Articles about IdeaWorksCompany

American AAdvantage frequent flier changes reward buying over flying
Chicago Tribune
“It’s dangerous to say any passenger doesn’t matter,” said Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorksCompany, an airline consulting firm headquartered in Wisconsin. “I’m just not certain the programs necessarily know who they’re built for anymore because, just as cash has corrupted Washington, it perhaps has corrupted the purity of frequent flier programs’ original intent.”

Airlines Made Close to $11 Billion Off of Fees This Year
Fortune Magazine
Hold on to your wallet. North America’s airlines will charge almost $11 billion in so-called a la carte fees for everything from seat reservations to luggage this year — a 24% increase over what was collected in 2014.  That’s according to a new survey by IdeaWorksCompany, an ancillary fee consulting company. The results suggest that despite an outcry from airline passengers the sky remains the limit for new fees.

Choice Profits: Airlines and Passengers Benefit from Personalization
APEX Airline Passenger Experience Magazine
Jay Sorensen, president, Product, Partnership and Marketing Practice at IdeaWorksCompany explains how the retail strategy, originated from low-cost carriers, gives passengers greater control over their experience. “The airline industry is moving from a one-price-fits-all methodology to one that can be best compared to shopping in a grocery store,” he says. À-la-carte options let consumers design a made-to-order ticket.

This Hotel Company Is Best at Rewarding Loyal Customers
Money Magazine
If you’re a loyal Marriott customer, pat yourself on the back. According to a new study from the consulting firm IdeaWorks, Marriott’s rewards program gives loyalty members the most generous payback for future room stays of any hotel company. The average return for money spent on Marriott is 9.4%, meaning that for every $100 spent with Marriott, a loyalty member can expect $9.40 worth of value toward a future stay.

Hotel Rewards Programs: The Best and the Rest
Wall Street Journal
But Marriott is better than most, and other chains offer good deals if you know how to play the game. The study found 54% higher loyalty-program payback on average from a stay at a Marriott hotel than from a stay at a Starwood property such as Sheraton.  “Hotels value their currency—points—in a certain way, and Marriott has chosen to value its currency higher than the competition,” says Jay Sorensen, president of consulting firm IdeaWorks Co., which conducted the study.

European Legacy Airlines May Experience Ancillary Pains
Wall Street Journal
Lufthansa will become the first European legacy airline to unbundle services by introducing a three-tier fare system starting from October. This allows the company to compete more directly on the actual fare but also to charge more for non-ticket items like checked bags and seat booking.  Such services incur minimal costs and therefore can add a very profitable revenue stream for airlines. So-called ancillary revenues jumped 21% in 2014 globally from a year earlier, according to industry consultant IdeaWorksCompany and online booking engine CarTrawler.

U.S. Airlines Lead the World in Ancillary Revenue as Total Tops $38 Billion in 2014
Skift
IdeaWorks Company has released the numbers on airline ancillary performance for 2014, which reveals airlines earned $38.1 billion dollars in ancillary revenue, compared to the $31.5 billion earned in 2013.  The company’s report, sponsored once again this year by CarTrawler, considers the performance of 63 airlines around the world—both major flag carriers and low-cost—which disclose ancillary revenue in their financial reports.

A defining moment for measuring ancillary revenue?
tnooz
IdeaWorks has released a summary of its latest look at airline ancillary revenues, saying that it will change its definition to include fare families.  The headline findings from 2014 come as little surprise – revenues are up, low-cost carriers are at the forefront but legacy airlines are catching up, Europe and US are the most active regions.  The report, sponsored by CarTrawler, leads with the statement that “2014 Airline Ancillary Revenue Leaps to $38.1 Billion – Up Nearly 21% in a Year” – an impressive increase, although the $38.1 billion is based on financial filings from 63 airlines, whereas last year the total came from 59 airlines.

Airlines Pocket a Record $38 Billion From Extra Fees
NBC News
When something works — and works well — you stick with it.  That’s the approach that airlines across the globe are taking, as a new report found ancillary fee revenue grew at a double-digit pace last year.  In fact, despite grumblings from passengers about additional charges, revenue from checked bags, changed reservations and a host of other additional fees jumped nearly 21 percent to an all-time high of $38.1 billion, according the annual study by IdeaWorksCompany and CarTrawler.

Wall Street Journal
The Best and Worst Airline Rewards Programs for 2015
Travelers continue to be frustrated by the inability to cash in frequent-flier miles for popular flights. Seats are often limited or nonexistent, and airlines more often ask for huge numbers of miles above basic levels to get award tickets.  But an annual study of award availability shows Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways, both of which have point-based loyalty programs instead of using miles as currency for award tickets, had ample availability compared with other airlines. . . “Frequent fliers are better served by reward programs at value-oriented airlines,” says Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorks, the consulting firm that conducted the study for the sixth straight year.