Sylleptic

Back this weekend from a fantastic holiday, all researched and arranged using the Internet. It’s fantastic to think about how much travel has been changed by sites like TripAdvisor, and the sites produced by even small hotels are getting so good. There were only 2 bad experiences throughout the whole trip, both down to the same company, who used to be a client of mine. Can you guess who:

• Is desperate to get their customers to check in online?
• Changes booked seats (checked in online) at the departure gate, so that people who didn’t bother to check in online can be kept seated together?
• Markets exhaustively and expensively to independent travellers, to maximise their yield by cutting out agents and tour operators?
• Oversells a 747-300 by 22 seats, and has the same situation on every flight on that route for the next 3 months?
• Lies about a smaller plane having been sent (and by the way, what plane do most airlines have that is bigger than a 747-300?) so there aren’t enough seats?
• Prioritises the customers of agents and tour operators over independent travellers (who bought their tickets the day the seats came online) when deciding who gets bumped, because it can’t afford to upset their big stakeholders?

I bet anyone who’s travelled with this airline in the last 12 months can name them. The point is that online services and advertising need to be backed up and executed on in the actual business: doing it in the advertising isn’t enough.

I’m not angry, but I am flying Virgin next time!