Wealthy people cut the lines at airports, Disney World and ski resorts

new york
CNN
—

It used to be unethical, bad manners, and taboo to cut in front of people waiting patiently in line. Currently, companies are making people pay for the privilege of skipping the line.

In everything from ski lifts to dating apps, relatively new technology has led to an explosion of options and services available to wealthy people first.

At the airport, travelers with Clear membership (about $189 a year) are escorted to the front of the TSA security line by the company’s “ambassadors” (while people at the back of the line grumble). Clear has rapidly grown to approximately 19 million members and plans to expand further into the hospitality, healthcare, financial services, and online shopping industries.

Dating app Tinder is offering a new $499-a-month membership that includes a “skip-the-line” feature that prioritizes dating profiles. Snowbird and other ski resorts have made controversial changes that would give priority access to ski lifts to visitors who pay extra. In December, Killington introduced a “four-day fast track” for $199 on top of the regular price of about $165 per day, but it can sometimes sell out. In addition to admission, the Universal Studios theme park offers unlimited “Express Passes” starting at $109.99 per person that allow owners to skip the line on the spot.

And, most troubling of all, wealthy patients paid big bucks to get to the front of the line for COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

This trend is accelerating as companies realize that lines, and how much money people pay to avoid them, are a way to make money. And they now have the technology to do so.

Smartphones, mobile payments, and other technologies that allow people to pay in advance, reserve spots, and scan tickets have made it easier for companies to automate and depersonalize line cutting. The pandemic accelerated consumer adoption of mobile payments and pick-up orders.

Of course, companies have long segmented customers based on loyalty and amount spent, but some customers have always found hidden, unofficial ways to jump the queue. For example, handing over cash to a restaurant host. But now it’s institutionalized.

He is a distinguished scholar at the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center for Invention Research and author of The Efficiency Paradox. ”

Airlines reward frequent travelers, which is how companies reward their most profitable customers, and offering access to faster ski lifts for a fee. There’s a big difference, Tenner says.

“They are no longer rewards for patronage, they are pure auctions,” he said.

It’s part of a fast-growing industry that’s lucrative if you can afford it without having to pay to wait in line.

There have always been VIPs and perks for wealthy customers, such as orchestra seats in theaters, box seats in stadiums, and first class seats on airlines. But other than perhaps the food and drink and better visibility, the participants had similar experiences. That’s not the case now.

Skiers who pay to ride Snowbird’s more expensive ski lifts will be able to ski more runs in a day. Wealthy kids whose parents pay for the “Lightning Line” ride on Disney World’s Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster can hop on and move on. Patrons wait in line for an average of 88 minutes, longer than the movie that inspired the ride, “Toy Story.”

Don Mansil, president of the travel website Mousesavers.com, said Disney faced backlash from patrons when it first rolled out an expanded and more expensive program to reduce lines.

But it is targeted at first-time visitors who are most enthusiastic about the most appealing rides and are willing to pay extra, he said.

This business model also has drawbacks. The gulf between the haves and have-nots has widened in recent decades, and dividing consumers by means and how much they can afford to avoid queuing can breed further hostility and resentment.

For example, many skiers protested the ski area’s move, calling it “sanctioned cuts for the rich,” and 13,000 people signed a petition calling for priority lanes to be waived (they did not ). Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden complained about the Mount Bachelor pass, saying it would “exacerbate equity issues” and create “a two-tiered system of access to public lands based on financial ability.” Stated.

And skipping the line raises concerns about fairness and quality of service for people who don’t want or don’t have the means to pay extra.

“We hate waiting. It’s even more frustrating when we’re standing in line and watching people walk by,” says Gad Aron, a professor of operations, information, and decision-making at the University of Pennsylvania.

In the best-case scenario, Aron said, companies can use the money from line jumpers to improve services for everyone else. But that rarely happens. If you remove your wealthiest or highest paying customers from the line, there is little incentive to insist on better service for the remaining customers.

“The wealthiest customers are also the ones we can leverage the most to improve service for everyone,” said Edward Tenner. “You are excluding them and therefore disenfranchising the masses.”