Airberlin is Germany’s second largest airline company behind Lufthansa and carries the seventh most amount of passengers throughout all of Europe. The company is really searching for ways to boost their flight experiences and attract people to take their planes instead of others with unique in flight options and upgrades. Most recently, Airberlin has thought up a plan that will allow their passengers the chance to upgrade from normal coach seats to Business Class with significantly reduced prices.
The company discovered that many Business Class seats were going unused, which doesn’t bring in any money. Rather than lose out on a sale completely, Airberlin thought of the idea of allowing upgrades through auction. The idea is simple, customers just have to announce how much they are willing to pay for the upgrade and the Business Class seats will be filled depending on how many are available starting with the highest bidder. This idea allows the company to make some money back on the seats going unused and would also open up Economy Seating for more passengers as well. To qualify for the upgrade option, customers need to submit their bid online 72 hours before the flight is scheduled to takeoff. Everything is sorted and the lucky winning passengers are informed of the upgrade 12 hours before the flight is leaving, giving them more than enough time to bring anything extra needed.
When placing the bid, customers are required to enter their payment information so that when and if they are selected, the system can automatically charge them however much they wanted to pay to ensure a smooth transaction and eliminate the problem of people changing their minds or not having the funds and the seats still going to waste.
The auction upgrade service is only being offered for flights that are very long distances, but it’s a great option to have. It’s a smart way for the company to make some extra money and keep passengers happy as well because they are in better and more comfortable seating for a reduced price. Airberlin should see tons of success with this idea and hopefully other airlines will follow suit soon after.
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