Af Morten Suhr Hansen
Last Thursday turned out to be quite different from what I had initially imagined. Just after lunch, I received a call inviting me to the TV2 News studio for an interview, followed by a longer debate on a subscription story that had already been attracting major attention in both Danish and international media for a few days: The Hungarian airline Wizz Air is launching a brand-new ‘All-you-can-fly’ subscription, allowing customers to fly as much as they want for 3,700 DKK a year!
Of course, I was eager to weigh in on this! Just as I do in this article, but I also think it’s worth reflecting on why this particular subscription story went viral to such an extent that it even hit the traditional news media. After all, many new subscriptions are launched every year without getting the same level of media attention – or resulting in me being invited to the TV2 News studio!
After all, this is a Hungarian airline that only has direct routes from Denmark to Sofia in Bulgaria and Budapest in Hungary. There is hardly a huge subscription potential in Denmark. So the story must have touched on something else. More on that later, but first let’s take a closer look at the terms and conditions of the subscription, including the fine print.
A subscription where you really need to read the fine print
At first glance, it sounds too good to be true. That with a flat price of 499 euros (approximately 3,700 DKK) you can fly as much and as often as you want across Wizz Air’s more than 900 routes across Europe and to other continents. And maybe it is too good to be true. In any case, the subscription comes with a number of restrictions that will be a show-stopper for most people.
Most importantly, if you want to use the subscription, the earliest you can book a ticket is three days before departure. This prevents all planning and also means that if the flight is fully booked before then, it’s not possible to book a ticket at all. At the same time, you are not guaranteed a return ticket on your subscription if you are successful with an outbound ticket. So in reality, this is a ‘last minute’ subscription for those who want to be spontaneous and don’t need to plan far in advance.
At the same time, Wizz Air restricts access to subscription flights for up to 50 days a year. While it’s not specified which days this applies to, it’s likely to be during peak seasons and around holidays.
It’s probably no surprise that any flight booked under the subscription still comes with costs like booking fees, baggage fees, and similar charges. This is already familiar from regular airline tickets.
In other words, Wizz Air’s new ‘All-you-can-fly’ subscription is not a good deal. It is unattractive to too many potential customers and unlikely to gain much traction in Denmark. That is relatively easy to figure out, so why did it become such a big story anyway – both on social media and in traditional media?
Dream life or flight shame?
Perhaps it’s due to two things! Firstly, air travel is not like any other product. The airplane is our bridge to great experiences. The dream of traveling and traveling extensively is deeply rooted in many of us. So, when an airline suddenly launches a subscription offering unlimited flights, it makes us dream of a life where we can live a life of luxury, unbound to any one place, like some modern-day Croesus.
In other words, Wizz Air’s subscription made us dream of everything it could have been. If it had been put together better.
The second reason is perhaps even more obvious. The flight subscription has also fueled the debate about the airline industry’s (lack of) sustainability in a time of climate crisis. The strongest reactions against Wizz Air’s subscription has come from this angle, with many seeing the airline as completely tone-deaf for launching such a subscription right now. It doesn’t help that Wizz Air argues that the purpose of the subscription is to fill seats on flights that would otherwise be half empty. An argument that is supported by the fact that tickets can only be booked very close to departure.
So the story of Wizz Air’s subscription has contained equal parts fascination and outrage, and as a result, it has gained extra air under its wings.
Are subscriptions now making their way into the airline industry?
If there’s a broader perspective to take from this story, it’s the question of whether we will see the airline industry generally move toward subscriptions, as we’ve seen in so many other sectors. It’s not so obvious to answer, even though I formulated it that way on TV2. The airline industry is known for its strong focus on transactions and constant price pressure.
But perhaps this is exactly what could pave the way for new business models where the customer relationship and loyalty building take center stage again. And maybe it doesn’t have to be in the form of ‘all-you-can-fly’ models. There are many other subscription paths to take. I’m a loyal customer of Norwegian myself and would love to see them develop a paid loyalty program that would give me an even better experience when I choose them for my travels. That would truly make me a loyal customer – not a customer who flies more, but a customer who always chooses my preferred airline.
