A little while ago, Air France released some information on some changes to its European/domestic offerings, and I found a new feature, called “Time to Think,” very interesting. Basically, it’s a hedge against fare increases for economy passengers that costs €10. Here’s the example provided in the news release:
A customer who wants to go from Paris to Barcelona in two weeks time but is not yet sure of his travel dates. He finds a particularly good roundtrip fare at 115 euros incl. tax on airfrance.com. For an additional 10 euros, he can keep this fare on hold for 7 days. If he comes back online 7 days later to confirm his flight, he will still benefit from the original fare of 115 euros, whereas the best available fare will have risen to 165 euros.
The big question is (of course) how many passengers will actually try it. There is certainly an element of risk here, as if the fare goes down or if the booking is changed, those €10 are still gone. Nevertheless, this can certainly be handy for passengers who want to take advantage of a fare sale but aren’t ready to confirm a booking.
There aren’t a whole lot of additional details about the service, though it isn’t being rolled out until April. But, I have to give Air France credit for thinking outside the box here, as this is one of the more creative ancillary revenue efforts I have seen.
(EDIT: Commenter dgfpaice notes that Qantas has a similar offering. There are differences between AF/QF though. See the comments for more details.)
One of the more interesting ancilliary revenue moves that I have seen in a while! I think that they will be copied. Especially in the US where you see a number of carriers proactively looking for, and cancelling, apparent double bookings. AA in particular has some great RM tools to deter “holding a seat” on earlier flight.
Hat tip for you on being the place where I heard this first!
And to think, one used to simply be able to call and hold a reservation for free. Now it costs 10 Euro. Sure, it is just one more ancillary fee, but they do seem to be piling up, no?
@Wandering Aramean True, but for most airlines, I think the hold is only for 24 hours, right?
Nice idea but not an original one. Qantas got there first and they let you hold it for longer, the further out to your departure date it is.
@dgfpaice
I assume you’re referring to “Book Now, Pay Later”?
You’re right, it is similar, and I wasn’t aware of it to be honest. But it is a tad different than what AF is doing, as they’re focusing on the European/domestic market here. Qantas’ option is geared towards international flights. The option is available for domestic flights, but only if one is on a fully flexible ticket, while for AF this is only available for economy.
Thanks for pointing it out!