What We Can Learn By Taking Surveys

By taking customer satisfaction surveys, you can predict what companies have up their sleeves.

I always take customer satisfaction surveys, whether on the phone or online. I also participate in any and all focus groups. There are two reasons for this. First, your feedback will have some impact on a decision. That's always good. Second, and more importantly, you can get an inkling of the future since most surveys, no matter how much they try to hide it, give away their agenda. As a writer, it's nice to see what lies ahead.

Take, for example, the survey I just finished for Icelandic Air, a rather nice airline that provides a great way to fly from the States to Europe if you don't mind a stopover in Reykjavik. (This is worth doing if for no other reason than to hit the wool shop at the airport.)

In taking Icelandic Air's survey, I spotted a trend that seems to have begun elsewhere: adding ridiculous premium services to already established services. In this case, it involved Wi-Fi connectivity, entertainment, and food service.

Most surveys let you throw in your two-cent opinions. My major complaint wasn't the crummy airplane food, but not being able to sleep in the seat comfortably. That wasn't on the survey of course.

So here is what's happening with Wi-Fi—or at least, what I suspect the airline wants to happen.

Ideally, the airlines would like to give you nothing unless you insist. No food, no entertainment, no Wi-Fi. On the other hand, the passengers want a gourmet meal, first-run movies, and free high speed Wi-Fi. So we are going to get something in-between these two extremes. The survey is designed to see how much you, the passenger, will concede on these items. For starters, none of the passenger desires will be provided. Not going to happen, ever. The exception would be on a Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific first-class flight across the Pacific. That's it and it costs a mint.

For us normal people, a tiered Wi-Fi system appears to be in the works. There will be free Wi-Fi for everyone but it will be crap if the whole plane loads up on it. This would be kind of like a busy airport where all the people are going to a tech conference. You are lucky to get an IP address.

But, for a small sum, say $10, you'll get a premium connection. That seems to be the gist of the scheme. I sense that the airlines want to have mediocre free services with an upsell for people who want more. This would be for everything, including a bigger pillow.

It's a nightmarish idea and exactly how it works with the Wi-Fi is somewhat mysterious. I would assume you get your own subnet the way today's cheap router allows. Most routers today generally have two networks: one for public and one for private access. One is always lower speed. It must have dawned on someone in the airline industry that this could be a money-maker. Give the whole plane access to the slow connectivity and make the folks who want faster connectivity pay more.

Look for this, along with other nickel-and-dime schemes on your next flight.