In a memo to travel agents this week, United Airlines announced something that will make it “even more convenient for customers” to sit in their Economy Plus section with extra legroom. Translation: it will make it more convenient to pay more money.
In spring of 2009, customers who book their travel through a travel agency that uses the Sabre distribution system will be able to purchase an upgrade to Economy Plus from their travel agent. Economy Plus seats are complimentary for members of United’s Mileage Plus program who hold at least premier status in the program.
An odd aside, Sabre is the reservation system formerly owned by American, but now spun off into a separate entity. Galileo, United’s own spun-off system, does not have the same capability yet.
But what this means in plain English is that a travel agent will be able to bundle the additional payment for extra legroom right into the ticket price, so travelers will not need to pay for it separately, which will certainly help with record keeping and expense reports.
From a consumer and agent point of view, however, this is a mixed bag.
First, corporations trying to keep costs down will have one more thing to look out for, in that these “upgrades” can cost up to about $100 for a cross country flight. (And who’s to say who deserves or needs extra legroom?) In addition, although they are starting with extra legroom, clearly Sabre will, if all goes well, add other optional extras into the price of tickets.
From a travel agent point of view — and yes, I am a travel agent — this is likely to be one more potential headache. If a client pays for Economy Plus, and doesn’t get it due to an equipment change, or a missed connection, how will agents process the refund, if there is one?
And what happens with canceled flights? (United’s prepaid baggage charges are already nonrefundable, so it seems likely that these additional charges will be generally be as well.)
On the other hand, if the software makes it easier to build a service fee into the ticket cost, travel agents could reap some benefits. These days, agents all charge service fees on domestic tickets. Usually, it’s a flat amount.
But sometimes, we can spend hours on one ticket. And sometimes we do find incredible deals. Most agents I know can tell stories of saving a client hundreds, even thousands of dollars, but still not feeling comfortable charging a hefty fee. (Especially as, for agents who charge a ticket percentage, the fee would go down the more money saved.) If, for instance, a client expected to pay about $600 for a ticket, and an agent finds a fare for $250, then it would be a lot more tempting to charge say $350 for the ticket, than charging $250 for the ticket and a $100 fee showing up prominently on the invoice.
In any case, clearly this optional added pricing is in the embryonic stage, and clearly there will be a lot more changes and updates. But as airlines make extra fees easier, they will think of more things to charge extra for.
And thus, most probably, the new “a la carte” prices are never going away.
