The British Airways new airline, Open Skies, has introduced a concierge service initiative to complement their flights. It will be a free resource for those of you who fly with the airline. The service is available after you book your flight to help you plan for your trip, which may include finding a hotel, renting a car, etc. They’ve hired 10 people specifically to help them with this cause – and I’m pretty positive a hiring prerequisite had to do with the nature of your name…as Aurore, Chantal, Dominique, Freddy, Frédéric, Hichem, Karin, Petra, Sonja, and Stellan were their new hires.
That being said, it’s interesting to note that this airline, in particular, is taking a different approach to the grim present reality in the airline industry. Every day we read stories about airlines like American charging for first checked bags, planes flying slower to decrease fuel consumption, or the unilateral increase across the board for change fees. This airline has taken a different approach by providing ADDITIONAL VALUE to passengers in order to keep them happy and loyal, rather than nickel and diming them to death. I’ll have to say I commend the effort on their part and it will be interesting to see how it pans out.
The concierge concept, coincidentally, is something we have been tossing around within the company. Our new suite of online services will allow travelers to electronically manage and execute awards travel like never before. We will also be able to intelligently suggest travel opportunities to you depending on your mileage balances and the places you tell us you’d like to visit. For instance, if you are planning a trip to Boston and you’re tracking fares in our system, we can tell you what miles would be most effective for that flight. Oh, and btw – you’ve also got a large balance of Marriot Rewards that you haven’t touched in over a year (“Doh! I forgot I had those!”) So why pay for lodging on your trip when you can use reward points on our site to book a stay for free? While you’re at it, we might suggest that you grab a rental car with your balance of unused Avis miles, and so on and so forth. I’m sure you get the point. These services, however, provide real value to users and people are willing to pay for them. In fact, every meeting we’ve had with a TechStars mentor or visiting executive from a technology powerhouse out West ends with someone saying, “Heck, I’d definitely pay you to tell me how to use my miles.”
Our team firmly believes there should always be a free version, but as services grow more complex and useful, so do the costs of maintaining and enhancing them. The question I pose to you: would you pay to have somebody manage your miles, and if so, what would you pay for and how much?
