May 1

Frontier Airlines: If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them

As many of you know, I typically focus on legacy airlines when reporting on news, but something shocked me earlier today by Frontier Airlines that warrants a post and apology for a tweet I sent out:

My initial reaction was shock because I still hold Frontier in a class above Spirit and Allegiant, who basically charge for everything. But after reading the full press release and recalling that they’re significantly adjusting their strategy to stay alive, I’ll recant my disagreement with charging for all drinks (except water, I assume).

Why? Because I wouldn’t be shocked or upset to purchase coffee, soda, etc. on Spirit or Allegiant since it’s already in my brain that they’re an ultra low cost carrier. And as Frontier directly points out in the release:

As part of the transformation into an Ultra Low Cost Carrier…

And:

Frontier continues to make it easier for customers flying with Frontier to pay only for the services they use, which allows us to continue lowering fares…

So I recant my “not a good move” tweet-reaction to the news regarding this policy. If you can’t beat them, join them! Spirit, after all, has been quite profitable for some time. $1.99 here and there isn’t going to do it (which is the new fee for drinks for most fliers), but I understand why they’ll begin charging the fee.

And speaking of being Spirit-like, Frontier will also start charging for carry-on bags requiring overhead bin space – anywhere from $25 to $100 – for passengers who purchase “basic fare” tickets on websites other than FlyFrontier.com.

If you’re interested in the specifics of the new fees (and other changes, including modified EarlyReturns mileage accrual rates), click here.

Posted by Darren | 5 Comments

Tags: allegiant, Allegiant Air, frontier, frontier airlines, lcc, low cost carrier, spirit, spirit airlines, ulcc, ultra low cost carrier

April 18

Insightful Remarks From Spirit Airlines’ Chief Marketing Officer

Barry Biffle, Spirit’s chief marketing officer, spoke at the Association of Travel Marketing Executives conference today in Miami. I wasn’t there, but it sort of felt like I was reading Henry Harteveldt’s real-time Twitter updates from the event.

Henry, if you don’t follow him, is a veteran airline and travel industry analyst working for Hudson Crossing and often shares the best quotes from these types of events. And his selection today from Barry Biffle didn’t disappoint. Here’s a rundown of a few insightful remarks from earlier:

Spirit’s business model caters to the leisure and O&D (origin & destination, point-to-point travel) segments, and his remarks here reflect that strategy. It’s sort of shocking for an airline to come out and say they’re not for business travelers, but it works for Spirit.

I grouped the three above together, but I could be taking them out of context. Passengers not wanting to be pissed off probably refers to the amount of ancillary fees and their cost. Spirit does show their lengthy menu of fees on their website, but I bet it is a challenge for them to deal with unaware customers who’ve booked through some travel agents.

Ha! Well, yeah, that’s some marketing spin… but it’s true. Those options certainly come with fees, though.

Spirit definitely offers a low-ball base service price and I can see a lot of truth in these two remarks. While they don’t have another airline trip to compare it to, I wonder how Spirit’s first time fliers rate the experience?

Separately, Spirit’s CEO Ben Baldanza was speaking at another event today and made a rather honest remark concerning Spirit’s fees:

How true, indeed. The round-trip baggage fees on Spirit would likely be more than the total airfare for the family.

One of my goals this year is to step out of my comfort zone and fly on both Spirit and Allegiant, just for the experience of it (well… and to blog about it). Allegiant will likely be first as they fly into my home airport. Stay tuned!

Posted by Darren | 4 Comments

Tags: allegiant, association of travel marketing executives, atme, henry harteveldt, spirit, spirit airlines

February 1

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel Industry News: February 1, 2013

A lawsuit filed by a United Airlines Million-Miler will proceed, as a judge threw out United’s request to have it dismissed. Well… parts of the lawsuit were dismissed, but others are still in play. The judge said, “At this stage of the litigation, the court finds it plausible that defendants had a contract with Million Miler members which differed from the contract they had with other Mileage Plus members.” Will Regional Upgrades and 100% bonus miles return?
In other United news, Seth at Wandering Aramean reports that United will drop a second appetizer choice from existing service on two-cabin international BusinessFirst flights (think legacy Continental). Not a big loss and the single cold appetizer is certainly nothing special. The change takes effect March 1.
Hyatt Regency will take over and reflag a former downtown Los Angeles Marriott property in May. It marks a return for Hyatt to downtown L.A. after an eight year absence. And in other Marriott news, the chain is adding/reflagging seven hotels in Thailand in the upcoming months.
A JetBlue flight was diverted because a passenger was miffed that a fellow traveler didn’t pay for the “premium seat” next to her. Apparently, a passenger was moved from his non-premium seat to one next to her due to an inop seatback monitor and she couldn’t handle it. Really people?
In other bad behavior, American Airlines apologized and refunded Kristen Chenoweth a pet-in-cabin fee after a flight attendant allegedly made a mistake in claiming the actress/singer failed to properly document her pooch. The FA reportedly yelled at Chenoweth causing her to break down in tears.
Allegiant Air began scheduled Las Vegas-Reno-Las Vegas service today. The twice-weekly service occurs on Fridays and Sundays, and a look at their fares today reveals a decent bargain on many dates for less than $100 round-trip (assuming you don’t assign yourself seats, buy with a credit-card or check bags). I’ve been meaning to try out the likes of Allegiant and Spirit just for the hell of it. Now that I’m Reno-based, I might just have to give the Vegas flight a try.
And finally, in exciting news to my Amenity Kit Series, Delta Air Lines will begin issuing new BusinessElite amenity kits this month. The new offering will feature a bag by Tumi and skin care products by Malin+Goetz. Sounds (and looks) like an upgrade to me.