I have been looking at who is doing a good job in providing consumer information on fees and ancillaries charges.
Given the industry and consumer advocacy focus on this – I really wanted to see who does a good job.
So, I went to some of the top online travel agency sites, GDSs and the search/metasearch sites who can provide data and then this table is the results.
Global Distribution Systems
| Company | Fee calculator |
|---|---|
| Amadeus | Nothing at present |
| Sabre | 64 airlines split into domestic and international - basic 4 columns and a counter to compare (*1) |
| Worldspan | Nothing at present |
| Galileo | Nothing at present |
Search/metasearch engines
| Site | Fee calculator |
|---|---|
| Bing Travel | Nothing at present |
| Farecompare | a good comprehensive chart for 16 airlines available in USA (*2) |
| Kayak | 27 airlines with more detail (*3) |
| Mobissimo | Nothing at present |
| Skyscanner | Nothing at present |
Online travel agencies
| Site | Fee calculator |
|---|---|
| Cleartrip | nothing at present |
| eDreams | nothing at present |
| Expedia | nothing at present (adding tools to Egencia) |
| Opodo | nothing at present |
| Priceline | nothing at present |
| Travelocity | nothing at present (adding tools to Travelocity Business) |
| Travelstart | nothing at present |
| Wotif/Wotflights | nothing at present |
| Zuji | nothing at present |
Notes:
Frankly, I am surprised – I would have thought that by now consumer advocacy would have driven sites to do a better job.
So either the sites are lazy or they are fatalistic about doing the job.
It has been a long while since I did an overview of consumer support – but I am actually surprised at how little there is out there to help users.
In almost all cases – it was hard to find the information on each site.
So I could actually have missed if the individual site does have the information. In that case I will apologize for not finding it but then chastise the site for not making it intuitive and easier.
If there is a lesson here – it is that if you are consumer facing you should have an easy way to simplify the way airline information is presented. It will also help to build trust in the mind of the consumer.
That has to be a good thing – so why aren’t you doing it?
Related posts:
- North American, European corporations feel consumer pain on ancillary fees
- Should airlines be forced to disclose equal pricing and fees in all channels?
- Fly.com finds increased website traffic means more fees to ITA Software
- Study: Winners in airline ancillary revenue
- Southwest Airline’s Kelly calls on competitors to increase bag fees
About Timothy O'Neil-Dunne
Great post Timothy, and you are spot on!
It is something that I have been thinking about doing on Travel Rants, but when I have started to look for this information on the airline website’s it’s not easy, time consuming, and it is something that needs to be kept up to date.
In my research on this story – I tried to think like a consumer and as one – I am amazed at how hard it is to get that info. Some sites have very clear FAQa which are really nice – but even the best one required a fair number of clicks to get there. I will continue my hunt for the perfect simple site.
I liken a visit to travel websites as a trip to the airport. How many shopping opportunities do I have to avoid to get to my gate? On this subject I can be VERY cranky… But I live in hope that sooner or later someone out there will make my life easier. It just may be when I come back as an evolved animal …if you have read Vennegut’s book Galapagos you will know what I mean.
cheers
Timothy
Speaking for Cleartrip, we haven’t really delivered on fee information as domestic flights within India, which is the biggest part of our business, are still completely free of any fees.
Where’s Orbitz?
Hrush: In that regard, the consumer in India is very lucky then.
Yes, Indian consumers are fairly lucky at this moment. But it’s all driven by the macro-trends–the domestic aviation market is still growing in a very healthy way and growth is expected to continue over the next 5 years or so.
The domestic carriers in India do not have overcapacity as their largest stumbling block–they face other challenges with local taxation on fuel imports etc. So, they haven’t seen the need to resort to nickel-and-diming customers with fees for checked bags, sneezing etc.
At least not yet…
Greetings Fellow Citizen Travellers… Here are some more links that you might like.
http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/airline-fees-the-ultimate-guide.html?id=2623262
These are separate links and a nice guide for those who want to see something visual. It was created by the Expedia owned Smarter Travel blogger team and editors.
Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide—US Edition
Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide—Europe Edition
Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide—Latin America and Caribbean Edition
Frequent Flyer Fees: The Ultimate Guide
Carry-On Bags: The Ultimate Guide
Tipping: The Ultimate Guide