The proliferation of fees has been one of the annoying changes over the past decade on this planet of travel.
We’re getting nickel and dimed with recent fees … from service fees, resort fees and baggage fees to seat project fees, housekeeping fees and environmental fees. You name it; they’ve created a charge for it.
One of the egregious recent fees we see nowadays is for airline seat assignments. It’s normal knowledge that almost all airlines charge for selecting not only extra legroom but in addition ‘preferred’ seats in coach. These standard seat assignments was once free, but now they’re the purview of elites and people willing to fork over the money.
Seat project fees are spreading to business class
Air France and KLM, joint partners (partially owned by Delta Air Lines), now charge customers for advanced seat assignments in business class. These are seats that may already cost as much as $10,000. But now, once you’ve got purchased a business-class seat (or used miles to secure it), you will need to pay between 70-90 euros ($76-$98) per flight to choose a seat ahead of time.
“With the present model of seat selection, Air France and KLM business class customers usually are not all the time assured of getting their preferred seat,” said Julia Gordon, communications director for Air France USA, through an email. “By introducing the Advanced Seat Reservation as a paid option, Air France and KLM will increase the possibility that our customers do actually get their preferred seat.”
There are some exceptions. Elite members of the joint Air France-KLM Flying Blue loyalty program are exempt from the fees, so when you are a Flying Blue Silver, Gold or Platinum member, you will not should pay to choose your business-class seat. You will even be exempt when you fly as a part of a company contract with the airlines. Moreover, you possibly can still pick a business-class seat without cost amongst what’s still available on the 24-hour check-in window.
One in every of the more annoying parts of that is that it was almost with none advance notice. It’s already in place for flights departing after April 13. It originally included flights to North America, but that has since been pulled back due to their transatlantic three way partnership with Delta and Virgin Atlantic. Nevertheless, in the event that they rolled it out once, it could easily come back.
“The execution of the Air France-KLM change could be very poor — to charge someone who could also be paying hundreds of dollars a fee to order a seat prematurely in the event that they do not have frequent flyer status is insulting,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research. “As a passenger, I’m under no circumstances joyful to see AF and KLM introduce seat project fees for business class; as an analyst, I’m not surprised.”
In actual fact, Harteveldt has predicted fees for business-class seats since at the very least 2016.
The move copies competitor British Airways, which has had the same policy in place for years. Lufthansa, Swiss and just a few other European carriers also charge for some business-class seat assignments.
Will this spread to US airlines?
The concern, after all, is that it could come to the U.S. market next.
Harteveldt said that may depend upon the Air France and KLM fees’ effect on business.
“They’ll look to see if there’s any shift in market share or negative response from corporate accounts,” Harteveldt said. “Seat project fees will soon arrive on U.S. airlines if there isn’t a meaningful negative response … then you definitely’ll see U.S. airlines adopt the model.”
It ought to be considered a failure by KLM and Air France since they never capitalized on the shortage of fees during those years when British Airways was charging for seat assignments they usually weren’t, based on Harteveldt. He also said the airlines must have considered offering a stripped-down version of business class that was cheaper and got here with fewer frills like extra baggage, lounge access and seat selection.
“In the event that they introduced a de-contented fare like Emirates has that strips out stuff … [usually included with] a basic business-class fare, that may be more comprehensible,” Harteveldt said. “With the reduction in business travel, perhaps it is smart for airlines to think about (a basic business-class fare) in the event that they would have the opportunity to sell more of their premium cabin seats.”
“I can not say that I’m surprised,” shared Brian Sumers, an industry expert who authors the Airline Observer newsletter. “Air France-KLM essentially has two competitors on that side of the Atlantic — International Airlines Group and Lufthansa Group. So, we all know that British Airways has had seat fees for a really very long time, and we all know that Lufthansa Group has charged for its special throne seats as well.”
“We even have a brand new development,” Sumers continued. “Lufthansa is coming out with its recent business class, and they’re going to charge for the whole lot. It’ll be probably the most complicated configuration for seat fees ever.”
At the identical time, Sumers said he understands the explanations behind it, including that business-class travel hasn’t fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was once that an airline like Air France would sell out the front cabin to bankers and lawyers who didn’t care how much money they paid,” explained Sumers. “Lots of that business is gone. TPG readers probably have bought a number of business class tickets for the summer. Of their minds, they paid a number of money for his or her tickets, but that premium leisure demand doesn’t exactly replace the business demand on a one-to-one basis.”
Once I asked him if he thought U.S. carriers would copy the move, Sumers said, “I believe U.S. airlines are more attuned to the political climate than passengers might imagine. There was enough heat on airlines for his or her fees that I believe those that work at airlines are taking an additional hard look before they add a brand new one.”
Bottom line
Unfortunately, each Harteveldt and Sumers agree that fees are here to remain.
“The buyer says they’re fed up, but on daily basis they get on budget airlines where it’s fee central,” Harteveldt said. “They’ve a Ticketmaster-like fee, fuel recovery, advance seat reservations. They charge for carry-on and checked luggage. We’ve not seen any of the network airlines say perhaps we are able to gain market share by not charging fees and going back to an all-inclusive model and promoting it aggressively. As a substitute, they’ve all copied the budget airline model of a la carte experience.”
“If there was a backlash, there would have been a significant shift in market share,” Harteveldt continued. “We’ve not seen a backlash … where passengers are revolting against the airlines that charge fees and a shift in market share to airlines that didn’t charge fees. Given the profits that airlines earned from these products, they usually are not going to present up any of that unless it’s forced on them by either the federal government or a change within the competitive environment.”
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