Articles tagged “passenger experience”

Many airlines sell premium amenities to customers in coach. But is it worth it? Yes, these are high-margin items, but airlines don't sell that many of them. Most coach customers want only the basics and don't want to pay extra for anything.

Even if they buy first class pajamas, an upgraded meal, and an amenity kit, coach passengers still won't feel like they're in a premium cabin. But at least some airlines are giving travelers the chance to buy up to a better experience. It's cheaper than an upgrade.

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.

JetBlue is the latest airline to fall behind on a cabin retrofit program. It happens sometimes, as it's not so easy to update airplane interiors. But the first plane is in the shop. Considering JetBlue has some planes that haven't been touched since the early 2000s, this is welcome news.

Travelers often think their airlines lie to them about flight delays. While that could be true sometimes, it's almost certainly not the norm.

Airline passengers don't like being late. But what they probably dislike more is being late and not knowing why. Over the next few weeks, United will give some customers detailed information about the reason for delays. That could make passengers less anxious, which is a good thing.

United is lagging behind its competitors in launching international premium economy. But this is something it needs to do, if only because of competitive dynamics.

Airline lounges are rarely as opulent as the promotional pictures suggest. Yet passengers seem to love them. Why? Will they persist forever?

After so much bad news for passengers flying on British Airways, there's finally a bit of improvement coming to the airline — but only for international travelers.

Slowly, Virgin America is disappearing. That's bad news for its loyal customers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other parts of the country. But it's necessary. Virgin America was too small as a stand-alone carrier to compete with the nation's four largest carriers.