AGENTS are bamboozled by
legacy carriers’ continuous
unbundling of services.
The latest offender is the
“outrageous” administration
and cost of pre-seating,
post-sale, agents say.
Agents add that they
are finding it increasingly
difficult to quote clear, allinclusive rates for flights.
Owner of Sure Map
Travel, Melissa Phillips,
says seating is becoming
a minefield, as many of the
basic fares that airlines
have introduced now require
clients to pay substantial
amounts to pre-book a
standard window or aisle
seat. “I’ve seen pre-seating
range from R350 up to
R1 900 per international
flight for standard window
or aisle seating. This
means that it is now often
cheaper for clients to pay
for a higher booking class
when they reserve their
flights in order to qualify for
complimentary pre-seating,”
says Melissa.
“It’s double the work for
the agents,” says a Cape
Town-based ITC. “While
previously we would quote
one option per airline for a
client, we now have to give
them a no-bag fare quote, a
bag-inclusive fare quote, a
seating-inclusive fare quote
and a no-seating fare quote
for each client.”
Reserving a standard
aisle or window seat could
substantially increase the
cost of a booking, especially
for a family travelling
together, the ITC adds. For
example, a recent flight to
Europe cost her clients
R1 008 extra per person to
reserve standard seats for
the outbound leg only, she
says.
“The problem is
exacerbated by certain
airlines that only allow
you to calculate the preseating costs once a ticket
is issued. This means that
the passenger is unable to
accurately compare apples
with apples, as they cannot
see the all-in ticket cost for
some carriers until after
they have purchased their
ticket,” she says.
FlySafair head of sales and
distribution, Kirby Gordon,
says South African law
requires airlines to quote
all-in pricing. This includes
the airfare, VAT, as well as
statutory and regulatory
charges often referred to as
airport taxes.
“This doesn’t mean that
airlines who hide the preseating costs until after a
ticket is issued cannot be
criticised for providing an
unclear user experience.
Clients want to be able
to compare apples with
apples before they make a
decision. FlySafair publishes
all seating costs on its
website, allowing agents
and clients to view these
before they purchase their
ticket,” says Kirby.
The law requiring airlines
to advertise all-in prices
does not extend to ancillary
services, agrees market
development manager of
Singapore Airlines, Sally
George. Despite this,
Singapore Airlines continues
to include complimentary
pre-seating with its
economy-class fares and
only charges extra for a
handful of preferential seats
such as bulkhead seats.
