I travel a lot.
I have decided there needs to be a real aptitude test for the users of terminals. This includes employees but mostly for TRAVELLERS. Chris Elliot also has a similar post on his blog and some interesting videos.
Its very simple you stand in front of a self service machine - you follow the onscreen instructions and prove the following:
1. You know your left from your right
2. You know your front from the back and up from down
3. You can prove that you can read a sign from 6 feet away (extra points if its right beside you)
4. You can prove that you are able to listen to instructions and execute them without stress or training.
The test should take 30 seconds. Once proved you get a tag that will let you move about the airport without restriction. Those who fail are required to go into the airport slow lane
Thank you for reading this
14 January 2011
Skyscanner Asks What Type of Clicker Are You?
Interesting post from Skyscanner.
I reprint here with my comments...
1. The One-Click Wonder
A highly efficient three percent of users fall into this category; they know exactly what they want when they visit the Skyscanner site and spend just five minutes or less finding and booking their flight.
AKA MR GET OUT OF THE WAY
2. Mystic Meg
Mystic Meg is so confident she “knows” what will happen to flight prices that she trusts her instincts entirely when deciding on when to book. However, as prices fluctuate, Mystic Meg risks being punished if her clairvoyance lets her down.
ACTUALLY I THINK THIS IS NOT QUITE WHAT IS HAPPENING - THE USER IS ACTUALLY USING THE SITE TO VALIDATE THE RESULTS.
3. The Booker Hooker
Although this type of booker is easily “bought” by any airline offering a good price, these are the sites most savvy users when it comes to getting a bargain. Skyscanner research shows this is the most common booker, with 48% of users stating price is the most important factor when booking a flight.
SO THIS SHOWS THAT THE CUSTOMERS KNOW WHAT THEY WANT AND ARE OFTEN USING SKYSCANNER AS A TOOL TO KNOW WHAT THE CANDIDATES FOR THE TRIP ARE. AS SO MANY SITES ARE COMPLETELY USELESS AT DOING ANYTHING OTHER THAN GETTING YOU A PRICE ON A SPECIFIC ITINERARY AND THAT SHOPPING IS SUCH AN AWFUL EXPERIENCE - THIS IS A SERVICE THAT SS PROVIDES.
4. The Fantasist
A dreamer who is always looking but never booking, the Fantasist will regularly surf the Skyscanner site looking at everything from flights to Spain to flights to New York as they fantasise about dream holidays.
SEE # 2 ABOVE
5. The Cheap Date
This flexible booker will focus on the cheapest date to fly to their desired location. Six percent of visitors search using Skyscanner’s month view tool which makes finding the cheapest date simple.
AGAIN A LOT OF SITES DO A USELESS JOB AT THIS. A CALENDAR SYSTEM IS HARD TO IMPLEMENT BUT IS ESSENTIAL FOR HANDLING THE CUSTOMER. BUT BE CAREFUL. MUCH OF THE DATA IN THE CALENDARS ARE USELESS JUNK.
6. The Old Faithful
A small minority of users will always book the same airline, oblivious of price. However when it comes to getting a bargain, the Old Faithful may find they are penalised for their loyalty.
THESE GUYS GO DIRECT. THERE ARE A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE. THEY KNOW WHAT THEY WANT AND WHEN - CONSEQUENTLY THEY DONT NEED SKYSCANNER.
7. The OCD User (Obsessively Checks Dates)
The OCD user just can’t stop visiting the site to check flight prices and is especially prevalent amongst users looking for flights to Australia and other long-haul destinations where prices change more dramatically and greater savings can be made.
ANOTHER REASON FOR THIS - THEY ARE NOT GETTING THE PRICE THEY FIND IS ACCEPTABLE AND THEREFORE KEEP SEARCHING UNTIL THEY GET WHAT THEY WANT.
8. The Forgetful Flier
The most costly mistakes tend to be made by the Forgetful Flier who is forced to book a last minute flight because they have forgotten to log on to the site earlier to book.
I PUT IT TO YOU THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF LAST MINUTE BOOKERS WHO GENUINELY CANNOT BOOK EARLIER. BUT THEY STILL WANT TO SHOP SMART
9. The Experimentourist
This experimental traveller is open-minded when it comes to choosing a holiday destination, with decisions more likely to be based on price. A massive 15 percent of visitors to the site will try Skyscanner’s “search everywhere” tool to find the best prices around the globe.
A DEAL HUNTER WILL ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW A REFERENCE POINT FOR WHAT THEY ARE BUYING. THESE ARE THE RIGHT PEOPLE
10. Carpe Deal-em
Seizes the deal! The most spontaneous of users, the Carpe Deal-em sees a bargain price and goes for it. Last week alone, more than 8,000 users visited Skyscanner’s flight deals page to check out the best bargains available.
SURE ITS A DEAL BUT IS IT THE "BEST" DEAL. TRAVELLERS ARE SO JADED TO BEING TOLD SOMETHING IS A DEAL WHEN ITS PATENTLY NOT.
Enjoy
Cheers
I reprint here with my comments...
1. The One-Click Wonder
A highly efficient three percent of users fall into this category; they know exactly what they want when they visit the Skyscanner site and spend just five minutes or less finding and booking their flight.
AKA MR GET OUT OF THE WAY
2. Mystic Meg
Mystic Meg is so confident she “knows” what will happen to flight prices that she trusts her instincts entirely when deciding on when to book. However, as prices fluctuate, Mystic Meg risks being punished if her clairvoyance lets her down.
ACTUALLY I THINK THIS IS NOT QUITE WHAT IS HAPPENING - THE USER IS ACTUALLY USING THE SITE TO VALIDATE THE RESULTS.
3. The Booker Hooker
Although this type of booker is easily “bought” by any airline offering a good price, these are the sites most savvy users when it comes to getting a bargain. Skyscanner research shows this is the most common booker, with 48% of users stating price is the most important factor when booking a flight.
SO THIS SHOWS THAT THE CUSTOMERS KNOW WHAT THEY WANT AND ARE OFTEN USING SKYSCANNER AS A TOOL TO KNOW WHAT THE CANDIDATES FOR THE TRIP ARE. AS SO MANY SITES ARE COMPLETELY USELESS AT DOING ANYTHING OTHER THAN GETTING YOU A PRICE ON A SPECIFIC ITINERARY AND THAT SHOPPING IS SUCH AN AWFUL EXPERIENCE - THIS IS A SERVICE THAT SS PROVIDES.
4. The Fantasist
A dreamer who is always looking but never booking, the Fantasist will regularly surf the Skyscanner site looking at everything from flights to Spain to flights to New York as they fantasise about dream holidays.
SEE # 2 ABOVE
5. The Cheap Date
This flexible booker will focus on the cheapest date to fly to their desired location. Six percent of visitors search using Skyscanner’s month view tool which makes finding the cheapest date simple.
AGAIN A LOT OF SITES DO A USELESS JOB AT THIS. A CALENDAR SYSTEM IS HARD TO IMPLEMENT BUT IS ESSENTIAL FOR HANDLING THE CUSTOMER. BUT BE CAREFUL. MUCH OF THE DATA IN THE CALENDARS ARE USELESS JUNK.
6. The Old Faithful
A small minority of users will always book the same airline, oblivious of price. However when it comes to getting a bargain, the Old Faithful may find they are penalised for their loyalty.
THESE GUYS GO DIRECT. THERE ARE A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE. THEY KNOW WHAT THEY WANT AND WHEN - CONSEQUENTLY THEY DONT NEED SKYSCANNER.
7. The OCD User (Obsessively Checks Dates)
The OCD user just can’t stop visiting the site to check flight prices and is especially prevalent amongst users looking for flights to Australia and other long-haul destinations where prices change more dramatically and greater savings can be made.
ANOTHER REASON FOR THIS - THEY ARE NOT GETTING THE PRICE THEY FIND IS ACCEPTABLE AND THEREFORE KEEP SEARCHING UNTIL THEY GET WHAT THEY WANT.
8. The Forgetful Flier
The most costly mistakes tend to be made by the Forgetful Flier who is forced to book a last minute flight because they have forgotten to log on to the site earlier to book.
I PUT IT TO YOU THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF LAST MINUTE BOOKERS WHO GENUINELY CANNOT BOOK EARLIER. BUT THEY STILL WANT TO SHOP SMART
9. The Experimentourist
This experimental traveller is open-minded when it comes to choosing a holiday destination, with decisions more likely to be based on price. A massive 15 percent of visitors to the site will try Skyscanner’s “search everywhere” tool to find the best prices around the globe.
A DEAL HUNTER WILL ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW A REFERENCE POINT FOR WHAT THEY ARE BUYING. THESE ARE THE RIGHT PEOPLE
10. Carpe Deal-em
Seizes the deal! The most spontaneous of users, the Carpe Deal-em sees a bargain price and goes for it. Last week alone, more than 8,000 users visited Skyscanner’s flight deals page to check out the best bargains available.
SURE ITS A DEAL BUT IS IT THE "BEST" DEAL. TRAVELLERS ARE SO JADED TO BEING TOLD SOMETHING IS A DEAL WHEN ITS PATENTLY NOT.
Enjoy
Cheers
Delta FlipFlops On Narrow Bodies. Fuel The Driver?
A year ago Richard Anderson was touting how much he loved his aging MD80/90 Twinjets. In the year fuel prices rose 20+%.
Today there is a lot of talk of the Delta 200 plane narrow body order with 3 players in contention:
The A320 NEO, the Boeing 737NG+ and the Bombardier C series
All of them are viable with the nudge to Airbus because of existing commonality in the fleet. The downside of the 737NG+ is that it doesn't deliver the value in terms of efficiency despite fleet commonality. The C Series of course could be a game changer with the lower cost and the higher operating value with its significantly lower cost.
Which one will he choose?
Well interestingly this will have a major impact on all players. AA is half way through their MD80 replacement program but they also had older MD80s than DL.
And then there is Mr O'Leary on the sidelines with his reported 300 plane order.
Gosh these are exciting times
Cheers
09 January 2011
SEO or HSO?
Regular Readers know that I have an expression - unnatural acts. I use it to describe activities that - well are just not natural.
On the web there are a number of these "Unnatural Acts". The one that drives me nuts is SEO.
I find it ironic that so much time is focused on "Gaming" the "Google system" so that those who wish to perpetrate an "unnatural" can get a better result than should be achieved.
Our real service request is to meet the needs of the human kind. So what we need is Human Search Optimization.
Gerry McGovern has a great piece on this subject in his blog.
Have a read - worthy of a few minutes of your time.
HSO vs SEO - that is a rather interesting debate.
Cheers
On the web there are a number of these "Unnatural Acts". The one that drives me nuts is SEO.
I find it ironic that so much time is focused on "Gaming" the "Google system" so that those who wish to perpetrate an "unnatural" can get a better result than should be achieved.
Our real service request is to meet the needs of the human kind. So what we need is Human Search Optimization.
Gerry McGovern has a great piece on this subject in his blog.
Have a read - worthy of a few minutes of your time.
HSO vs SEO - that is a rather interesting debate.
Cheers
Is Travelport's AA Internationa Fare Surcharge Legal?
After the fight started between Travelport and AA - Travelport escalated the game by automatically adding the surcharge to each AA based ticket.
Is this legal?
As a quick recap.
Travelport as a response to AA's action to terminate the agreement between AA and Orbitz website in the USA - decided to impose a surcharge over the traditional segment booking fee.
AA determined that they would then charge this WHOLE amount - not just the surcharge to AA as a charge to the agent and collect it via an Agent Debit Memo
Travelport then unilaterally imposed the whole amount and put it into the pricing enging of its GDS companies. Thus the AA fare shows a surcharge automatically even though the ticket price does not.
As I understand the agreements there may be a legal issue here.
1. Travelport as a GDS is NOT supposed to mess with the fare levels other than using its engine to create the price. It cannot impose surcharges other than what has been approved by the airline
2. Travelport may be in breach of its agreement with ATPCo for modifying the price.
If both these conditions are correct then I think technically AA could collect an ADM from the GDS for miscalculating the fares.
That's an interesting point.
Cheers
Is this legal?
As a quick recap.
Travelport as a response to AA's action to terminate the agreement between AA and Orbitz website in the USA - decided to impose a surcharge over the traditional segment booking fee.
AA determined that they would then charge this WHOLE amount - not just the surcharge to AA as a charge to the agent and collect it via an Agent Debit Memo
Travelport then unilaterally imposed the whole amount and put it into the pricing enging of its GDS companies. Thus the AA fare shows a surcharge automatically even though the ticket price does not.
As I understand the agreements there may be a legal issue here.
1. Travelport as a GDS is NOT supposed to mess with the fare levels other than using its engine to create the price. It cannot impose surcharges other than what has been approved by the airline
2. Travelport may be in breach of its agreement with ATPCo for modifying the price.
If both these conditions are correct then I think technically AA could collect an ADM from the GDS for miscalculating the fares.
That's an interesting point.
Cheers
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