Head In The Clouds.

Since a lot of readers will have been flying in the past days, it seems appropriate to recount the comments of a former airline executive that I heard this week.

When asked to discuss the online practice of budget airlines which advertise very low prices that bear little relation to the price one would pay at the end of the purchase process, he said that they did so because they could get away with it and because it allowed them "to take a powerful message to the marketplace."

More accurately, it's a powerful, untrue message, But, it's undeniably a powerful message because its impacts include:

Wasted time for customers during the purchasing process.

Increased distrust of all airline advertising and pricing.

Customers feeling ripped-off and unappreciated.

Negative word of mouth.

Not to mention the realisation that executives see the false promise of low price as a legitimate excuse for poor customer service.