Friday 25 May 2012

Get Cheap Air Tickets But Pay For Everything Else


Airlines have a tough time balancing customer aspirations for having cheap air tickets on one end of pendulum and earning sufficient profits so as to grow, on the other end. The airlines worldwide have been taking measures to improve their revenue earnings by offering the cheap flight tickets to the customers and charging them for most of the facilities which were earlier included within the price of the air tickets. So, the list of services being offered complimentary is being pruned.
Some of the key products or services being charged are:
  1. In-flight movies: The in-flight entertainment systems were free for use on all the airlines, barring the low cost carriers which did not have these. Now, some airlines have begun to charge for their usage. So, if you want to hear a particular number or watch a movie, then there are charges to be paid for the same.
  2. Bottle of Water: The charges for a bottle of water were associated with the budget carriers but the same is also being adopted by the network carriers. Some airlines might give you one bottle as complimentary but for the next ones you need to have
  3. Seats of own choice: If you want to have a seat of choice, then some airlines will ask for paying extra sums. If you want to save on money, simply do not describe which seat you prefer to have. Just take what is offered.
  4. Pillow and Blanket: If you are looking to make your travel more comfortable, then that will come with a price tag attached to the pillow and blanket which you might require during the flight.
  5. Using overhead compartment: This is another service where the some of the airlines charge extra.
Besides these, the extra charges are also being paid for the carry-on bags and for the baggage carried over and above the free allowance (some are not even allowing the free allowance). Some of these charges are to be paid when you do the flight booking such as the baggage fee while some are paid in-flight such as the ones for using the facilities provided in-flight.

By de-linking these charges from the flight tickets and asking for these separately, the airlines seek to provide them with their most cherished wish of cheap air tickets and at the same time, giving them the option to avail the services and facilities if they need by paying separately. 

No comments: