Ancillary Revenue Goes Mobile: The Best Methods Used by the Top 25 Airlines

IdeaWorksCompany finds Air France, Emirates, Indigo, and Ryanair provide great mobile retailing examples.

February 21st, 2017, Dublin, Ireland: It’s a rapidly changing world we inhabit, with the availability of immense mobile computing and transacting capability in everyone’s pocket, purse, or backpack. Of course, internet-based retail remains relevant, but savvy retailers also know it must be supported by the development of applications for smartphones. That’s because mobile literally covers the earth with a mobile phone subscription for every person, according to data from the United Nations.

The latest report from IdeaWorksCompany applies the rise of the mobile age to the ancillary revenue revolution. IdeaWorksCompany researched the in-path booking capabilities of the mobile applications offered by the world’s largest 25 airlines. It’s a varied list which includes traditional global network airlines and eight low cost carriers. Here are a few topline observations from the report:

• 24 of the 25 airlines reviewed offer Android versions of mobile applications.
• Mobile apps are becoming adroit a la carte retailers. In particular, the apps offered by AirAsia, Delta, Indigo, Ryanair, and United offer five or more a la carte options in their booking paths.
• Ryanair provides an exceptional example of seat assignment done right, with ever-present icons to describe seats, color coding to indicate prices, and in-path alerts for discounted pricing.
• The Air France mobile app provides a consumer friendly and retail savvy collection of screens for pre-paid baggage that provide three layers of information.
• “Book now, pay later” motivates impulse buying and five airlines ─ Air France, American, Emirates, Lufthansa, and United ─ were found to include the feature in their mobile apps.

“Ancillary Revenue Goes Mobile: The Best Methods Used by the Top 25 Airlines” was released today as a free 15-page report available to download here. The 2017 Thought Leadership Series on Revenue and Loyalty is sponsored by CarTrawler. CarTrawler connects business and leisure customers and online travel retailers with more road and rail transport solutions than they will find anywhere else. 100 international airlines and 2,000 travel retailers around the world trust CarTrawler to provide their customers with real-time access to over 1,600 leading and independent car rental agents and ground transportation services at 42,000 locations in 174 countries. Learn more at www.cartrawler.com.

About IdeaWorksCompany: IdeaWorksCompany was founded in 1996 as a consulting organization building brands through innovation in product, partnership and marketing, and building profits through financial improvement and restructuring. Its international client list includes airlines and other travel industry firms in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. IdeaWorksCompany specializes in ancillary revenue improvement, brand development, customer research, competitive analysis, frequent flier programs, and on-site executive workshops. Learn more at IdeaWorksCompany.com.