Passengers may have collectively sighed upon learning this week that Tiger Airways has become latest carrier to offer passengers the "privilege" of boarding early in exchange for their wallet surrendering $6 per passenger per segment. The decision follows a trial on Tiger flights out of Singapore.
But one wonders who will take up this ancillary fee, which Tiger has, apparently, trademarked as "boardmefirst".
Unlike Southwest's no-assigned-seats policy, Tiger has assigned seating so there's no cattle call to board (see above screen capture) and thus no reason to board early to secure a seat. Passengers wanting to guarantee a seat can do so in advance--for a fee, of course.
Thankfully Australians haven't--yet--developed the American habit of over-stuffing carry-on luggage, but then again Tiger weighs carry-ons, so overhead bin space isn't a huge factor.
One (okay, me) also wonders how many seconds or minutes time-conscious Tiger will have separating boardmefirstTM boarding from regular boarding. Most of Tiger's ports board via stairs that are a good walk from Tiger's "gate". Presumably a fast walker could surpass the boardmefirstTM-ers.
There will undoubtedly be the occasional passengers who purchase this option, and it is those people who are Tiger's prey.
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