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Bundle Up. Ancillary products are becoming more creative.

Air Transport World

Ancillary fees have become a significant part of how almost all airlines generate revenue.  In the air transport business, they really started with budget airlines.  Ryanair in Ireland and Spirit Airlines in the US, which offered passengers the cheapest base ticket along with optional fees for add-ons that people wanted.

 

Bundle Up ─ Ancillary products are growing and becoming creative

Air Transport World – ATW

Ancillary fees have become a significant part of how almost all airlines generate revenue.  In the air transport business, they really started with budget airlines like Ryanair in Ireland and Spirit Airlines in the US, which offer passengers the cheapest base ticket along with optional fees for the add-ons that people wanted.  In 2019, according to a report by IdeaWorksCompany and CarTrawler, worldwide airline ancillary revenue hit an all time record of $109.5 billion.  While that slumped to just below $60 billion in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, it was back up to almost $103 billion in 2022.

Industry Voice: Will the global airline industry provide investors with upside in 2023?

Investment Week

This year, total global ancillary revenues are forecast to come close to the record high set in 2019. According to consultancy firms IdeaWorks and CarTrawler, which monitor these fees, airlines are on track to collect $102.8 billion worldwide, up from $65.8 billion in 2021 and a stone’s throw from 2019’s $109.5 billion.  Even though ancillary revenues are expected to fall short of the all-time high in dollar terms, they will continue to represent a greater share of airlines’ total revenues, IdeaWorks writes. In 2022, ancillary fees are forecast to represent 15 percent of the industry’s total sales, up from 14.4 percent in 2021, 13.6 percent 2020 and 12.2 percent in 2019.

Transport: the cabin suitcase, the new goose that lays the golden eggs for airlines

Franceinfo

Published in French, translated to English via Google Translate

Cabin suitcases, still free a few years ago, are now more and more often paid for. Last year, they brought in nearly 20 billion euros for airlines.  All types combined, luggage brought in nearly 20 billion euros to airlines in 2021. A team from France Television travels to Barcelona (Spain) with a low-cost company.  For a small suitcase, you have to pay 48 euros: the luggage, and the penalty for not having reserved in advance.  The flight therefore goes from 60 to 108 euros, an increase of 80%. Why did these suitcases, still free two years ago, become chargeable?  No company concerned wished to speak.

 

How Families Can Get Seats Together on a Plane

Nerdwallet

Seat selection fees have become more common for a reason — they drive a lot of revenue for airlines. Low-cost airlines Spirit and Frontier earned roughly half of their revenue from “ancillary fees” in 2020, according to a report by IdeaWorksCompany, an industry analytics firm.

Why Booking Directly With Airlines Can Be More Expensive

The Independent

Since the rise of budget airlines such as Spirit and Frontier, U.S. airlines have dramatically shifted how they make money. Rather than earning profit margin on airfare itself, which is highly competitive, airlines are increasingly focused on “ancillary revenue” from add-on fees, credit card rewards programs and seat upgrades.  Between 2019 and 2021, ancillary fees as a percentage of total revenue for major U.S. airlines jumped six percentage points, from 16.1% to 22.2% , according to a report by IdeaWorksCompany, an airline industry reporting firm. That follows a steady drumbeat of increased fee revenue going back to at least 2007.

Both the airline and the traveler win from add-on fees, a new report suggests

ConsumerAffairs

The newest airline ancillary revenue report is out and, boy, oh, boy, are the airlines making bank off of those little ancillary fees.  Adding together fees for baggage, seat selection, and boarding priority along with commissions gained from hotel bookings and the sale of frequent flier miles to partners, those cha-chings are on track to hit $102.8 billion worldwide in 2022, compared to $65.8 billion in 2021.  The report – prepared by CarTrawler, the leading provider of online car rental distribution systems, and IdeaWorksCompany, the foremost consultant on ancillary revenue, says there’s actually a double benefit of ancillary revenue: one that creates a stable income source for airlines while also contributing to lower fares for consumers.  “Airlines generate indirect and direct sales, such as buy-on-board meals and more leg room, from ancillary revenue activity. When customers use a co-branded credit card or book car hire at an airline website, this generates indirect revenue. Partners share a portion of the sales generated from these activities with an airline,” Jay Sorensen, president, IdeaWorksCompany, told ConsumerAffairs.

Domestic flights hit global price rate for peak holiday period

The Australian

An annual report on airline revenue from items such as baggage fees, seat selection, food and beverage and Wi-Fi, estimated carriers would rake in $152bn in 2022, compared with $162bn three years ago.  The figure worked out to about $26.50 a passenger on top of their airfare, up from $14.25 a decade ago.  The IdeaWorks Company report noted 45 per cent of airline passengers were now choosing to add services to their airfare, led by checked baggage and extra carry on, followed by seat selection, priority boarding, food and beverage and Wi-Fi.  Fees paid by frequent flyer program partners in return for rewarding customers with “points” were also incorporated into the headline $152bn figure.

Are we entering the “Ancillary Revenue Revolution” in the Hospitality Industry?

Hospitalitynet

Airlines’ ancillary revenue ranges anywhere from 20 percent of total revenue for major airlines to 50 percent for low-cost carriers. According to IdeaWorksCompany, ancillary revenue totalled nearly $110 billion globally in 2019 and, despite dipping considerably in 2020, garnered more than $50 billion that year, rising to $68 billion in 2021. Most notably, ancillaries increased as a share of total global airline revenue in both pandemic years.

Airlines find a formula to increase revenue, despite the drop in travelers

Tourinews

Published in Spanish, translated to English via Google Translate

Despite the fact that the prices of airline tickets and the number of travelers fell sharply in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, airlines have been able to increase revenue per passenger thanks to charging for ancillary services. This is clear from the “Ancillary Revenue Yearbook,” a study carried out by the consulting firm IdeaWorks.

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