First Class is dead. Long Live First Class.

10 years ago last month(January 2000) British Airways changed business class flying forever when they introduced the lie flat business class seat. I am sure that the revenue management team putting together the pricing and yielding plan for that launch did not realise that 10 years later they would be causing the death of first class. The launch itself completely changed the pricing for the standard 3 class airlines. In the early nineties (with the old Business Classes) the general rule for pricing between Economy, Business and First was "double double". Business was twice the cost of Economy. And First twice the cost of Business. But with flat beds stripping out seats, the pricing had to change. The rule went from "double double" to "by four by one point five". Sydney to Europe in economy was a $2,500, Business by 4 at $10,000 and First by 1.5 at $15,000. The gap between the price of Economy and the price of Business grew too great to withstand the Global F'n Crisis.

Today Qantas announced (during the publication of their results) that they would spend $400mm refitting most of the fleet to eliminate first class in all but 12 of its A380s.

On Jan 26 this year Air NZ announced their new plans for class configurations. They announced a revamped business, high end premium economy and the first efforts at beds in economy class. It does not include a first class (Upgrade:Travel Better blog post here on the announcement).

I therefore conclude that First Class is on its deathbed. My prediction is that within the next 3 years (by end 2013) all but the most luxurious of carriers that have flat or near flat Business Class seats (ie everyone bar Emirates, Qatar, Etihad and maybe Singapore) will follow suit and remove First Class from their configurations. That will leave Business as the new First with a huge gap to Premium Economy and smaller gap to Economy. In effect having moved from a 3 class airlines product to a 4 class airline product to a 2.5 class range of product.

But the change will continue. I predict that over the course of the following 7 years (starting in 2013 and ending in 2020) the seats in premium economy will start to lean a little more, then be spaced out a little further, then go a little flatter, then have their own lounges and check ins and finally an airline will announce Krug being served in "Business Class". We will realise that Airlines are back to the "natural order" of front of the plane with flat beds, middle of the plane with large, very comfortable seats and the back filled with grouchy people wondering why they signed up for the "enhanced transportation techniques" afforded by economy class.

In other words we are witnessing the end of First Class....until they rename Business, flatten out Premium and we go round again. Do you agree?

PS - if you like stories and analysis on the life, death and opulence of first class travel check out Shashank Nigam August 2009 post on SimplyFlying called " Singapore Airlines A380 Suites – A Class Beyond First or a First Class Branding Debacle?".

thanks to x-ray delta one via flickr for the photo of a 1959 707 first class on board lounge area

Seat Review - British Airways World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy)

A family emergency sent me to Berlin. The trip back (which was filled with stress and eventually relief) was on British Airways Premium Economy – branded World Traveller Plus. Due to the circumstances of the trip I was not in a good mood. This almost certainly impacted my attitude toward the flight and the product and therefore this review. That said, it is clear that World Traveller Plus (WTP) is closer to economy than business. It is a product a little above economy but well below business. The problem is that the pricing (absent a deal/special) is mid way between Business and Economy. Therefore without a deal or pricing special then WTP is not worth the money - especially if your frequent flyer status already grants you access to premium check in and lounges.

With that background, the BOOT rating for British Airways World Traveller Plus (International Premium Economy) is a 2 stars out of 6 or "Bad Seat". Here is the detailed review (Details and scoring system for airline seat reviews)

Getting on Board	Score 0
Not sure why and it was not a factor associated with World Traveller Plus, but this was the slowest boarding I have every experienced on a 747. BA was using one door rather than two but even so there was an annoying long delaying in boarding and chaos at the gate. It felt at times like a queue for Space Mountain at Disney land, each time I eventually came around a corner I thought that it would be the last one and I would get a glimpse of the door only to be disappointed and realise there was another stretch of the gate and corner to go around. My mood was also a factor due to the nature of the trip but also because Terminal 4 at Heathrow is an abandoned wasteland with construction, closed shops and poor facilities. The BA lounge is sub-par by any measure (against competitors, against other airports and against BA’s other offering in Terminal 5). On board there is no pre-flight drink or other offering from BA in this class. Combined this contributed to me reaching my seat in an even worse mood.
The Seat	Score 0.5
There is a reason why the product of Premium Economy or World Traveller Plus is tied in its definition to the Economy product. The seat is a step above economy but it is not a leap above. Put another way this is not a product that sits in between the Economy Class and Business Class (Club World) products. Instead it is a noticeable but incremental improvement on economy. The extra seven inches of leg room is nice but not transformative. This means that you are more comfortable but is does not make for an ability to sleep for an entire sector (ie 7-8 hours). There were also some very annoying parts to the seat. Something (I think either the VOD unit or lifejacket) was placed under the seat in front in such a way that it impeded my ability to freely put my feet under the seat in front. For someone of my size (185 cm) the foot rest is useless (too high) and the leg rest is meaningless (does not come out far enough) so the benefit of the extra leg room comes from the ability to put my feet under the seat in front. This is not as possible in this BA product as it should be. Also annoying is the location of the Entertainment (VOD) remote control. I had this issue on Qantas economy also. The controller is at thy height in the arm rest. Means that each time I moved my legs, I hit the controller which paused, fast forwarded or otherwise messed up the movie I was watching. In the end had to store the controller in the magazine flap in back of the seat in front which was annoying for me and the passenger next to me when she tried to go to the bathroom.
The Service	Score 0.5
The service provided is attentive, punctual and functional but it is also procedural. That means I felt I was on the staff’s timetable with limited flexibility. I would have liked to have received a little more proactive service such as bringing me more drinks and walking around looking for passengers needing help. The trick to long haul Europe to Australia is to stay awake for the first sector and sleep for the second. That way your longest period of sleep ends with the early morning landing into Australia. This means staying awake for 12-13 hours. To do that I need a lot of support in drinks and other care. I feel there could have been more. I did like the dedicated cabin aspect. Regardless of food, seat and service, having less people fighting for air, toilets and attention is valuable.
The Food	Score 0.0
As with the seat, the food is a step above economy but two or three below business class. It is a one tray service, all packaged and very carbohydrate heavy. The last meal of the trip (breakfast) after 9 hours of flying from Bangkok was a “deli box” – something that should be more at home on a Sydney to Melbourne flight than a meal designed to break a six hour break without food.
The Entertainment	Score 0.5
The Entertainment is solid enough with a fair selection of movies and TV. But BA VOD is a step behind the leaders in this space (Cathay and Singapore). Issues that detract from enjoyment of the system and place it a step below the leaders are: (1) the delay in starting – 15 minutes after seat belt sign is turned off; (2) the location of the controller (see above); and (3) turned off tow soon – 30 minutes before landing.
The BOOT factor	Score 0.5
It my BA Business Class review (Club World) Review I expressed my annoyance that World Traveller Plus is located between door one and two giving WTP passengers a head start off the plane over business class. When in business class this annoyed me. Now I am in WTP, it is a nice bonus. BA’s other WTP twist is their “raid the larder” snack program where business and premium economy passengers can access a mini bar area with drinks, fruit, candy and sandwiches. This used to be one of my favourite parts of the BA premium product experience. But on this flight it was not as good as I remember. It could have been my grumpy mood but it did not look as enticing as previous flights.
Final Score	2.0 - Bad Seat

Details and scoring system for airline seat reviews

thanks to caribb for the photo

Seat Review - British Airways Club World (long-haul business class)

A work conference in Madrid opened up the chance to fly with British Airways long haul Business Class (or Club World). It is now a piece of Air industry folk law that one of the main outcomes battle between BA Club World and Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class for UK customer traffic to the US resulted in BA introducing a fully flat bed into business class, changing the definition of long haul business class forever.

I remember the first time I tried the BA flat bed and it was a revelation. Today some 9 years later and the product is even better. For your BOOT correspondent the seat is the best in the sky. I think Singapore Airlines has an edge in Service, Qantas has an edge in food and Virgin Atlantic has an edge in the BOOT factor (that something extra) but judged stand alone on the seat I prefer BA’s Club World to any other business class seat I have tried. On seat alone BA would win against another seat review so far. The overall rating has been let down by the entertainment system, placement of World Traveller (premium economy) and online check-in experience (probably highlighting a flaw in my scoring system).

The BOOT rating for British Airways International Business Class (Club World) is a 4.5 stars out of 6 or "Good Seat". Here is the detailed review (Details and scoring system for airline seat reviews) (other seat reviews can be found here)

Getting on Board	Score 0.5
The Boarding process was uneventful but my check in process was a disappointment. I checked in online about 8 hours before the flight. This is supposed to be an advantage as it means I can get to the airport later and should have pick of seats. In the end it was a significant disadvantage. Firstly I could not print out a priority pass for going through Immigration quickly. The immigration priority queue requires this pass – it is not enough to have a premium class boarding pass. [thankfully I always carry a spare priority pass for these occasions]. Secondly I could not check in all the way even though my London to Madrid leg is also on BA, because it is on a separate ticket. My colleague checking in at the airport was given a boarding pass for the whole trip but I had to wait until I arrived in London to get my final boarding pass. Finally the machines at the gates are not designed to support bar code boarding passes – only magnetic strip ones. It meant that I had to pause at each gate while they looked me up manually. I will not be checking in for long haul BA again. Getting off the plane is also annoying. World Traveller Plus (BA’s premium economy) is physically located between First and Business, Means that if the front door is the only door opened that premium economy gets off before business. Sounds petty to type it out loud but every person ahead of me off the plane is a person ahead of me in the immigration queue, customs or quarantine queue and taxi queue. Each person adds minutes to me getting to my destination. 40 people can therefore add a annoying additional time to me getting where I want to go.
The Seat	Score 1.0
This will be the shortest part of the review. The BA Club World seat is the near perfect long haul business seat. It is comfortable, flat and spacious. The table slides easily to allow entry and exit without have to remove food or a notebook. The controls are easy to manage and out of the way enough not to be bumped mid flight. Sleeping is as good as I have experienced, mainly because the size of the seat allows for multiple sleeping positions. To be perfect the seat could be about 20 cm longer and 15 cm wider and maybe a little bit more cocooned. But then it would be a first class seat.
The Service	Score 0.5
BA are not in the class of Singapore Airlines for their attentiveness and detail but there is nothing worthy of a negative comment. Staff appear when requested and are eager to be a support.
The Food	Score 1.0
It seems mean to write the first thing that came to my mind when contemplating a review of the food on BA Club World. Anyway here it is. If you like English food you will love the food on BA Club World. My thought about the food is not meant to be as negative as that comment implies. Just like English restaurants are into their 10th year of a revolution to become some of the best in the world, so too BA have dramatically lifted the quality of their food. I was a bit disappointed with the cold/pre-plated dishes as on the whole they were dry and flavourless. But I enjoyed each of the mains presented. The Englishness of some of the servings was annoying (for example only marmalade is served with breakfast and I can’t stand the stuff). BA is the upper bracket with food. There are better airlines (ie Qantas) but BA has tipped over that point that turns a flight from manageable to enjoyable.
The Entertainment	Score 0.5
The BA video on demand system is neither remarkable nor sub-standard. It does what it is supposed to do – provide movies and TV on demand. However it behind competitors on the number of options available and some of the system functionalities. It is missing the huge breadth of Singapore Airlines (and the new United Airlines system for that matter) and the menu system is less intuitive. It takes longer with the BA system to look through the entire list of movies. This is all a software and content issues. BA would do well to upgrade.
The BOOT factor	Score 1.0
Just like BA led with the first fully flat bed (and podcasts on how to sleep) I have always liked and watch others try to copy the BA larder. The collection of food and drinks available for passengers to graze on at their leisure. It seems simple but I find easy access to a broad selection of fresh fruit ( and I admit it chocolate) makes for a great way to break up the tedium of 24 hours staring at a flicking screen. I also really like the laptop draw in the seat. If is large enough to fit everything I want at my fingertips during the flight – notebook, document wallet, book, iPod, toiletries. A little thing that makes a real difference. Only anti-BOOT factor is the size of the upstairs bathroom which I found cramped.
Final Score	4.5 - Good Seat

Details and scoring system for airline seat reviews

thanks to matt.hintsa on Flickr for the photo

Qantas and British Airways merger means bringing the pacific pain to the Kangaroo Route

Story on CNN that BA is in talks with Qantas over a merger (thanks to iKangaroo on twitter where I spotted the story).

I hate this idea.

Right now Qantas is gouging me and every other customer on the Pacific Route (East Coast Australia to West coast USA). Qantas earns 40% more revenue per passenger kilometre on that route than the Kangaroo route because...they can. And they "can" because there is no competition. The only "competitor" (if you can call it that) is United. The US and Australian governments have restricted who can fly this route - ensuring profit good times for Qantas and high prices for me. There are possible long way round options with Canadian and Hawaiian Airlines but the routings and timings are terrible. V-Australia (Virgin Blue's long haul play) is due on the route in Feb 2009 but there is only limited capacity improvements expected and how they will connect out of LA to other US destinations is not clear. Basically Qantas own this route and take advantages of customers because of it.

I ranted about this a lot in a recent post - "Open Skies between the US and Australia: There is no one I don't hate right now".

Currently we (travelling consumers) have been spared this gouging on the Kangaroo Route (Australia to UK/Europe and a Qantas Trade mark) because more than thirty carriers fly this route in addition to BA and Qantas from the well respected - Singapore, Cathay, Emirates, Virgin-Atlantic, Etihad, to the mid ranges - Malaysian and Thai, to the micro and niche - AirAustral, to the "no way in hell would I get on it" - Garuda.

But the UK and AU governments let BA and Qantas enter into a "Joint Services Agreement(JSA)" in 1995 allowing them to

"coordinate scheduling, marketing, sales, freight and customer service activities"

In other words to engage in behaviour that otherwise would be anti-competitive. When accused of this BA and Qantas point to the above facts - that 30+ carriers fly the route as proof that competition continues. However since the JSA was signed the following airlines have pulled out of the route - KLM, Alitalia, Air France, Lufthansa, Lauda Air, Austrian Air. Do you see a common theme? In fact there is now not one Continental European carrier flying the route. Not one. All have been forced to pull out because of the scheduling and marketing collusion of BA and Qantas under the JSA (OK..maybe in the case of Alitalia there have been other causes).

I have a (legitimate) concern that a merged BA and Qantas will have further competition consequences and help Qantas to extend their Pacific gouging to the Kangaroo route. If the government is listening please squash this. Then again it is the AU government(s) that allowed the JSA and Pacific Route dominance to continue.

Update - Delta have announced they will fly the route around July 2009. The Cranky Flier has written a post showing what this means in terms of flight schedules across the Pacific.

Travel Content, Ad Sales and Consumer Engagement: BAHighlife.com and the Content Model

Posted earlier this week about British Airlines putting online all of their in-flight mag content (Highlife). Post and comments produced a response from the Reactive (the developers of the BAHighlife site). Paraphrasing it said - "thanks for the suggestions, we are working on those ideas for phase 2" (full text here).

I am glad that BA are listening and am thrilled to receive the response from Reactive. But I still worry that the approach is that community, sharing and booking are "new features" to be added later rather than the core of the strategy. The difference in thinking is whether or not the strategy is to

"use content to drive traffic, generate revenue and then build features on top"

vs

"use content to build community, build brand and link all elements to the customer experience"

In the first you measure success through the eyeballs generated and revenue gained through ad sales. In the second you measure success through the engagement of customers, time spent on site and the ultimate bookings revenue. I get the strong sense that BA in the Highlife online project is falling for the allure of the first rather than the long term customer ownership benefit of the second.

Don't get me wrong there is a lot of (good) money to be made off eyeballs. Media companies have been making billionaires off eyeballs for decades. In Travel there are also fortunes to be made from eyeballs as I have talked about here and here. But if you are chasing eyeballs then you are a no ifs, no buts, media business. Travel suppliers and (to a lesser extent) travel intermediaries need to think very carefully about turning to the media business as a business plan. Sure there is money in eyeballs and ad sales but the main aim of a travel company is to sell travel. The best way to use content to sell travel to punters is to draw the consumer in and keep them in. Don't send them to someone else, don't let them search for some other way to book or purchase, don't let them think about an alternative. Instead the travel retailer needs to live and breath drawing the consumer into the brand, the idea and the desire to search, to engage with you and to give you (the travel seller) their money.

BA should be thinking about BAhighlife.com not as a content/media business that needs community features but as a customer engagement tools that will lead with engagement and a drive for planning and booking (with some ad revenue on the side).

What do you think? Should travel retail companies and suppliers be creating media only business with their content or using their content to drive brand and bookings?

BA opens highlife website. Good start. But much more needed

Read in newmediaage that British Airways has launched a dedicated content website - BAhighlife.com - based on the years and years (35) of content from their inflight magazine highlife. This is a great move by BA. Other than the website architecture and support this is a very low cost means for BA to generate organic traffic from travel searches. Assuming they have indexed the content properly (and from my initial glances it looks like they have) they will also be able to generate traffic outside of pure traveller review searches (ie in sport, entertainment etc). Good move by BA.

But the launch here is still a dramatic under-utlisation of a enourmous amount of good quality editorial content. Once a consumer lands on a article/page at BAhighlife.com this is what they can do with it:

• read it;
  
• email it; or
• bookmark it.

That is it. If BA wants to make the most out of this then the customer should be able to:

• Share: share with social networking site (digg, facebook, reddit);
• Comment: make comments, join in a conversation about the article;
• Find more: find other related content selected by consumers, from the same author, about the same destination;
• Save: save favourite stories on a profile page or trip plan page;
• Use: use all information gather to build up a trip plan; and
  
• Book: have contextual links to relevant trip itineraries.

In other words build an interaction and community service that drives brand and bookings rather than a news service that adds a little bit of traffic and ad sales rev.

Good start. More needed.