News

Continental adds drink coupons to kiosks

May 11, 2003

HOUSTON -- Continental Airlines is now offering Continental Currency, which may be used in lieu of cash on flights for cocktails, audio headsets and other amenities, to travelers checking in at its Continental eService Center kiosks.

According to a report in the Houston Chronicle, travelers will purchase the "currency" with a credit card. It will be dispensed in increments of one, two, three or six coupons, each worth $5. But the three-coupon pack is $13 instead of $15, and the six-coupon pack is $25.

Continental spokesman Dave Messing said the coupons should alleviate people having to fumble for their wallets when they want to pay for an alcoholic beverage or headset during a flight.

Though the airline will still accept cash, the coupons are expected to cut down on the number of times flight attendants have to try to make change for a $20 bill.

"It really is just intended to be a simplification so neither customers nor crew members need to hassle with cash on the airplane," Messing told the Chronicle.

There could be benefits to the airline in the form of customers using Continental the next time they travel, he said, but that was not the main strategy behind developing the system.

Airline consultant Bob Mann of R.W. Mann & Co. in New York was critical of the plan.

"If you plan to buy them and use them immediately, in theory there is a discount available to the consumer," Mann said. If you plan to buy them and hold them, you are basically giving the company a free loan. And if you buy them and don't use them, you are just giving money to the company."

Denver-based airline consultant Michael Boyd, on the other hand, thinks the new coupon program is a great idea.

"The problem with selling drinks on board is everybody has a $20 bill and the flight attendant doesn't have change," Boyd said. "It makes it easier for everybody. I think it is a great step."

Continental has been working on the concept since it first began introducing its self-serve kiosks about five years ago, Messing said.

Continental, the first carrier to introduce the kiosks, now has more than 700 of them in 117 airports throughout the United States. All of the major airlines have followed suit with check-in kiosks of their own.

(See related stories Continental sets industry record for use of self-service check-in kiosks and Delta strikes agreement with Continental to expand interline ticketing through kiosks)

Continental said other potential functions, such as paying excess baggage fees, could be added at the kiosks. But the carrier plans to limit the number of new services, according to the Chronicle.

"As new functions are added, we are really going to stay focused on the main point of the kiosks, which is speed and simplicity," Messing said.

Continental Currency coupons can be used on any Continental, Continental Express or Continental Micronesia flight for up to one year from the purchase date, the airline said.