Would you like extra leg room with that?

In the travel industry, many have been selling ancillary products for years. Hoteliers make a good portion their revenue off of food and beverages that they sell to guests, and cruise lines sell shore excursions and upgraded food options to make their gargantuan ships profitable. Airlines are relatively new to this type of selling. I am sure many of you can remember the days of free meals on all flights and no limits on the number of bags you could bring with you. That has all changed. Most airlines have started to move in the direction of a la carte pricing, but United has taken it to another level.

Leveraging their website and check-in kiosks, they have integrated a shopping process reminiscent of a traditional retailer, increasing their revenues while simultaneously providing unique services that many customers think of as a value ad as opposed to a nuisance. Products offered through the check-in kiosk range from extra legroom for approximately $15, upgrades to first class and mileage excelerators.

But the website is really where they have gotten creative...

Enter Opt - the cutsie name for United's Travel Options shop. Here they are leveraging all the techniques that traditional retailers use when selling hard goods:

1) Unique product categorization - Categories are based on the customer need they satisfy. Comfort is where you can find things like Economy Plus for the year which can afford the frequent traveler extra leg room on every flight. Peace of Mind contains travel insurance.

2) Product Flagging - Little red words call out the fact that they have put some products on a temporary sale.

3) Cross-sells - Head over to the product page of one of their options and you'll see suggestions like "other options" at the bottom of the page. You'll find yourself thinking, "Am I at Amazon or United?"

4) Ancillary on ancillary - Really? Are they suggesting ancillary sells to accompany products that are already ancillary sells? Yes, they are. Thinking about economy plus for the year? Why don't you add on Red Carpet club? Or better yet, give it to your boss as a gift. And it's not only on the product page, they are also at the bottom of the shopping cart (yup, they have a shopping cart and a checkout!)

If all of that weren't enough, they allow you to pay for all of the products that they are selling with the ease of an expert merchandiser with your frequent flier mile.

Kudos United. You're leading the pack of what will surely be a trend in the travel industry.