I flew to Bali using frequent flyer points a few weeks ago, which meant we were on a Jetstar flight. I think they have made a strategic decision to piss their customers off. Or at the very least to differentiate themselves on ticket price only, try to then squeeze every dollar they can out of their customers, and not care at all about how their customer's feel.
There was a lady across the aisle from us who for $30 had pre-bought her dinner when she bought her ticket. She was somewhat less than pleased when she saw the person next to her buy the same meal for $12. She complained loudly, firstly to the flight steward serving the meal, and then to the head steward guy, to no avail. She even had to pay extra for the glass of wine that she had with her meal.
Now Jetstar made an extra $18 out of her than they otherwise would have. It's an interesting strategy, and must be profitable or they wouldn't do it.
However I think it's short sighted, and they are sacrificing future sales for short term profit.
I travel often, and buy tickets based on price. I'm in Sydney a couple of times a month. And the experience hasn't put me off Jetstar altogether ... but I would now pay an extra $5 or $10 to fly Virgin or Qantas to know that they are not going to charge me if I'm 500 grams over the luggage limit, and they will let me on the plane if I get there 28 minutes before it leaves, and that they will make some effort to look after how I feel.
What do you do to look after how your customers feel, and make sure you're not using the piss your customers off strategy?
