Just got back from vacation, so a few unrelated thoughts:
- I am glad the GOP is working hard to prevent the U.S. from turning into a socialist wasteland like Europe. I mean, imagine how horrible if Detroit or Des Moines were to become as barren and lifeless as, say, Rome.
- Is Paul Ryan evil? Stupid? Or what? Why are people treating this guy seriously? The guy is a complete fraud.
- I genuinely don’t understand why intervening in Libya made sense, but intervening in Syria is off the table. And no one seems willing to address this issue clearly except to make simplistic order of battle arguments. Do you have any idea how quickly we can erode conventional capabilities? Am I wrong? Why?
- I am glad that United is spending $500 million to upgrade cabins…. No actually I’m not. Instead of better beds in business class, I’d rather have kept my complimentary wine and beer in economy on international flights. I don’t think most people realize how pervasive upward transfer of wealth has daily consequences.
Anyways, I’ll be posting more regularly from here on out.
Glad to hear you plan to post more often. Looking forward to it.
Really good point. I guess snobbery isn’t a solid like lead… it is a gas which diffuses through the smallest crack, and expands to fit the size of any container.
I assume that when you booked your flights you carefully compared the in flight amenities offered by the various carriers. Right? Or, did you pick the cheapest flight? More likely. Leisure air travel has become a commodity business which means that the only thing to compete on is price. As long as that’s the case, airlines aren’t going to give a damn how comfortable their passengers are in coach.
I am not sure business travelers focus on amenities either, do they? They may be less price sensitive, but I would guess that they choose flights based on (a) loyalty programs, (b) times of departure, (c) airport convenience, and (d) number of stops, not necessarily in that order.
My suspicion is just that airline executives are operating under the assumption that comfort means a great deal, but really that this largely reflects a value judgment about what passengers in each class “deserve.”
When I was a low-level road warrior (traveling a couple times a month) I wanted three things and was willing to pay a premium to get them:
1. No connections.
2. Good on-time record.
3. Frequent-flyer program that got me perks like better seats in coach, decent shot at a first-class upgrade, early boarding, priority baggage handling.
The last of these is interesting because it winds up being somewhat circular–you tend to prefer airlines where you have ‘elite’ status so you can maintain it or where you are close to elite status and can push it over the edge with another flight or two. The hard-core road warriors–folks who fly at least once a week, especially long/international flights–don’t have to worry about getting or maintaining status on any one airline because they are going to easily get to top-level perks on a few airlines a year. The airlines have figured this out since most frequent-flyer programs have lifetime elite status for people who rack up a million miles or more.
In short, I don’t think this has anything to do with what airlines think different types of passengers deserve; their models just show that business travelers are more profitable and they put more resources into acquiring and retaining those customers.
But look, what you are pointing to is that airlines already have a solid advantage with their existing frequent-flyers. Once you are elite, there is a high cost to shift to another carrier, particularly since you probably picked the one you’re elite with precisely because it offered the best convenience initially.
I’m just saying, I doubt the airlines have any rigorous evidence to suggest that a $500,000,000 investment in even nicer business/1st class amenities will either build or retain their business travelers any better than a $200m investment, or an investment that mixes upgrades 50-50 between business and coach, etc.