Today, most people rely on the internet for flight shopping and have long been overwhelmed by a large volume of offers that don’t always include what they want. The need to filter, search further, and scan to find the right offer still persists. They might visit two different airline websites and a third-party aggregator website, and have a hard time determining that the one flight that may be a few hundred dollars more actually delivers a far superior product and experience with baggage allowance, lie-flat seats for a long-haul flight, included meals, entertainment, and Wi-Fi.
This murky period of shopping for flights is thankfully coming to an end, and it couldn’t happen sooner. ATPCO’s annual flight shopper survey proves that 86% of flight shoppers will pay more for seats that meet their preferences, but, before they will pay, they need to understand what is being offered via the right content. Images of specific seat types within a cabin and descriptions of ancillaries like meals and baggage allowances help shoppers quickly find the best value for them.
Decades ago, the only variable other than cabin class was price, and it was hard for airlines to have varied pricing because flight experiences were relatively similar. Since then, airlines have used many variables to determine different prices—from legroom to seat location—but lacked the tools to help flight shoppers make the best decision. Finally, the technology is here to create enhanced flight shopping experiences, and everyone benefits as a result.
A future of more targeted offers is a win-win
For airlines, showing the many attributes of the more varied flight experiences available now is the next phase in a long process to deliver the right offer to the right person at the right time during the flight shopping experience.
Until recently, airline flights were assumed to be a commodity, with little difference in passenger experience. In the past, airlines, GDSs, and other partners only had three elements to show passengers to help them make decisions: schedule, cabin, and price. They did what they could to present offers with these limited deciding factors. Over time, a focus on a more elevated flight shopping experience and ancillaries like checked bags, onboard refreshments, paid seats, and extra legroom as part of the offer gave consumers more choice. Rather than only focusing on price, consumers can look at what they get based on what they pay.
Imagine a shopper searching for a flight 10-15 years ago, which would have only shown variations in schedule and price. Now, consumers can make a purchase decision based on a bundled deal or a variety of factors or services that uniquely matter to them. If one flight offer or bundle includes more legroom and Wi-Fi for only USD 90 more, a passenger may be enticed to take a later flight, freeing up room on a potentially high-demand flight. In the past, they would have had no easy way of selecting that flight based on those ancillary differences. Now, with innovative merchandising solutions like Routehappy, airlines can take this concept from idea to experience so consumers can compare options to match their personal preference while also helping the airline manage capacity and demand across flights.
With ATPCO’s Routehappy merchandising solution, passengers know exactly what to expect when they step on board. Airline offers are enhanced with Routehappy Visuals and Attributes, delivering a best-in-class merchandising experience that today’s flight shoppers have come to expect. From images showing specific seat types in a cabin to benefits and restrictions, Routehappy can help you ensure the content flight shoppers are viewing is relevant to the offer being presented.
Focusing on choice with content
For anyone convinced that only price matters to consumers, consider basic economy. If everyone were driven purely by the lowest price, everyone would select basic economy seats. However, our flight shopper survey finds that 83% of shoppers have paid to select a seat while booking, proving the lowest price is no longer solely what consumers look for.
Airlines offer basic economy to give price-oriented customers what they want. Economy passengers interested in more choice now have a variety of options from added legroom to the ability to check more bags, to priority check in, to the ability to pre-select their seats rather than waiting until check-in. Airlines can choose to offer these options in a branded fare bundle or individual purchase at an additional fee, and passengers can make their selection based on their personal circumstances.
Consider a lie-flat seat on a long-haul flight. If a shopper goes to a travel website and doesn’t see any images of the lie-flat seat, maybe not even a text description of it, then there is little to entice them to choose an upgraded experience or choose one airline over another. If the shopper is looking on an aggregator website, they might not see the comparison of products, which can drive them to the lower price, while still not truly understanding their options or the flight experience they may be paying for.
Creating an experience that not only shows off the benefits of choosing different upgrades, but also the reality of choosing the less pricey option gives flight shoppers what they need to make the right choice for what they consider the best value. It also ensures they won’t be surprised when they get to the gate and they find, for example, they need to pay for a bag or they can’t sit together on the plane, which can improve overall customer satisfaction.
Dynamic offers: Going from generic to personal
Today, dynamic offers are a better way to think about maximizing the flight shopping experience. Given that flights are not all generic and experience can vary widely, airlines need to consider merging their pricing and content strategies into one holistic view that considers the entire offer, ensuring airlines can focus not only on optimizing their single ticket price, but also delivering the optimal product for the consumer.
When airlines assemble offers that are priced right, while using Routehappy to demonstrate the attributes that customers want, passengers are happier and more likely to remain loyal, and airlines are truly able to optimize their revenue opportunities in both the short term and the long haul.
A version of this article first appeared in Travolution on 6 December 2024.
