Price and Schedule Most Important Factors for Airline Travellers

“But the research should not be perceived as negative towards softer marketing driven aspects of customer choice. FFPs were still the fifth most important differentiator directly influencing choice and most programmes are also designed to generate customer insight that can be used in all decisions relating to the customer proposition — including informing Schedule and Pricing management. Knowing who is on board is also a powerful contributor to increasing profitability.

“Brand loyalty, once again, was still relevant but there are so many factors contributing to the customer purchase decision it will be hard to isolate the influence of portrayed brand values, be they either Trust or Aspiration as typically categorised in brand research.

So as this research once again highlights for most marketing directors the challenge is to understand the contribution to the customer proposition from each of the Brand, Product and Relationship marketing activities in their armoury and, importantly, how these combine to drive response from differing customer segments, all based on the deep understanding of customer value, needs and behaviour.”

The research used the Priority Pass database and over 1,300 members were questioned. Priority Pass is an independent airport VIP lounge programme and members get access to over 500 VIP lounges in more than 90 countries and 275 cities world-wide, regardless of which airline they are flying or their class of travel. The vast majority of members are regular business travellers.

Seat comfort and company policy were factors in determining which airline to use — 27% and 22% respectively. The influence of company policy diminished the smaller the number of employees a company had; hence, for larger companies the need to toe the company line grew, yet interestingly the cost of the flight played less of a part.

Whilst FFP were only the fifth most important decider they still carried significant weight in determining which carrier to use; and certain benefits of the FFP were more important than others. Easily the most significant was the ability to use Priority Check-in, 42%, closely followed by Airport Lounges at 33%. Evans says: “Priority Check-in really has become a hot topic since the introduction of more stringent security measures at airports. One of the main concerns voiced by regular business travellers is the length of check-in queues and time. By listening to members airlines have made significant head ways into prioritising their FFP member’s check-in.”

Once again compounded by protracted check-in times before flights, private airport lounges are offering many a weary traveller welcome respite.

27% believed that an upgrade was the most important benefit of a FFP, whilst 23% believed it to be the ability to be rewarded with free flights. However Evans believes that this is highly dependant on both the airline operational model and the specific detail of the trip. Customer needs vary over short haul versus long haul — time minimisation is a critical consideration on short haul whereas overall journey comfort and service plays a stronger hand in flights of over four hours.

Fast-track through airports has grown in significance and is now the main priority of 20% of those questioned. Evans says: “Certain airlines have been quick to spot these recent changes in customer needs and are now changing operations to meet the growing demand; especially on mixed leisure / business routes where the business traveller and savvy leisure passengers will be keenest to avoid the queues. As Fast Track is often a business cabin privilege this might provide sufficient justification for a higher priced ticket even on a relatively shorter route

Only 9% would like to see discounts extended to their partners, a fairly insignificant minority, although 10% would like an increased baggage allowance and a further 13% would like to see reservation assurances as protection from flights that are normally overbooked by the airlines.

Evans concludes that it is the level of customer insight that provides the real benefits regular travellers are seeking from their FFP. He says: “This is where the growth area in FFP is going to be — delivering personalised benefits based on knowing members’ differing needs during the travel experience and throughout their entire relationship with the airline.”