These days there are many things passengers have come to expect of airlines. For low-cost carriers,
(and even many full-service carriers) there’s the expectation that you’ll have to pay to
choose your seat. Flying long-haul business class with a full-service airline comes with
the expectation of a lie-flat bed - or at least something that has a good amount of recline!
But what about the little things that make airlines
unique and different from the rest? In this video,
we look at five airlines and things that they do to set themselves apart from the competition.
Two things before we begin. With the hundreds of airlines operating around the world,
we can’t be 100% certain that these are truly unique traits of just one
airline. We can be certain, however, that these are rarities in the industry.
Additionally, this list is nowhere near exhaustive, and so if you can think of
something equally as interesting, feel free to leave it down in the comments section!
With these notes out of the way, let’s get started!
The first thing we’ll examine is Southwest Airlines’ open seating policy.
Long-story short, this US carrier has open seating rather than pre-selected
or assigned seats. As noted by the airline on its website, once onboard, “simply choose any
available seat and stow your carryon items in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you.”
There’s a little more nuance to this free-for-all style, however.
Upon checking in, passengers flying on a Southwest-operated flight will
be assigned a boarding group (A, B, or C) and a position.
This unique group and position combination (for example: A35) is displayed on the
boarding pass and represents a reserved spot in the boarding group at the gate.
Numbered posts set-up at terminal gate areas will indicate where passengers should line up.
Then, when the boarding group is called, passengers can get up to find their
designated place in line and board the aircraft in numerical order with their boarding group.
There are a few ways to get into a getting boarding group to increase
your chances of getting your preferred seat.
Passengers have the ability to purchase
an upgraded boarding position starting 24-hours before the flight. For a fee,
they can secure a position between A1 and A15, depending on availability.
Additionally, passengers booking or upgrading to a quote-unquote
‘business select fare’ are guaranteed A1-A15 boarding.
And finally, while it doesn't guarantee an “A” boarding position,
checking-in early places passengers in a better boarding group.
As View from the Wing notes, Southwest frequent
flyers know the system and do what they can do ‘game’ it.
Travelers flying in groups might have one person board first to save seats for the others,
while others have come up with more interesting ways to get what they want.
For those who are hoping for extra space in the form of an empty seat next to them,
some passengers will quote-unquote “spread out”. The trick is to make it look like
anyone who takes a middle seat next to them will be uncomfortable. Crumpling up tissues
and placing them on an adjacent seat to make it look undesirable is apparently another tactic.
Of course, if you know it’s going to be a full flight,
then having an empty adjacent seat will not be possible. So apparently there’s the tactic of
selecting more desirable passengers - ideally someone small who won’t encroach on your space.
This is done by making the adjacent seat appear less desirable until someone ideal approaches.
Then, it’s time to sit up straight and clear off those crumpled up tissues!
It’s unfortunate, but also not surprising, that creepy men will use this tactic in the
hopes of an attractive woman will be sitting next to them.
We could probably make an entire long-form video about Southwest
Airlines’ open seating and the strategies passengers have come up
with to game the system but it’s time to move on to our next airline quirk.
On the other end of the air travel spectrum we have KLM’s long-haul business class and
the unique collectable miniature houses distributed to passengers.
KLM notes that these unique gifts have been around since the 1950s
and are a quote-unquote true collector’s item!
According to the website Studio Slip, airlines were once regulated by the
Civil Aeronautics Board, who prohibited incentivising customers with any sort of
tangible gifts with a monetary value to ensure an equal playing field.
KLM came up with a loophole campaign to give their
customers a little ceramic Dutch house filled with gin. Why gin?
Apparently, when confronted about breaking the rules,
the airline replied “Is there a law that tells us drinks have to be served in a glass?”
While the Civil Aeronatics Board is no more, the Delft house tradition continues.
Passengers receive one of these miniatures when travelling in Business Class on an
intercontinental route and, at the time of making this video,
there are 103 different houses to collect. Each house has a unique story behind it and
KLM has even developed a smartphone app for passengers to keep track of their collections.
Once seated in your business class seat, a flight attendant (at some
point in the flight) will come to you with a selection of houses. If you’re a collector,
you’ll then have the opportunity to choose something that is new and unique to your set.
But if you don’t have the time or money to fly KLM’s intercontinental business class,
then websites KLMhouses.com KLMdutchesHouses.com sell these
miniature houses directly. You’ll also see these being sold on eBay and Etsy.
KLMHouses.com, which is probably not affiliated with the airline,
is currently selling the complete set of 103 miniature houses for
2000 euros! While you’ll miss out on the joy of traveling,
at least it’s cheaper and faster than flying KLM long-haul to get your houses the traditional way!
Staying with a full-service airline,
our third interesting trait comes from Saudia, with its onboard prayer rooms.
As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, it’s no surprise that its national
airline is hyperfocused on providing service that caters to the needs of muslims. This ranges from
the food being prepared to the prohibition of alcohol. And, as we noted in a previous video
covering the Saudia fleet, this carrier is the most prominent airline to feature a prayer space.
This prayer facility is present in the rear of all Saudia widebody aircraft with some
spaces large enough to accommodate up to 10 passengers. The special space is made possible
with the absence of a section of economy seats ahead of the last galley in the center area.
It’s also noted that some of the airline’s jets also feature a
display that points to find the Qibla, which is the direction of prayer for
that moment. These carpeted areas also feature curtains for privacy.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways does create a section for prayers on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner
and Airbus A380s, but unlike Saudia, the space is not fully dedicated to being a
prayer room. The airline designates an area near the door that can be curtained off to
pray. In the same area is a screen that mentions the direction toward Mecca, similar to Saudia.
Interesting-feature number four comes from airBaltic with its non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
While many people are now tired of hearing about cryptocurrency and the blockchain,
airBaltic’s digital collectibles actually offer a tangible benefit to their holders.
At least for the next year or so, airBaltic loyalty program members
who purchase an airBaltic ‘Planie’ NFT, and link it to their account,
will receive frequent flyer points daily, just for holding these collectible graphics.
For every Planie linked to a passenger’s airBaltic Club account, 20 points per day are provided.
Additionally, after each 10 flights flown,
a passenger in possession of a Planie gets a free upgrade to Business class.
If you’re daring (or wealthy) enough to scoop up 25 planies,
then you can currently attain airBaltic Club VIP member status,
which allows Fast Track security screening, airport lounge access, and a generous baggage
allowance. You’d also get 500 points per day to redeem for free flights. Of course,
with Planies currently costing $155 to 200 US dollars, this special status doesn’t come cheap!
And finally, we have to mention the famous - and also notorious - Ryanair jingle.
This is a short recording that the European budget airline plays whenever the flight
arrives on time. These jingles have always been some sort of trumpet-based fanfare,
and have evolved several times over the years. Its latest iteration sounds like this:
Many travelers hate it and some have even taken to the internet to make memes about it. However,
as others have stated on Twitter, particularly after having a flight severely delayed,
the preference would certainly be to put up with the blaring jingle and have an on-time arrival!
So those are our 5 interesting airline quirks!
Again, if you have anything that fits into this category that we missed,
please do leave it in the comments section!