To say ancillary revenue has been a theme over the past couple of years would be an understatement. I’m all for unbundlling, but some fee ideas aren’t that creative. For example – American’s new “Express Seats” scheme isn’t all that original, plus I think the price makes it a rip-off. (Yeah, US Airways does the same thing as American with Choice Seats but they’re cheaper.)
So during my normal surfing of the interwebs this weekend I found myself on Martinair’s website, and saw a new fee they had introduced this past June – an empty seat fee. For $70 or €50 paid at check-in, you can guarantee that the seat next to you will be empty.
I think it goes without saying that everyone loves empty seats. Whenever I fly Southwest I try to sit in “secret first class” – rows 13-17. Some frequent Southwest fliers have figured out that this is where one will most likely find an empty middle.
This seems to be a win-win here. Passengers get more personal space, and Martinair gets more revenue. Since one can only pay this fee upon check-in, which starts four hours before departure, the chances of a bunch of empty seats getting sold are pretty slim, so why not get some extra revenue?
Kudos to Martinair for thinking outside the box here.
Air New Zealand has had this for awhile as well. They call it the Twin Seat:
http://www.airnewzealand.com/buy-a-twin-seat-at-check-in
Do you get a second BP to prove your ownership of that extra space?
What happens when the couple with the infant wants your empty seat, or asks you to switch with one of them.