In an innovative twist that promises to revolutionise the airline industry, major airlines have collectively decided to abandon the archaic practice of collecting payment before passengers take to the skies. Instead, they are embracing the thrill and excitement of retrospective invoicing!

Imagine this: You book a flight, enjoy your journey, and only then do you find out how much it will cost. It’s like Christmas morning, but with a potential heart attack thrown in for good measure. This bold move is aimed at bringing back the element of surprise into air travel, something sorely lacking in the age of prepayment digital certainty.

Why Pay Now When You Can Pay (More) Later?

Gone are the days of upfront payments and financial planning. With retrospective invoicing, passengers will receive their bills weeks (sometimes months) after their travel, ensuring that the costs are as unexpected as the Wellington wind. Airlines believe this will add a sense of adventure to every trip – who doesn’t love a little mystery with their jet lag?

Customer Reactions: A Mixed Bag

Frequent flyer Miles Allday shared his thoughts: “It’s like gambling! I might end up paying twice the fare I expected, but hey, life is a gamble, right?” Meanwhile, Penny Wise, a cautious traveller, is less enthusiastic: “I budget for my trips, and this feels like a financial ambush. What’s next, retrospective variations like luggage fees?”

Invoicing, A Win-Win for Airlines

Airline executives are confident that this new approach will boost profits and customer engagement. “By delaying the payment process, we’re giving our passengers the gift of time… to forget how much they spent,” said Sky High, CEO of UpInTheAir Airlines. “Plus, the confusion and unpredictability will keep our customer service team busy with paperwork and chasing those late payments and debtors. Plus the finance team love a good bank overdraft and invoice finance arrangement to cover the inevitable cash flow shortages”

Fixed Quotes

Of course the obvious question is why don’t you offer a fixed quote. “Yes, that’s an option too, we can and will do this for many of our customers who don’t like surprise mystery invoices. We trust our customers will still pay us immediately upon receipt of the invoice, after the travel has occurred, on the 20th of the month following, after all, why wouldn’t they?”.

The Future of Travel: Embrace the Uncertainty

As we step into this brave new world of air travel, passengers are advised to brace themselves for a whirlwind of financial surprises. So next time you book a flight, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride on us — your wallet will get its turn, eventually, when you feel like it.

In the spirit of this groundbreaking change, we say bon voyage and good luck. Remember, life is a journey, not a destination… and so is paying for your flight! I Promise. 😉