The news release from Aer Lingus is fairly concise and applies to both business and economy classes. It has four key points:
All fares on direct services will be sold on a one-way basis.
Minimum stay restrictions are removed.
Changes are permitted on payment of a surcharge of €25 ($30 USD) per sector.
Name changes are permitted on payment of a surcharge of €50 ($60 USD) per booking.
That's it! The release says these changes remove all other previous restrictions from a ticket purchase. It's as simple a plan as you'll find anywhere on the international market, and Aer Lingus promises lower fares will follow.
One can only hope this marks the beginning of a trend, but the fact is several U.S. carriers already have been selling with similar simplicity. Southwest gained a loyal following with its short menu of nine ticket choices.
At one extreme is refundable walk-up fare, naturally the most expensive but usually far below its competitors' offers for similar terms. The cheapest fare is usually the "internet special," which requires a 14-day advance purchase and is nonrefundable.
In between those two fares are a number of infant, child, and roundtrip offerings that should meet just about anyone's needs.
JetBlue became popular very quickly, even it was barely a year old when the September 11 attacks rocked the industry. Among the reasons cited for the success is a simplified ticketing process that involves ticketless travel, all one-way fares, and no Saturday-night stay requirement.
Aer Lingus faces some tough financial times, and perhaps their leaders took note of JetBlue's achievement of profitability in year one, or Southwest's string of 31 consecutive profitable years.
The hope here is other airlines will follow the trend, and let us save our time and money for things that make people want to travel more frequently.
