Skift Take
Sometimes you'll buy a plane ticket and the airline might try to sell you a rental car. Other times, the airline will skip the car but ask if you want premium economy. Why? Carriers are using data to guess what extras you might buy.
The Skift Airline Innovation Report is our weekly newsletter on the business of airline innovation. We look closely at the technological, financial, and design trends at airlines and airports.
Brian Sumers writes and curates the newsletter, and we send it on Wednesdays. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here.
When an airline emails asking if you wish to add a rental car or travel insurance, or buy an upgrade to premium economy, do you suppose that's by chance?
No way.
We've published two stories this week detailing how airlines personalize offers. We know Ryanair often emails leisure customers about two months before departure, using what it knows about them to craft the message. “We will let them book the flight,” Ryanair's chief marketing officer told me. “And then we will say, ‘Do you want to book car hire?’ And here is a Citroen Picasso with child seats available in Malaga at the time your flight arrives.”
We had a similar conversation with Mark Nasr, Air Canada's vice president for loyalty and e-commerce. Air Canada is starting a new frequent flyer program because it wants to know customers better, allowing it to customize more offers. "Amazon doesn't put a bunch of product in front of me which is not really relevant to my needs," Nasr said.
Do you think air
