Guest columnist Tom Bacon regularly receives marketing emails from airlines but wonders whether they are missing a trick

This week I received emails from each of five airlines advising me of their flights and fares. One of those airlines sent me an offer every day; one focused on weekend promotions; another advised me of deals for late spring and post-summer. Since my summer travel is already booked, and don’t plan any other trips, I’ve ignored these solicitations.

What I noticed was that all these email promotions were focused more on what the airline needs (more passengers this weekend, more pre- and post-summer) than on what I need. Admittedly, airlines have a bit of a challenge identifying the right time for a promotion from the customer’s perspective as we all have different needs and travel patterns.

In fact, not only are consumers bombarded with promotions like this, they also receive tonnes of other information, inquiries, and so-called opportunities. So more often than not, the bulk of these are ignored unless they come at just the right time.

Timing is key to making any sale. No matter how compelling the message – the product, the offer or the experience, when the message comes makes all the difference.

In travel merchandising today, in fact, each product/offer has a different right time. The right time for a flight promotion is different from the right time for a promotion for a hotel, which is different from the best time for a limo from the airport.  Travellers tend to compartmentalise their travel planning and travel merchandisers need to appropriately tailor various offers.  Let’s follow through the whole travel planning process and discuss the merchandising opportunities best suited to each phase:

·        Dream/inspire

The first phase in travel planning is the dream phase. This has been a tremendous space for social media as travellers share their travel experiences with each other on Facebook or Instagram, effectively spreading everything from the dream of Disney World and the Grand Canyon to a girls’ weekend or college reunion. 

But airlines haven’t been very effective in the dream/inspire phase. Most US airlines offer flights across the country and they are not inclined to focus on one, or even a dozen, specific locations. Allegiant Airlines, however, is more destination-focused than most others and they aggressively market Las Vegas, for example. They capitalise on events – a new Cirque du Soleil production – to create dreams in South Dakota and Iowa. Allegiant, which positions itself as a travel company not just an airline, will also sell you tickets for the Cirque du Soleil event even before you’ve booked your flight.

·        Research

It is only after the traveller has gotten excited about a particular destination or event that he is open to flight promotions. Of course, this is very difficult to time properly as noted above. Some third party sites monitor fares for certain city pairs, advising potential travellers of deals that match their pre-specified travel dreams. 

Some new travel sites offer customers the ability to lock in a flight/fare while they proceed with their travel planning (arranging specific dates with relatives, coordinating time off work, etc).  As with Cirque du Soleil events, this can translate into a revenue stream for a travel merchandiser even before the airline booking is complete.

·        Air Booking

More typically, the first transaction has been the air booking. Typically, the air booking comes before the hotel or car rental booking – it anchors the entire trip. Also, with the growth of ancillary fees, this is where airlines have focused a lot of their merchandising efforts – now that you’ve booked a flight, do you want to check a bag? Sit in a bigger seat? Gain flexibility to change your travel plans?

Jason Bryant of Nor1 has done a lot of research into these ‘upsell’ opportunities. He advises, however, that it is not necessarily best to introduce some of these ancillary features at the time of the air booking. Clearly, bombarding a traveller with too many upsell choices at this point can confuse him – or introduce additional anxiety in the already often-too-complex travel planning process.

‘Branded fares’ are one way that airlines are trying to simplify the process for travellers. With a branded fare, customers can choose a package of ancillary features that meet their needs (the checked bag and the larger seat). But in the US, the first two airlines to offer branded fares, have both dramatically changed their rebundled, branded offerings this year. Branded fares are in tremendous flux as airlines experiment with merchandising alternatives during the air-booking phase.

Potentially, the right time for many ancillary sales is not so linked to the airline booking at all. Some airlines offer subscription services – like an annual pass to the airport lounge. And many continue to engage with passengers after they have booked their flight to ensure they are aware of the various ancillary service enhancements.

·        Prepare: Car or hotel booking

For many passengers, hotel and car bookings occur after the flight booking. And for many the hotel comes first and the car is booked even closer to the departure date. As a travel company, not just an airline, Allegiant reports its ‘third-party revenue’, which is mostly from hotel and car bookings, as part of quarterly financial results. For the most recent quarter, third-party revenue was more than 10% of its total revenue and it booked 144,000 hotel nights and 281,000 car rental days.

Many airlines now offer car/hotel deals at the time of the airline booking – and, if you don’t book them at that time – they continue to offer such deals periodically between the time of the air booking and the flight. 

·        The Flight  

For some ancillary offerings, the right time is at the airport or on the flight when the customer is effectively a ‘captive audience’. On international flights, many airlines capitalise on duty-free sales. Also, last-minute upgrades are often popular. With a broader travel company orientation, airlines would help fill in any gaps in a customer’s planning at any time, including hotels and cars, tickets for events, vouchers for ground transportation and so on while on the plane.

·        Post-flight

Similarly, travel arrangements don’t end when the airplane lands. Ideally, airlines would continue to be engaged with customers, providing services needed throughout the trip.

What we have been talking about here is customer engagement. Effective travel merchandising means comprehensive travel offerings timed properly to meet customer needs during the entire travel process. 

Guest columnist Tom Bacon is a 25-year airline veteran and industry consultant in revenue optimisation. Questions? Contact Tom at tom.bacon@yahoo.com or visit his website http://makeairlineprofitssoar.wordpress.com/