Premium seating on an American Embraer 175. (Image: American)
If you can’t get a free or mileage-paid upgrade, would you pay cash for one? How much?
A majority of air travelers in economy class would be willing to pay extra for an upgrade to more comfortable seating, according to a new survey. The question for airlines: How can you sell upgrades effectively, finding the right price and the right timing for your sales pitch to maximize customer response?
That’s the gist of a new report from the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), a trade group of airlines, suppliers and tech companies that recently conducted a survey of 3,400 travelers from 18 countries.
A key finding: 86 percent of economy travelers who paid extra to move up to a premium economy seat said they found it so worthwhile that they would do so again on future flights. Some 60 percent of economy travelers said they would be willing to pay extra for a seat with more legroom.
Still, “Most airlines lack coherent policies on selling upgrades,” says APEX CEO Joe Leader. “Many attempt to charge full fare for cabins and limit their upgrade count to a set number of passengers.”
The group suggests that airlines should create individually targeted upgrade sales pitches to likely purchasers, based on a range of demographic and ticket data. “A personal traveler may be willing to spend a few hundred dollars on an upgrade versus a business traveler willing to spend over a thousand.” Leader said.
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A number of airlines are currently testing last-minute auctions of seat upgrades (like Virgin America’s SeatBoost), and some are trying virtual reality sales pitches– put on a headset and take a virtual walk-arounds of premium cabins, then decide.
The report cites a company called PaxLife, a specialist in airline ancillary revenue programs, which argues that the timing of the offer and the ease of buying — preferably a one-click transaction — it are the keys to selling upgrades to passengers identified as likely buyers. PaxLife this month is rolling out a wireless in-flight entertainment system that lets an airline stream advertising directly to passengers’ personal electronic devices. A system like that could offer instant upgrade purchases.
Here’s an inforgraphic with some of the APEX survey findings about upgrades:
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Salvatore Johnson says
January 21, 2016 at 5:46 pmYou have to make that decision like the rest of us, do you want comfort? If that is the case you have to pay more for it, sorry but that is the bare bone facts. Of course it’s easy after the flight to say that you just stuck it out and saved the money, but the older you get the harder it gets. Frankly I think it’s also dangerous for some of us that are older and a bit overweight. How many folks get dangerous blood clots on flights are probably climbing and I have to think that folks are going to die on some of these flights, sticking it out and saving a thousand dollars.
Again, it’s a choice we have to make and we shouldn’t react by saying your getting sick and tired of those 1%. There are choices, it’s just costly.
Evan Torch says
January 21, 2016 at 12:14 amYou think a socialist cares whether or not you get a premium seat? What’s wrong with that picture?
Chris Kane says
January 20, 2016 at 6:39 pmOk, all you frequent fliers who don’t really pay for your tickets or the premiums. I used to be one of you, but now I’m just an old man who flies in the back of the bus. I recently booked a flight from SFO-AUS probably at least six weeks in advance. When it came time to select seats, I found the only seat for my wife and I together was in the back of the A319 bus right next to the head. Oh, the middle seats in each row were available, but the clear intent was to get us to “upgrade” to economy plus. And yes, every one, almost, of those seats was available. We persevered, watched all the others who boarded without paying the premium take the seats we would have preferred, and just grew angrier and angrier at the strategy of the United VP of “revenue enhancement.” This country is getting sick and tired of you “1 Percenters.” Go Bernei!
Kylie Pug says
January 20, 2016 at 5:24 pmIt’s not just the extra legroom, but I’d like extra width on longer flights. I wish US carriers would provide a nice premium economy similar to Cathay, Air Canada, Lufthansa for example. I heard that AA will start offering a premium econ soon.
Salvatore Johnson says
January 20, 2016 at 5:06 pmHow many times have I written about this, it’s all part of the airlines plans to make flying as terrible as possible to get people to pay for more leg room, bigger seats, business class and first class. Just look at the model, I fly from Washington D.C. to California and coach is usualy someplace between $300 to $450. It’s very rare to get anything under $400 so you now look at first class/business class. That runs from the low of $770 to the sky is the limit. Over the last two years I pay, two months in advance about $850. For me on a five hour flight this is worth the cost. Now if that first class seat goes up over $1,200 I won’t do it, but the airlines is finding that we are willing to pay about double for first class.
Getting a “free” upgrade to first class doesn’t exist anymore, unless you are really lucky and you better be a 100,000 mile a year flyer.
So this is the dirty little secret of the airlines, trying to get us to pay double for something that is reasonably comfortable. But the bad news, I am seeing more folks like me paying for it and now it’s harder to get that $850 first class fare. Unfortunately I don’t see the airlines increasing first class sections to accommodate folks like me so in a year or two it will be expensive and terrible again. Remember this, the airlines don’t give a crap about our comfort, all they care about is how much money they can get out of us and if it means giving us a bad coach product and forcing us to first class that is what they are doing.