Jul 09

You’re Equal In The Eyes of the Lord, Airlines Are Another Unholy Story

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Money talks, but in airports and on board airplanes money screams. If you’re a first class passenger, for instance, you get to jump the line. It’s the way of the world. We respect influence, and influence can be purchased for a pretty penny.

NPR produced a segment today on travelers stranded in Newark and unable to get a flight to San Francisco, due to the crash of Asiana Flight 214 from South Korea.

The report highlights the inequity of the bumping system employed by airlines at a time of severe delays.

It turns out there is a method to this madness: It’s called customer relationship management — or CRM — and airlines helped invent it.

Each passenger’s rights on each flight are determined by a complicated calculus. It includes how frequently they fly and how much they paid for the ticket in their hand.

Are you offended in the least by these practices? Airlines, hotels and other businesses with rewards programs rank your importance by how much money you spend. If you’re a business traveler who flies weekly on full price tickets, you’re king of the jetway, simple as that.

firstclass

Let’s examine the issue from a different angle. How does it make United Airlines look when it bumps reserved passengers from a flight in order to put aforementioned kings of the jetway in their seats on their totally overbooked planes? There’s no democracy or good will between men here, that’s for sure. Rather, it’s an unwelcome reminder of our class system, and a ding on the brand that passes out favors in a way that makes others feel small.

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May 18

Klout Score of 55 Or Higher? You’re An Admiral!

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Social influence is one of those touchy topics that can set me, or any number of other argumentative people, off. Why? Because high school and the need to be popular, like Trix, is for kids.

Or is that a faulty assumption? Do we ever really outrun the need to be popular? Think about it. Who doesn’t want to be liked? Who doesn’t want to be recognized for their gifts?

As you may know by now, Klout is a company that ranks one’s influence in social channels, and ties perks from its partners to one’s score, thereby providing the much needed game layer. For instance, I have a pretty good score right now, which means I can claim a newly introduced, and pretty awesome, perk.

American Airlines The Klout To Win Sweepstakes

Users with a Klout Score of 55 or higher, can gain access to the Admirals Club in one of 40 airports worldwide by going to www.aa.com/klout. You do not have to be an American Airlines passenger to be eligible for this Perk.

In my opinion, this American Airlines perk is a big step up in the value of Klout’s perks program, and thus in Klout itself. While I continue to think it is a poor practice to place too much emphasis on social influence, I feel like it’s easier to take the whole thing seriously when there are real world payoffs like this.

Footnote: I used to say a lot of good my social capital is doing me, since Safeway won’t take social capital at the checkout stand. Perhaps, the tide is turning and we can begin to bank (even in small ways) on the work we do in social channels. Thoughts?

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