EL AL is the latest airline to
introduce ‘no-bag’ airfares
on its South African route.
The new fare structure of Lite,
Classic and Flex economyclass fares come into effect for
departures from April 1.
However, despite a number
of airlines introducing these
fares to the SA market, agents
have expressed doubts that
these fares are suitable for
the South African market,
given the long-haul nature
of the flights and especially
considering the large number
of corporate travellers.
Priti Ramkissoon, coo of
Thompsons Travel, says both
corporate and leisure South
African passengers almost
always want to take a bag with
them to a destination such as
London, as they stay there for
a few days.
She says the new basic
fare structure leaves room
for errors, with consultants
initially quoting on best-value
airfares and then finding that
they need to requote the client
in order to upsell them to an
airfare that does include the
luggage allowance that the
client actually requires.
Priti also points out it is far
cheaper to book a standard
economy fare including a
baggage allowance in the
GDS than it is to book a basic
no-bag fare and later add
on baggage as an ancillary
service. For this reason,
Thompsons Travel consultants
tend to almost always upsell
their clients to the standard
economy fare option including
checked baggage allowance.
Both Priti and md of Sure
Viva Travels, David Pegg, say
more airlines are introducing
no-bag fare structures locally,
despite low uptake of the
product.
“It would be a complete
disaster if I accidentally
booked a no-bag fare for a
client travelling internationally,”
says Club Travel ITC, Daniella
Ossato of CTT Travel.
She adds that agents should
be particularly vigilant about
potential churning ADMs
when attempting to book
bag-inclusive fares after a farestructure change. She recently
received an ADM for R1 400
when struggling to book a
client’s fare to Lisbon that
included a luggage allowance
in both directions. She
recommends getting into the
habit of pricing airfares and
checking luggage allowances
before ending the booking.
Over the last year, Virgin,
Iberia and British Airways
have jumped on the
bandwagon, introducing new
basic economy airfares that
exclude a checked luggage
allowance on their South
African routes.
