TRAVEL will be made yet more complex with a new air fare structure that is being introduced by Singapore Airlines and SilkAir.
It would seem like an attempt to build loyalty by encouraging customers to return to the respective airlines but it’s also a case of slicing and dicing the service offering to maximise revenue.
Having just announced its operating results for November 2017, where all its figures — capacity, passenger miles travelled and passengers carried — were on the up, it would seem it’s time to get more out of passengers.
SIA’s passenger carriage grew 5.3% while SilkAir saw a healthy 20.4% jump, compared to the previous year.
With the new pricing, while some categories of its KrisFlyer frequent flyer programme enjoy slightly enhanced benefits, the bulk of the changes are aimed at charging more for further segmentalisation of its service offering.
The original intention of legacy carriers standing aloof from the low cost airlines is fast evaporating as the latter fly further into the business air space of the threatened big boys.
The new fares will be introduced globally on 20 January 2018, with revisions to advance seat selection, frequent flyer programme mileage accrual rates, baggage allowance, and change and refund flexibility for some fare types.
Three Fair Types
Depending on the class of travel, customers will have up to three types of airfare to choose from when making a booking. Each will offer a combination of fare, feature and flexibility options.
The more choosy you are, is is likely you will wind up paying more.
Economy class will have three fare types — ‘Lite’, ‘Standard’ and ‘Flexi’. The highest category, Flexi, will have a 5kg baggage allowance bump, to 35kg.
Lite fares will have to pay for advance seat selection. It starts at US$5 per flight segment. If you have a child under 12 in your travel party, the fee will not apply.
And for those who want to sit up front so they can hurry off the plane and stand in line at immigration, you’ll have to pay for that privilege. A new category — Forward Zone seats — will be chargeable for Standard fares.
More cash will have to be spent if you want extra legroom seats, which were previously known as Preferred seats.
Visit the SIA site for more information.
