A new report from Amadeus’ standalone payments division Outpayce in partnership with Worldline has identified the pain points for travellers when in airport.
The market research highlights the improvements that need to be made to turn the airport into a retailing hotspot for airline services.
The ‘Retailing ready: towards a traveller-centric airport payment experience’ report, which can be downloaded for free, says outdated payments risk progress towards this aim.
The study features qualitative research from business psychology firm, Innovationbubble, alongside the multi-market traveller survey undertaken by market research firm Opinium.
The following pain-points when purchasing services from airlines were identified:
54% of travelers have been asked to change location and re-queue to pay for services
57% of travelers have been asked to pay with a less robust method, like swiping their card
Airlines have waived ancillary service fees for more than half of travelers (56%) because they’ve been unable to accept payment
45% of travelers confirmed they would be more likely to buy additional airline services at the airport if they could pay with their preferred method
Travellers ranked airports third from eight options in terms of locations where it is most frustrating to encounter a payments issue, below supermarkets and restaurants, but above online retail, public transport, hotels, shopping centers, gas stations.
The report said: “With two-thirds of travelers buying an ancillary service at the airport ‘at least sometimes’ and respondents spending an average of €263 on airline and airport related ancillary services per trip, payments pain points at the terminal already contribute to revenue leakage for airlines.”
Airlines are rarely in complete control of payments at airport terminals and rely on legacy shared infrastructure that restricts travellers from paying in the way they choose at key service points like check-in, boarding and in-flight.
However, the report says using new approaches that integrate modern payments technology with an airline’s underlying IT systems “can support a consistent and unified payments experience at multiple airports.
Jean Christophe Lacour, senior vice president and global head of products at Outpayce, said:
“Through the research, travellers expressed frustration at having to walk to another desk to pay and needing to search through their bag for a payment method the airline can accept.
“As airlines transform to become modern retailers, we have a great opportunity to ensure passengers can pay easily using a card or a digital wallet anywhere in the terminal.”
Ifan Batey, senior business psychologist at Innovationbubble, added: “Our research shows that travellers find the airport payments experience to be unpredictable.
“In a high-stress environment like the airport, regular instances of unpredictability can reduce engagement, discourage future purchases and contribute to negative brand perceptions.
“For several of the frequent flyers we interviewed, being asked to change location to pay was frustrating enough for them to switch airline.”
Respondents to the survey said cards remain king as the preferred way to pay for additional services at the airport, with contactless transactions being slightly more popular than Chip & Pin.
However, a significant 35% of travellers prefer to pay with a digital wallet, like Apple Pay or Google Pay, underlining the rapid adoption of such methods.
Biljana Bosnjak, vice president travel and hospitality at Worldline, said: “Air travel can be stressful, and airlines have an opportunity to make it easier for passengers.
“By providing frictionless, flexible payment options at various locations in the terminal, airlines can significantly improve the travel experience. It’s vital for the industry to modernise and ensure that every traveller can pay effortlessly, no matter where they are in their journey.”
The survey was conducted by Opinium during Q4 2024 with 4,500 travellers from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore.
Qualitative research undertaken by Innovationbubble took place through eight one-hour long in-depth virtual interviews, with participants who had flown internationally in the last three months.
Participants were a mix of business and leisure travellers from France, the United Kingdom, the US and Singapore.
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