The secrets to keeping airline passengers happy

Shot of happy young woman with coffee waiting her flight at airport lounge and reading ebook on her digital tablet.

A new study from Amadeus has delved into what makes plane passengers tick, and how to please the countless styles of traveller.

When it comes to travel, there’s a number of different travellers, and while they all have different priorities, the research shows it all comes down to three values; product, service and convenience.

For each traveller, the balance between product, service and convenience will shift, affecting the overall price that they are willing to pay for a flight.

Each time a customer searches for a flight, they bring their individual values to the search:

PRODUCT: “It’s a long flight – I want as much legroom as possible.”

SERVICE: “I want to feel like my holiday has started as soon as I step on the plane.”

CONVENIENCE: “I need a direct flight; I don’t have time for a stopover.” On any given journey, a customer may place a different value on each component, depending on the context of their flight.

By applying the paradigm to different types of travel personas, we can create a clear picture of how to upsell something of value to each of them.

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“All brands are realising that they need to invest in a wide range of tactics to ensure they keep existing clients loyal, as well as bring new ones into the fold,” reads a 2016 report from Crowd Twist called ‘The Loyalty Evolution’.

The research suggests the importance of multichannel loyalty programmes. Of the 230 brands surveyed from a range of industries as part of the report, only 17 per cent had multichannel programmes.

However, of that 17 per cent, almost nine out of 10 rated their loyalty schemes as successful.

Airlines also have to appeal to two types of brand loyalists – travellers who continue to choose them time after time, and those who believe themselves to be loyal, but who are actually susceptible to being swayed by another brand that appeals to their values.

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According to the report, customers will only tolerate brands that present them with a relevant, speedy user experience, and will turn away from brands that don’t.

In fact, certain consumers will be ready to shift to whichever brand shows that they are best able to serve them – right at that moment.

The report states that from an airline’s perspective, as well as catering for their customers in the best possible way, and upholding the principles of moment marketing, they’ll also need to factor in the real-time influences on their offering.

Don’t forget the millennials

A consultant for Festive Road (and millennial traveller), Aurelie Krau, contributed her thoughts to the report, in a “plea” to speak the language of the younger generations.

“Airlines can market themselves better to millennials by helping us connect the dots. Today, our trips are pretty much fragmented,” she said.

“Make my life easier. Give me some information when I arrive at the airport. If I have a layover of several hours, get in touch with me and send me an offer for lounge access, for example. “Recognise me, keep in touch with me, create touchpoints.

“Don’t forget about me after the trip. And value my opinion, because we millennials share a lot of content online. We take selfies, we share our experiences.

“During or after my trip, if I tag the airlines, it could be something as simple as a ‘like’ on my Instagram or Facebook post. Say ‘Have a good flight’ and ask ‘How did we do?’

“Stop sending emails – we don’t really read them. Just send us a smartphone notification. Speak our language – a simple thumbs up, thumbs down, or star rating are likely to result in a better engagement.

“We’ll answer because it’s instant, it’s easy and we have smartphones in our hands all the time. And gamify it, so that we find value in providing feedback.”

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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