For those of you who do not travel very often you may or may not be aware that the airlines are now charging you for a second bag. Depending on the airline you travel most frequently the price can vary anywhere from $3/pound to $25/bag. As I have recently been spending more time around the State College area it was a pleasant surprise to me when I flew down to Florida a few days ago that I would be spending an extra $25 for a second bag on US Air.
Consider this, after flying about 50,000 miles on this airline in the past 2 to 3 years it would be safe to say that I send them considerable business. There was very little advanced notice sent to me by email at the time that they began to charge and very little notice at the airport. I'm sure if I had taken a look at the confirmation email I may have seen something (to be fair). But as it stands here is the interesting thing to note. After emailing customer service about this and another related issue I was told this is being done to save me, the consumer, money.
I took 3 minutes to pull up a flight from around the same time last year to the same destination and found very little difference in the price. With that being said it was a very clever way to raise prices and charge you for what used to be norm (the now additional second bag). For a person who normally travels with one bag this doesn't change much but for many people who use two they now have to spend extra and must reconsider the cost of using an airline and what to bring.
Considering the state of the Airline industry today I wonder if clearly communicating the reason for the hike would have been a better way to go. In business is it worth the loss of a customer and their circle of influence to come up with a "your call is important" to us statement if their actions show the opposite? Are you doing that in your own organization or marketing? What would be the price of having simple, honest, clearly communicated statements that finds the correct people. A thinking customer will likely find out sooner or later and their nonthinking friends would soon follow. So what do you think, is honestly the best policy?
Mikhail
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