Revenue-based frequent flyer programs
For decades, frequent flyers were given rewards based on the number of miles they flew.
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This year, United Airlines, Delta and American Airlines changed that, rewarding miles based on the dollar amount of a ticket.
It's a seismic shift that doles out rewards to the big spenders, rather than the frequent fliers.
"In 33 years of frequent flier programs, this is the year of the biggest changes ever," notes Randy Petersen, CEO of Frequent Flier Services.
It is a model that is starting to spread throughout the industry.
"We saw some of the first hints globally from international carriers," notes Jason Clampet, co-founder of Skift.com, which follows trends in the travel industry.
Earlier this year, British Airways tweaked its loyalty program to reduce the amount of miles an economy ticket can accrue. Cathay Pacific also moved to a more revenue-based model a few months ago.
"It is kind of a ripple effect going back and forth in both directions. We are also going to see more creative loyalty programs pop up," predicts Clampet.
Third-party fees
Earlier this year, Lufthansa angered the travel agent community by charging a fee of 16 euros ($17) for bookings made outside of its website (basically, for anyone using a Global Distribution System, or GDS, to book).
GDS are the main computers for reservations, and airlines are charged fees for every booking process through a GDS.
Naturally, there is a financial incentive for the airline industry to discourage these types of bookings, though the move has supposedly provided backlash amongst travel bookers.
"It's not a huge amount of money, but it's a little bit more the concept," notes John Snyder, CEO of BCD Travel, a corporate travel management provider.
"Some of the customers in Germany are very unhappy with Lufthansa for making that move and we have customers that have booked away from Lufthansa," he adds.
When the fees were first announced, it was thought other airlines might follow suit. So far, Lufthansa is the only one to have added on the GDS fee.
New seat concepts
This year, Zodiac Aerospace, a premier supplier of aircraft equipment, came up with a new concept for the air cabin seat, one in which passengers face each other.
The HD-31, aka the knee-to-knee, may not seem like it gives much in the way of leg room, but according to Tommy Dean, Zodiac's head of Advanced Concepts, the design allows for greater efficiency and, ultimately, increased comfort.
"Airlines always come to us and ask to think outside the box, to challenge what's done traditionally. Today, everything face forward, everything's very conformist, but to really create more space, you have to start to redistribute people, actually change their orientation," he says.
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