Press Releases

The latest from IdeaWorksCompany.

Listed below are the most recent posts to the website.  Click on any item title or button to access our latest reports, press releases, and news items.  Or use the menu to the right to browse news, reports, articles featuring IdeaWorksCompany research, and press releases.

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Premium Travel: The Upper Middle Class Seat Priced for the Upper Middle Class – Press Release

Long Haul Premium: Upper Middle Class ─ for the Upper Middle Class was issued today as a 14-page report. It includes the results of a review of 20 leading global network carriers regarding their long haul premium economy cabins. The report describes the trends which support the potential for premium economy to someday deliver more profits than business class:

• Loss of work-related traffic of around 25% since the pandemic. Airlines across the world are eager to find an attractive replacement for this missing revenue.
• The upper middle income market represents 32% of US households. This high spending group of nearly 42 million households has income in excess of $7.6 trillion.
• Major US airlines are growing premium seat capacity by 25% to 75%. Delta alone has added 15,000 seats to its daily schedule since the pandemic.
• Premium Select can offer more potential than business class. Analysis of Delta’s A330 aircraft revealed more revenue potential than business and economy.

Airline Ancillary Revenue Reaches Record $117.9 Billion Worldwide for 2023 – Press Release

The CarTrawler worldwide estimate posts 7.7% increase above the previous record of $109.5 billion in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.  CarTrawler, the leading B2B provider of car rental and mobility solutions to the global travel industry, and IdeaWorksCompany, the foremost consultant on ancillary revenue, project airline ancillary revenue will increase to $117.9 billion worldwide for 2023, compared to $102.8 billion for 2022 and well above the previous $109.5 billion record in 2019. The CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue represents an increase largely built on 2023 passenger growth and increasing market share gains by low cost carriers.

Click here to download the two graphics from the press release as a JPG file.

Ancillary Revenue Increases 51% for 61 Airlines in 2022 – Press Release

The 2023 edition of the CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue by IdeaWorksCompany, released today, describes the 2022 ancillary revenue activities and results for 65 airlines and provides an assessment for the industry as a whole. Here’s a guide to key features of the 2023 edition:

• 65 pages of individual airline listings arranged by global region.

• Alphabetical listing of 65 airlines from Aegean to Wizz Air, as a table, with total ancillary revenue in US dollars; and ancillary revenue as a percent of total airline revenue, and per passenger.

• Ancillary revenue as a % of revenue, ranked in a graph, starting with Spirit Airlines at 51.5%, followed by Frontier, 50.8%, and Allegiant, 48.9%.

• Ancillary revenue per passenger, ranked in a graph, starting with Jet2.com at $84.72, followed by Qantas Airways, $73.23, and Allegiant, $67.74.

• Top 10 airlines for ancillary revenue, ranked in a table, starting with Delta’s $7,987,111,000, followed by United’s $7,881,371,000, and American’s $7,711,216,000.

• Frequent flyer program revenue for 20 airlines, ranked in a table, starting with American – AAdvantage at $5,800,000,000, followed by Delta – SkyMiles, $5,500,000,000, and Southwest – Rapid Rewards, $5,206,000,000.

The 2023 CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue by IdeaWorksCompany was released today as a 103-page report sponsored by CarTrawler.

Click here to download and use these JPG graphic files:  Ancillary Revenue as a Percent of Total Revenue – 2022 and Frequent Flyer Revenue Analysis – 2022

The Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue is now available for sale in the store.

2023 Big Book of Travel Data Reveals $1.28 Trillion in Revenue from Airlines, Hotels, Car Rentals & OTAs – Press Release

Allianz Partners, a global leader in travel protection and consumer specialty insurance, and IdeaWorksCompany, the foremost consultant on ancillary revenue, have released the second edition of The Allianz Partners Big Book of Travel Data by IdeaWorksCompany.  The 2023 publication, which expands on last year’s edition, provides a world of industry data for airlines, hotel groups, car rental companies, and online travel agencies (OTAs), and is collated by alphabetical order, size, region, and more. The 120-page “Big Book” is available free of charge via download at AllianzPartners.com and IdeaWorksCompany.com. The compilation of data allows for interesting comparisons; here is the list of revenue leaders in each category in 2022:

• OTAs: $121.3 billion: Booking Holdings (gross bookings). The company operates Agoda, Booking.com, Kayak, Priceline, and RentalCars.com websites.
• Hotel groups: $61.4 billion: Marriott International (estimated room revenue).
• Airlines: $49 billion: American Airlines (company revenue).
• Car rental: $30 billion: Enterprise Holdings (company revenue). The company operates the Alamo, Enterprise, and National brands.

The 120-page “Big Book” is available via download at IdeaWorksCompany.com.

Click here to download JPG graphic file of  the “Travel Data Comparison of Top 10 Results” table found on page 12 of the Big Book.

The Big Book of Travel Data is now available for sale in the store.

Assigned Seating Fees Are Big Business with Estimated Revenue of $4.2 Billion for 8 US Airlines – Press Release

The inclusion of seat fees in President Biden’s recent State of the Union address strongly suggests it is time to review the state of assigned seating fees. The $4.2 billion estimate covers the assigned seat fee revenue generated by eight key US airlines (Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit, and United) for their US domestic networks in 2022.  Airlines Assign Big Revenue Priority to Seat Selection was issued today as a 15-page report. It includes the results of booking queries conducted at six US airlines to sample the range of assigned seating fees from the back of the cabin to the preferred zone in front. Methods used by American and Spirit are featured to show distinctions between global network airlines and low cost carriers.

Global Baggage Fee Revenue Leaps to $29 Billion – Press Release

CarTrawler 2022 Global Estimate of Baggage Fee Revenue reveals 39% increase from 2021 figure of $20.9 billion.   IdeaWorksCompany, the foremost consultancy on airline ancillary revenues, and CarTrawler, leading global B2B provider of car rental and mobility solutions to the travel industry, recently estimated ancillary revenue at $102.8 billion worldwide for 2022.  This CarTrawler Global Estimate of Baggage Fee Revenue identifies baggage as a $29 billion component and provides a summary of baggage fee policies for 20 top airlines.  Baggage fees are now a regular revenue source for airlines in Europe, North America, and Latin America. For global network carriers, these are typically associated with “basic economy” fares; for low cost carriers, baggage fees are typically charged to all consumers.

Click here to download the color graphic referenced in the press release (free to use).

Airlines Innovate with Lounges, Branding, Ancillary Revenue, and Partnerships as Passengers Return – Press Release

IdeaWorksCompany identifies eight ideas by airlines all over the globe:  AirAsia, Cathay, Delta, easyJet, Eurowings, Emirates, Jetstar, United.  The desire to do something new, better, or unique, will almost always create disruption for competitors. Better yet, innovation can also be designed to please passengers and boost revenue. This is something the eight airlines featured in the latest report sponsored by global travel tech provider CarTrawler already know. Airline Revenue Innovations: A Global Sample of the Coolest Products and Services describes how the carriers in the report are reinventing their services to be distinctive, more profitable, and industry leading.

Booking Path Magic Converts Consumers for Six Leading Airlines – Press Release

Cashiers and clerks just take customer orders. True salespeople identify the individual needs of a customer, and do their best to provide a solution. This is something the six airlines featured in the latest report sponsored by global travel tech provider CarTrawler already know. The 12-page Booking Path Magic Converts Consumers report describes how the carriers in the report are enhancing the capabilities of the booking path by making them more responsive to consumers.

US & Canada Airlines Have $39 Billion of Ancillary Revenue, Including More Than $23 Billion from Co-Branded Cards – Press Release

CarTrawler sponsored research reveals US & Canada airlines grabbed 38.3% of global ancillary revenue and 66.5% of frequent flyer and commission-based revenue.  The US & Canada edged ahead with a larger share of global ancillary revenue from last year’s result of 37.1%, with a robust gain of nearly $15 billion. The recovery of long-haul traffic for Europe’s airlines helped the region replace Asia/Pacific for the 2nd slot with a $9.7 billion jump over the 2021 estimate. This year’s release includes a first-ever estimate of the global revenue provided by frequent flyer programs and commission-based activities. At $36 billion, this new statistic represents a meaningful 35% share of the $102.8 billion ancillary revenue estimate for 2022.

World’s Newest Airlines Embrace Ancillary Revenue at First Flight – Press Release

IdeaWorksCompany identifies the ancillary revenue methods of 10 brave pandemic-era startups in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the US.  New airlines compete by identifying customers who are not well served by larger and established carriers.  This is the secret to surviving as a start-up airline: find an underserved market and apply all the youthful passion and nimble moves you can muster.  That’s how these 10 low cost carriers hope to flourish in a post-pandemic era: Air Premia, Akasa Air, Avelo Airlines, Breeze Airways, Flyr, LIFT, Lynx Air, Norse, PLAY, and Vietravel Airlines.  World’s Newest Airlines Embrace Ancillary Revenue at First Flight is sponsored by global travel tech provider CarTrawler and reviews the ancillary revenue efforts of ten airlines that leapt through challenging hurdles during the pandemic.

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