 OUR TAKE -
Extra Baggage
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| Lasting Impressions:
Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.
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Socrates
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Last week, I wrote about the state of affairs as it relates to the unbundling of airline services that creates an unbundling of the customer experience. If you read the column, you may remember my prediction that baggage fees, along with other unbundled and separately prices services, are here to stay. One reader responded:
"Airlines are learning from banks, which unbundled services years ago and began charging line item fees to offset the higher cost of manual processes. Customers can choose how they want to bank. However, the airlines as a whole aren't offering alternatives, let alone incentives, to their unbundled services. Airlines now charge for everything from booking fees and curbside check-in to paper tickets and seat assignments. If something requires interaction with a person or can be calculated against fuel consumption, airline are taking a 'Pay Per View' approach. What I find more frustrating than the fees is the lack of incentive-based options. The airlines should consider offering choices up-front and apply incentives for choosing early. I may not be any happier about the fees, but having options may ease the pain."
It would indeed be a bit more palatable if the unbundling efforts were done to change behaviors rather than simply create a new fee structure to reach a target price. Perhaps the new behavior will be to simply not travel by air.
That's my take. What's your take?
Gary Lemke, Publisher
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| Stock Ticker |
| Convergys | 6.29 |  | 1.58 |
| Selectica | 0.89 | | 0.15 |
| Nortel | 0.57 | | 0.07 |
| Chordiant | 2.75 | | 0.28 |
| Rainmaker | 0.82 | | 0.07 |
| Astea | 2.16 | | 0.16 |
| ATG | 1.92 | | 0.1 |
| CDC | 0.91 | | 0.04 |
| Teletech | 8.82 | | 0.32 |
| NetSuite | 8.67 | | 0.3 |
| NICE | 22.3 | | 0.54 |
| NCR | 15.18 | | 0.35 |
| Tekelc | 12.25 | | 0.23 |
| Pegasystems | 11.85 | | 0.09 |
| RightNow | 8.06 | | 0.06 |
| Amdocs | 18.79 | | 0.11 |
| Intervoice | 8.24 | | 0.02 |
| HP | 35.28 | | 0.07 |
| LivePerson | 1.49 | | 0 |
| Epicor | 4.1 |  | -0.01 |
| Oracle | 16.09 | | -0.05 |
| SupportSoft | 2.01 | | -0.01 |
| SPSS | 24.44 | | -0.15 |
| Sykes | 18.55 | | -0.12 |
| Vignette | 8.7 | | -0.08 |
| ICT | 3.22 | | -0.03 |
| Salesforce | 28.62 | | -0.27 |
| APAC | 1.07 | | -0.02 |
| eLoyalty | 2.25 | | -0.05 |
| Unica | 3.89 | | -0.1 |
| ClickSoftware | 2.2 | | -0.09 |
| SAP | 34.14 | | -1.5 |
| Interactive | 7.45 | | -0.45 |
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As of 0:58 a.m. on 11/28/08 |
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