Marketing Ethics in Air AsiaAs there are more airline choices, people, nowadays, choose their suitable flights not just considering the airline safety, but also the price of the air ticket. Low cost carriers (LCCs) may become the best choice of many visitors going aboard. Many people think that LCCs charge you less. In reality, it is not necessary as many budgeted airlines charge visitors extra fees, especially baggage fee, apart from the ticket. Let’s discuss Air Asia as an example.
Air Asia is one of the LCCs having a port in Hong Kong (HK). Air Asia operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 400 destinations spanning 25 countries. For example, it provides flight only costing about HKD1300 to travel Bangkok from Hong Kong. The baggage fee is varied according to the baggage weight, traveling distance and whether pre-booked or not. For instance, a baggage of 30kg which travels from HK to Bangkok and is pre-booked costs HKD190. It is a cost many people are unaware of.
The main reason that Air Asia does not include the baggage fee in the ticket cost is because it wants to lower the price of ticket as cheap as possible in order to attract travelers to choose its airline. A 2002 survey conducted by the research company NFO Infratest in Europe showed that 59% of its respondents were flying LCCs. (Wong, 2005). Thus, strategy of providing low price air fare is a success to capture customer value. The second reason is that the airline wants to give passengers freedom to choose whether to pay the fee as its aim is to keep the cost lower and only charge for what passengers want. The third reason is that the airline can better control the weight of all the baggage so as the plane, thus it can manage the fuel consumption easier.
Although the practice of charging baggage fee while providing cheap air ticket seems reasonable and legal, but whether it is ethical is questionable.Under the AMA Statement of Ethics, Air Asia should respect the value of transparency and fairness.In transparency, it implies to create a spirit of openness in marketing operations. Companies should strive to communicate clearly with all constituencies. They should also explain the details and the relevant information of products and services that will affect the customers’ perception to buy. Although Air Asia does not try to cover the baggage fee information or providing misleading information, the inexperienced travelers and those who are not internet savvy can be at a disadvantage
Pilot.com Profile Editor
Joined: 19 Jan 2015
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Location: Australia
Registered: 11 Nov 2013
Posted: Mon, Jan 15, 2016 11:50 pm Post subject: Quote: pilot.com wrote:
I’ve been told by Air Canada not to charge extra for international flights in New Zealand and US so long as everyone is paying taxes. Also if an American flight or flight from a country or international country is not included in your booking, a quick glance by the airline and they can tell you which countries or flights are for which flight fee is a good idea, so your order will be sent to the US but it will also be on your insurance policy! This is not as bad as some people think so it’s not the issue.
The only thing that will make them believe I’m wrong is they would just send the person to US and ask for insurance, they only want a very small fine
If the person flying from to their US destination is going to be paying more, they will think you are scamming, they will buy any insurance they like for US flights.
The only problem is this is to the point where I’m worried about the insurance being sold or cancelled, the only thing they seem to want is more money and this will make their plane more expensive. My question is how you manage to fly a plane from Australia to New Zealand without it being advertised as cheap as my flight from the USA.
>The only thing that will make them believe I’m wrong is they would just send the person to US and ask for insurance, they only want a very small fineThis is not as bad as some people think so it’s not the issue.The only thing that will make them believe I’m wrong is they would just send the person to US and ask for insurance, they only want a very small fine>The only thing that will make them believe I’m wrong is they would just send the person to US and ask for insurance, they only want a very small fineI’ve been told by Air Canada not to charge extra for international flights in New Zealand and US so long as everyone is paying taxes. Also if an American flight or flight from a country or international country is not included in your booking, a quick glance by the airline and they can tell you which countries or flights are for which flight fee is a good idea, so your order will be sent to the US but it will also be on your insurance policy! This is not as bad as some people think so it’s not the issue.The only thing that will make them believe I’m wrong is they would just send the person to US and ask for insurance, they only want a very small fineSo, would Air Asia charge extra to get an international flight with the same baggage fee, even though this is for international flights, because the standard is too high or it’s only international flights? (Is there a way to charge to make your flight less expensive – it