SpiceJet launches sale for Rs 444 per ticket, invites consumer association's undeserved ire

Yesterday, SpiceJet announced a sale of seats at a base fare Rs 444 each (taxes extra), for select routes on their domestic network. This sale is valid for bookings by 26 June 2016, for travel between 1 July and 30 September 2016, the lean season.
 



Note that this sale is only applicable for the following routes:

  • Jammu-Srinagar
  • Ahmedabad-Mumbai
  • Mumbai-Goa
  • Delhi-Dehradun and
  • Delhi-Amritsar.

While the routes are limited, as are the seats available, I was able to spot some cases where the fares were actually available for sale at the advertised price.


The above flight came to a total overall price of Rs 971 including taxes.

You can access the sale here, and below are the T&Cs:
  • The discount will be applicable on one-way fares only.
  • The offer is applicable on bookings made across all channels.
  • This offer can't be combined with any other offer and is not applicable on group bookings.
  • These fares are REFUNDABLE FARES (only Statutory Taxes will be refunded).
  • Changeable with change fee and fare difference.
  • Limited inventory available on first come, first served basis.
  • Flight schedules and timings are subject to regulatory approvals and change.
  • This promo is applicable on Domestic Non-stop & Via flights (domestic only).
But that's not all. This media report suggests that soon after the sale was announced (for a change, SpiceJet actually took out full page ads in newspapers across the country yesterday), flyers' body Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) wrote to aviation regulator DGCA, seeking to know if it was mulling any action on such "bogus" schemes by airlines.


I'm not sure why they consider such promotions to be "bogus". There is actual availability, and the T&Cs clearly state that there is limited inventory. Nothing out there commits that all seats will be available at the stated price of Rs 444 per ticket.


Consumer associations and other such forums don't bat an eyelid about beauty products, fairness creams and other products which make outlandish claims (and pathetic assumptions, though sometimes those assumptions are reflective of the environment we live in). I have to say that we're missing the woods for the trees, out here. Anybody who runs a business knows the value of teaser advertising (I'm not suggesting the SpiceJet promotion is a teaser, but it does stimulate the market), particularly at a time when business is dull (the sale is for travel during fiscal Q2, the lowest season in Indian aviation).


The same report goes on to say:
According to APAI, its members found that most of these fares offered in the flash sale are for flights originating from Delhi and for nearby destinations such as Amritsar, Chandigarh, etc.

"We then asked our office to try for other destinations. (Here also) even in the first half of the day when the advertisement has appeared, no such fares are available. So what is the logic for such offers?," APAI said.
When the promotion itself is clear that it applies to specific routes, why would you (a) first search for other routes and (b) not finding such offers, complain? When a retail store offers specific products on sale (but not others), do you go about complaining that other products weren't on sale?
I think these associations need to get their priorities right, and bother with the more important things such as hidden costs, anti-consumer policies, etc. I find it shameful that associations would go about alleging the type of nonsense they have done, like in this case.


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