Is it worth it?

This morning I received an email with some special deals for flights from Qantas. I’m in love with idea of a cheap flight, but I was let down. One way trip from Auckland to Christchurch for $65 compared to $39 from Pacific Blue?

Despite the lack of a great offer, along with it in my inbox was the same email forwarded from a friend as well as from my girlfriends parents. And later on in the day, I’ve received the same deals again from House of Travel.

So how have they got the word spread on such a mediocre deal?

The subject line.

72 hours. 10,000 seats. Get packing.

The actual email is nothing. The subject line does it all. It has this effect by creating a sense of urgency – 72 hours only, with only 10,000 seats. Apparently it’s such a good deal, and who wants to miss out?

The trouble is – It’s not a good deal and the message doesn’t match.

The ‘buzz’ they’ve created is wasted.

All they’ve done with me is got my hopes up, let me down and given me the impression Pacific Blue is best the way to go for a cheap flight. I’m ready to buy flights when the right deal comes up, and a sneaky subject line isn’t going to sway me when it’s not the right deal.

If you says it’s a good deal, it’s got to live up to it. I’d say a good chunk of their list know these prices aren’t the cheapest. Sure the actual difference isn’t big in monetary value, but it’s made an impact on my perception of pricing among airline competition.

The biggest affect of this email has been reinforcement of Pacific Blue’s current advertising.