuel costs continue to bite airlines’ bottom lines, Complex Travel Group founder and director Mark Trim has warned business class flyers of the perils associated with the unbundling of front-of-the-bus fares which have created more choice but also more confusion.
Speaking to media at a dinner run by the business in Sydney last night, Trim said, “the problem that we are finding from a consumer perspective is that with branded fares, each airline has a different branded fare strategy, so it can have impacts on things like changing, because on some airlines, if you go up to a different branded fare, it can impact your booking class and give you more seats to choose from, but other airlines, you stay in the same booking class but you just pay more for attributes”.
He warned that the different strategies have a much bigger impact on people’s travel than they may think, and that it takes a travel advisor to really understand the ins and outs of the situation.
Trim asserted that airlines did not want consumers to be able to compare them side-by-side and that they wanted to take away the power of OTAs and “were going to use terms like ‘personalised retailing’ to gaslight you around revenue maximisation”.
The agency boss admitted it was creating a lot of friction for clients who were annoyed that they paid a higher price for a business seat but did not get the full experience.
“What they want you to do is upsell at checkout because they can get more money from you once you have decided – we are trying to bring the branded fare discussion in early because it is part of the overall value matrix,” Trim said.
