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ONBOARD CATERING: À LA CARTE PRICING MODELS POST CAMILLED UP

What do you think about airlines’ à la carte pricing model like the one on Swiss Air? À la carte pricing model is based on the idea that you can pre-book your meal (at a price) in advance, and get a breakfast or lunch served during the flight. Would you be willing to test such a service, especially on short-haul flights?

FLIGHT LEVEL

This is a good idea to add income for the operator, though the basic choice of pre-booking online should be available for all classes. Given enough time it’s a simple data operation to provide requirements to the catering company vehicle that attends nearly every flight. In that way we should be able to order the service we want, including “à la carte” and at least be sure we can get a meal on board we like.

KMB9624

Doesn’t Air Baltic successfully adopt this business model as well? Personally, I would rather pre-order and purchase what I want anyway. It would free up the cabin crew to offer more personalised service, and it would compel me to enjoy my flight because I had a “choice”.

CANUCKLAND

This might be a radical idea, but I’d love to see an airline treat its passengers like guests. Once you’ve paid a fare, expect to be treated like a king or a queen, by an airline that will deliver a level of service that encourages you to book with them time and time again. Alas, most airlines now adopt a (crap) minimal service level agreement with the passenger and then blackmail us into buying what we took for granted not that long ago. And like all blackmailers, once you start to pay, you encourage the relationship in only one direction. Similar to a drug dealer and his junkie base!

BLAGGING AN UPGRADE POST HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

What’s the most audacious/funny/ successful attempt at blagging an upgrade you have ever witnessed (or indeed, pulled off yourself )?

STEVE SCOOTS

I have never asked, but have mistakenly had a face-off when I was convinced I had booked business but actually booked economy on a reward flight… they did upgrade me to premium economy after I profusely apologised. That was just last week on CX!

GIVINGUPBA

Not an upgrade but I know a true funny story of two Himalayan climbers avoiding excess baggage charges en route from the UK to Kathmandu in economy. They had huge bags full of ironmongery, and when challenged by check-in staff, they said the bags were “full of jam for the starving orphans of Nepal”. The staff were so amused by the obvious lie that they let them off without a surcharge.

ALEX_F

Great story! I once tried to convince a gate agent that, despite my boarding pass saying 22D, given the necessary weight distribution to ensure the aircraft’s maximum performance and efficiency, the prime location for me was 1A. In the name of safety of course. In the end, security were kind to me. Airport detention rooms in the US offer free coffee. Cookies were extra though…

PETER COULTAS

Have enjoyed several upgrades but now the existence of “premium economy” means the upgrade is worth little… Economy to business? Yes. But economy to premium economy is worthless if there are a few free rows at the back in economy to stretch out in…

ESSELLE

My best was offering a pack of Krispy Kreme doughnuts while checking in for a flight from Phoenix to Toronto. Worked a treat.

TIRED OLDHACK 2

I used to be quite good at this, in the days when I had a humble BA blue card. Dressing cleanly, not necessarily smartly, was always essential. I used to use props, something visibly expensive or unusual. I like mechanical watches, so my beloved ancient Oris was one. I’m a journalist, so the lens case for a Nikon F2.8 200mm lens (that’s expensive glass) was another. Scribbling something at check-in using a proper fountain pen with an italic nib was another. And a hat. A proper hat, not a baseball cap. The great thing with hats is lifting them in greeting, it's a courtesy you don’t see much these days. And a hat makes you stand out a bit from the crowd. So I’d stroll up to the check-in desk, raise hat, greet politely, open passport wallet which also has a visible international journalist’s card, and snap the credit card down on the desk, with a simple request: “What will it cost me to change this ticket from (eg) World Traveller to Club World?” It’s not asking, wanly, for an upgrade. It’s “Here I am, I’m not quite run-of-the-mill, I like nice things, I’m polite, and I’m offering to pay.”