Photo: Todd Lappin/Flickr
At a recent industry conference, a United Airlines rep said that customers are definitely more interested in “no frills” fare options these days. That comment – along with some leaked information from an employee – makes it look like the airline could be retooling its fare and payment plans.
The first half of that idea involves some economy fares becoming the “cheap seats” (and nothing but the seat), a ticket option that might not include pre-boarding, an advanced seat assignment or more than the minimum amount of legroom. The slightly more expensive “Economy Plus” would make formerly universal perks like on-demand entertainment and beverage service something that fliers would have to pay for.
This unbundling strategy, made popular by budget carriers like Spirit Airlines, has already been put into practice by Delta and Etihad. But while paying less may seem like a deal up front, it can also end up costing a lot more if you ever need to change your travel dates or carry an extra bag. Or any bags, really.
In addition to the potential change to the fare structure, View From the Wing acquired a leaked mockup of the United website, which seemed to show that the airline is toying around with taking reward points instead of cash payment at a rate of a penny per mile (so $53 would be 5,300 frequent flier miles). Upon seeing the mockup of the “United 2.0” purchase options, View From the Wing’s Gary Leff wrote:
“The worst thing that this individual believes – and he may be right – is that customers don’t treat their miles as a currency with value. They treat them as ‘free’. So paying with miles seems like you are getting something for nothing.”
So when could we see these new fares or points options? Who knows. Leff said that the leaked information (which was posted on a United web designer’s personal website) appeared to be for “phase 2” of the carrier’s website. Phase 1, he said “took years to launch.”
A United spokesperson told Road Warrior Voices:
“Innovative products and pricing methods are always in our plans, particularly given the recent launch of the new United.com. That document illustrates some developmental concepts, but it’s important to note that the designs are unfinished and do not express what the actual outcome will be.”
What will the outcome be? And how different will that be from the concepts shown online? Guess we’ll all have to wait and see.