When I got to security, there were two lines:
1. The regular line
2. The “priority” line
Frustrating observation from the line: the single priority
line had two security lanes, and the normal travelers only had ONE. As I stood
in the ‘normal traveler’ line for a long 30 minutes, I thought long and hard
about why this would be the case.
It’s one thing to cater to your most loyal customers and
spenders, but in an industry such as travel – why are airlines inconveniencing
the average travelers that are paying for their flights…themselves? And don’t
want to continue traveling and buying flights if they have negative airport
experiences?
As Millennials age and digital communication works to make
life more convenient (i.e. – apps like Passbook), customers expect to feel
SPECIAL. It’s no longer a privilege to have these special rights; it appears
that priority groups feel like they earned and deserved the right to wait in a
shorter line.
This “special” treatment and entitlement to priority
customers continues throughout the airport, like when you board the plane
itself. When I checked into my flight early, I was excited to see that I was in
boarding group 2. I later learned that this doesn’t mean anything anymore,
because people board a plane in the following order:
- First-class
- Priority access
- Group 1
- Those only traveling with one bag
- Group 2
- Everyone else
So much for my excitement! I was pretty much the last person
to board the plane anyway. While the ideas of fast-passes and priority treatment to
loyal, high-paying customers have been around for awhile with Disney rides and
more, it appears that consumers seem to be actively pursuing control in this space. Earlier this month, two frequent flyers sued United Airlines for charging different amounts of mile balances for the same flights, using preferential pricing. How far will the special generation go to get what they want?
No comments:
Post a Comment