Commentary

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Why Eliminating Award Charts Puts Frequent Flyer Programs on a Collision Course With Themselves

insideairplane
Apr 07 2019

Airlines have historically been able to offer outsized value to consumers through their frequent flyer programs. Instead of merely offering a rebate on spending, where points are a modest currency that can be used to buy tickets at retail.

A problem arises, however, when there just aren’t many unsold seats. With airline consolidation and capacity discipline, load factors are at historic highs.

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Gate Agent Joins Cheer Squad in Dance Routines During Flight Delay

spirit plane
Apr 07 2019

he flight was delayed and a brief delay becomes an extended delay. And then the team’s coach gets on the speaker and instructs the girls to dance.

A Spirit agent trying to make announcements about delays for another flight at a nearby gate was drowned out. And since the agent doesn’t make ends meet working for Spirit along, and moonlights as a nearby resort’s activities director, he knew the songs and dance moves.

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What’s the Real Policy for Tipping Airline Customer Service Employees?

hand holding hundreds of dollars in cash
Apr 06 2019

In January there was much buzz about the Frontier Airlines policy of supplementing flight attendant wages with customer tips.

Most airlines don’t permit flight attendants to accept tips, and they have mixed feelings on the subject — some simply want more money (although tipping may ultimately mean lower salaries), while others worry the emphasis would then shift from safety to service. But what about other agents you encounter at the airport?

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Why Loyalty Programs Always Disappoint You

zimbabwe currency
Apr 05 2019

Tyler Cowen’s new book coming out April 9, Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero contains this passage final its chapter “If business is so good, why is it so disliked?”

It’s not about loyalty programs per se, but loyalty marketing is one of the key ways that businesses attempt to trascend the transactional and make us loyal. Brand positioning, charitable giving, along with recognition and reward, can temporarily make us see the business as aligning with our values and integrating with our life. And then we’re disappointed:

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