When a company’s frequent flyer gizmo gift downgrades the customer’s luggage, rethink what value means to that person. Take, for instance, the dinky velcro strap that friend-of-Vidlet Hartmut received in the mail to thank him for his loyalty. It takes his first-class Tumi suitcase into economy-class style and acts as a reminder of the recent 24-hour delay that left him sleeping in the airport overnight. Gifts like this are going straight to the bin for most customers, yet many companies continue to dole out rewards in this form, which is neither impactful nor sustainable. We know from our research that airlines are extremely cost-restricted, and in a highly cost-competitive market, small gestures have the potential to have a huge impact on brand perception. Vidlet can tell you that the money spent on junk gifts that are basically designed to be thrown away should be spent where it has the highest impact: at the gate and in the air. This underscores the importance of incorporating the customer voice into designing the flight experience. We hope that we can continue to amplify the passenger’s voice in an industry where the customer experience is going through some turbulence.
Mejan R.
4mo
Mine immediately went into the donation/recycle bin 😅
Meng Chee
4mo
Yup - insulting when you consider the $$$ spend required for status and then the ecological waste imposed by undesired objects. Plus why even brand something like this?!
Heike Rapp
4mo
Exactly. The sentiment can be extended to corporate tschtatschkis and cheap giveaways one still gets at tradeshows or even at internal corp events.
Patricia Roller
4mo
Hartmut Esslinger makes that overnighter look too easy. Most people cannot just put their Birks down and sleep. I can't. The strap is a misguided decision by United Airlines that cannot be explained, ever.
Matthew Houston
4mo
I feel the exact same way about my 1K velcro strap.
Howard Nuk
4mo
Ours did go in the bin last night. Love this statement 🧠 🤣
Poor Hartmut! Agreed Patricia Roller. In our house, those things literally don't make it out of the packaging, but then again, at least their distribution is limited. Think about how much of what comes to your snail mail box goes literally from the mailbox into the recycle bin. Now that is disgusting.
Hilton Howard
4mo
So true. The airline industry is broken.
Hartmut, looking cool. Sometime, and I’ve been saying this for years . . we’ll have to arrange a get together of the Altensteig frogs. The company started in Altensteig and represented something very different from what it’s become. Great times with some amazing people (ex frog Germany. 1988-1991)