[FormerlyDoS]

Misunderstandings are very easy on the internet, as one cannot easily determine peoples motives 🙂

Talking of pricing on the internet and the motives behind it, I know a guy in Malta who runs a car hire outfit. He tells me that pricing sensitivity is so great that raising or lowering the daily rate of a small car by as little as 1€ has a significant effect on sales.

So ‘clever’ ways of reducing the headline and back loading the final costs translate directly into profit.

[SimonS1]

Anthony – it’s not a personal thing, I just don’t think it helps fellow travellers on here when you present things as fact when actually it’s just an (incorrect) interpretation.

FDoS – personally I am all in favour of this type of pricing, so long as it is not misleading. Why not offer people additional extras – this only translates into ‘back loading’ if you actually need the service. In other words if you need 23kg of baggage, food, or a reserved seat weeks in advance then that’s fine but many people don’t require any of these. Great that we don’t have to subsidise those that do, because as the example above shows you can almost halve the price.

Discount hotels have been doing this for years – headline price, then add things like breakfast, internet access etc etc. Many people don’t require these, however if you do then there are still full service operators that offer all in prices.

[FormerlyDoS]

Simon

I’m with you in principle, I like unbundled too, I hate that stupid BA ad that makes out the G&T with the lemon in it is free.

I see where Anthony is coming from with some charges, like have to pay separately to check in with Ryanair, which is an unavoidable charge and should be included in the headline price.

[SimonS1]

Yes I agree with that re Ryanair. I would say they are the unacceptable face of LCCs.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ SimonS1 – 22/11/2012 08:42 GMT

Simon, I endeavour to present opinions based upon actual experience, facts and/or interpolation from both. Whilst I have flown EJ repeatedly in the past, this has not been since the inception of their allocated seating system earlier this year (my flying this Summer has been of a rather different kind in central Asia) which is why I endeavoured to get my head around this online.

With the (depending upon your point of view) range of chargeable options/standard items billed as add-ons, the EJ website is now very “busy” with ever more verbiage relating to each option.

There are some 28 Q&As regarding the new seat allocation policy plus additional drop-down dialogue boxes. I glazed over after the first half a dozen and lazily and incorrectly made an assumption regarding the costs of pre-allocated seating for which I humbly apologise. As I suspect that I might not be alone in this, I put forward an alternative which is rather more succinct and possibly clearer:

“From the end of November 2012, all EJ flights will operate with pre-allocated seating. If you wish, and for an additional payment, you can choose your seat at the time of booking. Alternatively, you can opt not to pay extra in which case you will be allocated a seat at random at the time of checking-in for the flight. We will endeavour to seat groups together but cannot guarantee this.”

Sometimes, too much information kills the message.

BA’s offering does not have the “optionality” that EJ has – and its site is massively more straightforward as a result. Clearly, I need to get out more and I will endeavour not to make the same mistake again.

[FormerlyDoS]

Anthony

Looking through your eye, I agree the easyjet FAQs are messy.

I was one of a group (probably very large) who was consulted/informed about the allocated seating for over ayear, so it is second nature to me.

But I do see your point.

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