Mike FriedmanBefore we get to TWIT (This Week In Travel), I hope all of you had a happy Thanksgiving. Remember, this weekend, stay away from conversations about politics from your racist uncle. Oh, and avoid tropes, also.
This week, I’m going to talk about Uber’s public data, an airline that might could probably will probably won’t disappear and one site’s best airline for 2020.
Uber/Lyft Pricing Secrets Revealed! Well, Sort Of…And A Loyalty Program For Both
Like the formula for Coca-Cola and the Colonel’s mix of 11 herbs and spices, the pricing algorithms for ridesharing companies have been closely guarded secrets. Really, all we knew about them is that they were losing money on every ride, but making it up with volume.
That is, until a law in Chicago forced the companies to give us a peek at their data. The biggest change over the past year is in the cost of shared rides, which one CEO described as the most price-sensitive. Prices for shared rides, which make multiple stops, rose 12-14%, while private rides remained the same. Not surprisingly, those increases resulted in a precipitous decline in the percentage of shared rides versus the total. Economics 101 does work, apparently.
The side effects of Uber and Lyft have been interesting, to say the least. They’ve resulted in more traffic and lower use of public transportation, which pleases exactly nobody who wants to get to the airport on time. Cities are implementing surcharges and restrictions on rideshares, but they’re here to stay. Still, these companies are now publicly traded, so making a profit is that much more important. The days of practically free rides are probably gone.
Freebird Reminder
The good news is that there is now an independent loyalty program, called Freebird, that gives you points for every ride you take (It makes money from local merchants.). Yes, the rides are exactly the same price as if you didn’t use the app. I’m surprised that we didn’t see more interest the first time we mentioned it, but here’s another shot.*
Thai Airways Will Continue To Fly
This week in travel Thai Airways passengers can breath freely. While there have been a number of articles recently about Thai’s weak financial position, with some hints that the airline may have to shut down, that’s highly unlikely to happen.
As low cost and ultra-low cost carriers have made their ways around the world, they have had a devastating impact on existing airlines that offer more perks and higher prices. The article above mentions Jet Airways, Thomas Cook and Air Berlin as companies that have been forced to liquidate.
Thai Airways is not any of those, however. Rather, it’s a “flag carrier,” or national airline, and its failure would be a tremendous blow to Thailand. leading to the loss of up to 25,000 jobs. Yes, the company lost more than $200 million in the first half of the year, but there’s no way that the government can afford to let the airline dissolve.
Note to Thai Airways management: Press releases that are meant to calm the traveling public may very well have the opposite effect.
And The Top Airline In The World Is…
Week In Travel
Each year, AirlineRatings.com creates a list of what it considers to be the top airlines in the world and, for the sixth time, tiny Air New Zealand has been declared the winner. The site names the winner based on a dozen categories, ranging from passenger feedback to sustainability. Singapore Air came in second, followed by ANA and Qantas.
To nobody’s surprise, no US airlines placed in the top 10, although awards went to Delta as the best carrier in the Americas and JetBlue as the best discount carrier in the Americas. Eastern European ultra-low cost carrier Wizz Air won for best lavatories.
This Week In Travel – Fun Fact
Apropos to absolutely nothing, today I learned that Trader Joe’s stores hide a stuffed animal somewhere in the store and kids who find it get a small prize, like a lollipop. The animal is usually geographically-appropriate for the store, e.g., a lobster stuffed animal in Boston.
*Of course, that could be explained by the fact that we had about 12 readers at the time.
