JMC has followed Airtours with a copycat four-tier
pricing policy for package holidays.
Holiday Choices – JMC Extra, Standard, Economy and
Basic – will be officially launched in the winter sun brochure out on February
28 and will continue in the summer 2003 programme.
The operator described it as a “cleverer” version of
Airtours’ Holiday Options offering choices ranging from a basic no-frills
holiday to packages with added extras including pre-bookable seats, airport
transfers and free kids’ clubs. The move is a bid to offer the ultimate in
customer choice and sell more product early.
It is significant because it leaves Thomson and First
Choice without a similar range of product choice.
Thomas Cook tour operation businesses managing
director Manny Fontenla-Novoa said: “The question is whether the other two will
follow.”
Fontenla-Novoa said the move enabled JMC to sell
holidays at late prices in the early market under the Economy and Basic price
tiers.
“It’s such an obvious concept you wonder why we didn’t
come up with it earlier.”
The decision comes on the back of customer research
that cited convenience, flexibility and choice as the most important
considerations when booking a holiday.
JMC yield director Simon Russell, the architect of the
scheme, added: “Whereas we had one price for a package
last year and one offering, we now have four different
types.”
He said the scheme had been developed a year ago but
had taken longer than Airtours’ to roll out to ensure it was accessible in a
simple viewdata format.
Airtours Holidays managing director Seamus Conlon was
not surprised by the move after the success of Holiday Options.
“Customers have opted for these benefits and product
is not totally relying on discounts. It is the way the market is going,” he
said.
He admitted the Holiday Options product tended to cost
more than old-style packages but said the basic package holiday was still there
for those who wanted it.
Although Thomson and First Choice have no equivalent
pricing policy on packages, Thomson said its two-year-old Just product – a
no-frills holiday which gives the option of buying a meal or transfer – could
be described as a forerunner to the concept.
National sales manager for retail Jeanne Lally said:
“There are no plans at this stage to do anything similar. But we will keep an
eye on the competition and ask agents about it.”
First Choice offers Sunstart as its most basic
package, but this still includes a meal on the flight and a hotel transfer.