Will easyJetHolidays be a hit with customers?
March 10, 2008
After listening to the presentation by John Kohlsaat from easyJet I wondered if easyJet’s foray into selling holidays will be a success with customers. I try to look at things from the consumer perspective. I’d done some research in October 2007 for my blog and found that prices for accommodation and car hire booked on the easyJet site were considerably higher, compared to shopping around.
On my return flight from Berlin with Easyjet, I glanced through the in flight magazine and was dismayed by the easyJetHoliday three page spread advert. One page described the tale of woe of a couple who’d put together their own holiday, spending all evening looking for hotels which caused the computer to crash twice, then discovered that the flight price they’d seen earlier had increased and to cover this increase had to book accommodation in a cheaper, less desirable locale. However the second couple who booked it all on easyJet saved time and money.
I’m not convinced the second couple saved money booking with easyJet. That couple may have been the ones comprising on location as easyJet has an exclusive accommodation partner Hotelopia., so is unlikely to offer the full range of available hotels. As for price, a price comparison site such as HotelsCombined searches more than 30 suppliers so is far more likely to find the lowest price. As for the time factor, yes it would be quicker just to book everything with easyJet. However using a price comparison site doesn’t take long.
But it states in the easyJet ad that they guarantee the lowest price. Cast your eyes to line 4 where it states that the guarantee doesn’t cover flights and hotels booked separately. So why are easyJet bothering to mention the guarantee in the context of an advert where the first couple book the elements separately, so they wouldn’t even be covered by the guarantee?
Are easyJet relying on customer inertia i.e. customers can’t be bothered to look at other sites and believe that a low cost airline must also offer low price accommodation? Are customers reassured by the lowest price guarantee?
It seems to me that easyJet should consider some type of accommodation price comparison tool on their site to reassure customers that they are getting the best deal and widest choice of accommodation, rather than a list of hotel options from their exclusive partner. Although easyJet might not make such a high commission per booking by ditching the exclusive partner they could end up with higher overall revenue if a higher percentage of customers book their accommodation through the easyJet site, which is more likely to occur if customers are reassured that they are getting the lowest price and widest choice of accommodation on the easyJet site.
Comments
One Response to “Will easyJetHolidays be a hit with customers?”
Got something to say?
Event Sponsors
Global Sponsors
I think Eastjet is a brand you use despite the pain associated with it. That works for flights (where it is yet another aspect of an alround painful process) but I’m not sure it works for holidays. And you’re right on the price aspect it - I can only assume they’re aiming at the unsophisticated searcher and late adopters who haven’t head of Expedia etc.