Brussels Airlines launches Summer Pass

[NCB]

SN launched an interesting initiative for its younger customers aged 18-25.
3 return trips for 299€ on a selection of 30 European cities, basically 100€ return or 50€ one-way incl taxes.

I think that it's a nice initiative except that they should have proposed the initiative to people of all ages, certainly to retired seniors and not only for the summer, it would have helped load factors and revenues alot.

For those interested, here is the link to the SN webpage:

http://www.brusselsairlines.com/en_be/b ... ypass.aspx

[teddybAIR]

Not sure if price-discrimination based on age is justifiable if you talk about the 18-25 age category...why not target students with valid student ID's...they'll be less prone to getting attacked on such a positioning

[b720]

I am not surprised, they seem to have a serious flaw at their PR and commercial departments, if they actually exist at all.. the last mishap was the 20% discount.. only foot note after footnote (was really hard to spot even when reading the little print) the discount was only on the basic fare.. not of taxes and charges.. hence a one way 49 euro was discounted 20 euro cents. and so on.. very misleading.. am not sure some of their commercial adverts. and practices are actually legal.

[Conti764]

Not sure if price-discrimination based on age is justifiable if you talk about the 18-25 age category...why not target students with valid student ID's...they'll be less prone to getting attacked on such a positioning

Why would it be price discrimination? The NMBS does exactly the same with their Go-Pass system for travelers under 25...

[teddybAIR]

Well,

it's not because the NMBS does it that it's legal, is it? You are in a B2C environment and companies selling to end consumers have to respect our general national commercial regulations. In "handelsrecht", price discrimination on the basis of age or gender are forbidden.

You should already know this because that is exactly the reason why companies segment a market and develop different products fitting the need of different segments. It is up to the final customer to choose the product that fits him best, but the essence is that he has the choice.

Example: it is forbidden for BMW to sell the same product at a price of 50k€ to a succesfull business man, while selling it for 20k€ to a young graduate. However, what they will do is develop different models ranging from 1 series to 7 series and differentiating between first and second hand models. The business man is on average more likely to choose for the full option brand new 7, while the young graduate will most likely choose the second hand 1 series...but in essence, the business man can choose for the 20k€ 1 series...yet, it is not targetted or tailored to his specific needs.

I invite you, let's challenge brussels Airlines. I'm 27 years old and am very curious if they have the guts to refuse me the tariff...there's no legal foundation to do so!

[Flanders]

Apparently highest booking class is E. So there is a big chance the flights you want to take will be unavailable!

[tolipanebas]

TeddybAIR-

they DO differentiate on the product: the product is called the Summer pass.

As a youngster, you can buy this product, as an elder you can't.
NO price discrimination whatsoever, but product diversification.
Perfectly legal.

They may in effect be selling the same seat at different prices alright, but they are not selling the same ticket; they are selling a pass on multiple flights at once and with certain conditions, and the fact it is only available to the young people is just one of those...

Anyway, if you feel like you can waste a few tens of thousands of euro, you can always try to take SN to court, otherwise, I'd just come off stage and shut up if I were you...

[teddybAIR]

Tolipanebas,

I am sorry to respectfully disagree. I work as a marketing manager for one of Belgium's largest companies and from my experience I can tell you that these kind of practises are simply not allowed. That's it. I state that it is not allowed. You are free to disagree and to argument the logic behind this offering. I understand that. But that does not change the fact that it is not allowed...period!

You say it is product differentiation, but it is forebidden for any B2C company to deny access to one of their products to a segment of customers. Instead, they are allowed to tailor it maximally to the needs of the targetted segments. I do not have the intention to sue SNBA as you state it, I just want to point out that any customer can claim access to the product.

Instead of feeling attacked and reacting very emotionally as you do

]I'd just come off stage and shut up if I were you...

you should feel thankfull that I point out the potential business risk for SNBA...I invite you to start calculating what is at stake here: I mean, you could risk cannibalizing your entire added value product product line!

Now, I would very much appreciate if we could at least have the dignity to respectfully disagree and not start shutting each other up...agree?

Best regards,
bAIR

[NCB]

I must say that Teddybair has a very strong argument.

Legally, it is illegal.
In practice, it is legal.

Alot of things work like this even in our super-regulated modern day societies.

GO-pass/Rail-pass/Senior on railway networks
Insurance policy discrimination
Entrance to leisure parks, discounts for younger people
Employment age/sex/origins discrimination

I must say that we must welcome any such initiative and encourage them to broaden the offer to a broader public.

[SN1203]

I am not surprised, they seem to have a serious flaw at their PR and commercial departments, if they actually exist at all.. the last mishap was the 20% discount.. the discount was only on the basic fare.. not of taxes and charges.. hence a one way 49 euro was discounted 20 euro cents. and so on.. v

Sigh It is not thàt difficult to understand that a discount can only apply on the base fare and not on the taxes, right!? If airline X has to pay Y EUR tax to airport Z, it is normal that you do not discount on this tax, right? I don't know if it is even legal to discount on airport taxes...

[fcw]

I am not surprised, they seem to have a serious flaw at their PR and commercial departments, if they actually exist at all.. the last mishap was the 20% discount.. the discount was only on the basic fare.. not of taxes and charges.. hence a one way 49 euro was discounted 20 euro cents. and so on.. v

Sigh It is not thàt difficult to understand that a discount can only apply on the base fare and not on the taxes, right!? If airline X has to pay Y EUR tax to airport Z, it is normal that you do not discount on this tax, right? I don't know if it is even legal to discount on airport taxes...

SN 1203, do you think it is legal to charge a fuel tax which is higher than the price of the fuel used for your trip?
The 20% could at least be apllicable to the fuel tax...
My son tried to book a summerpass, for all of his three destinations there was no availability, nor july nor in august. Isn't it a legal requirement to have a certain amount of tickets available?
Therewas a time BruAir had a radiospot in which they explained that FR was ripping off passengers...

[SN1203]

SN 1203, do you think it is legal to charge a fuel tax which is higher than the price of the fuel used for your trip?

Do you know how much Brussels Airlines is paying for its fuel bill? Don't forget that most airlines are still stuck in expensive hedging contracts, which is why most airlines still charge fuel surcharges. This is an industry problem, not a Brussels Airlines problem.

My son tried to book a summerpass, for all of his three destinations there was no availability, nor july nor in august. Isn't it a legal requirement to have a certain amount of tickets available?

I won't go in detail about this, except for the fact this is VERY unlikely. In the information to travel agents, it is indicated that we must book the Summer Pass in E Class. E is the most expensive b.light fare Brussels Airlines offers, and loads of seats in E-Class are available, even in July and August. Unless you tried to book flights that were virtually sold out, you should have no problem to find seats

[fcw]

SN 1203, do you think it is legal to charge a fuel tax which is higher than the price of the fuel used for your trip?

Do you know how much Brussels Airlines is paying for its fuel bill? Don't forget that most airlines are still stuck in expensive hedging contracts, which is why most airlines still charge fuel surcharges. This is an industry problem, not a Brussels Airlines problem.

My son tried to book a summerpass, for all of his three destinations there was no availability, nor july nor in august. Isn't it a legal requirement to have a certain amount of tickets available?

I won't go in detail about this, except for the fact this is VERY unlikely. In the information to travel agents, it is indicated that we must book the Summer Pass in E Class. E is the most expensive b.light fare Brussels Airlines offers, and loads of seats in E-Class are available, even in July and August. Unless you tried to book flights that were virtually sold out, you should have no problem to find seats

He wanted weekend trips, and one of the destinations was madrid...
OFF topic about fuel hedging:
This is a pure financial instrument like buying stock options and you can't ask your passengers to pay for your bad investments and if you do, be honest a charge a higher fare.
A small example: bru-lgw, 100 pax equals 3200€ fuel surcharge which means about 6500l at todays price real consumption about 4000l so a real ripp off!

[NCB]

I find the fuel surcharge debate (globally, not SN specific) interesting and allowed myself to open a new thread about it: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=39882

[Charlie Roy]

All that aside, the Summer Pass offers little or no advantage over non-Summer Pass flights.
I think it's a nice idea, but they just got the price wrong.
100 euro per return flight...

Competitor's return fares are more often than not cheaper:
Easyjet to Berlin / Geneva / Milan
Sky Europe to Prague / Vienna
BMI/Eurostar to London
Ryanair to Marseille / Manchester / Santander / Turin / Bologna
Wizz Air to Budapest / Katowice / Warsaw
etc

So I suppose it's only interesting on routes exclusively served by Brussels Airlines, travel dates that are more expensive with competitors, or routes where the competitors are more expensive:
Gothenburg, Stockholm, Bristol, Helsinki, Strasbourg, Newcastle, Oslo, Vilnius.