There are few modern annoyances left in the world that can't be mined for profit.
Don't feel like grocery shopping? Do an Instacart. Hate social interactions? Order your coffee on an app and you don't even have to make eye contact with your barista.
And increasingly, for the right price, you can release yourself from the unseemly torment of waiting in line.
On ski lifts and dating apps, in airports and theme parks, skipping the queue has become something of a status symbol, my colleague Nathaniel Meyersohn writes. The ubiquity of smartphones and mobile payments since the pandemic has made it easier for businesses to automate and de-personalize cutting the line. Just pay the fee, and move on up.
- At the airport, a Clear membership, for about $189 a year, gets you an escort to the front of the security line. (Though word to the wise, the government's TSA PreCheck is just $78 and lasts five years.)
- Tinder recently rolled out a $500 monthly membership with a "skip the line" feature that prioritizes a dater's profile.
- Some ski resorts allow visitors who pay extra to access expedited ski lifts. In December, Killington Resort in Vermont introduced a "Four-Day Fast Track" for $200 on top of its regular daily regular fee of about $165, and it sometimes sells out.
- Disney's add-on "Genie+" service, which includes access to shorter lines, starts at $30 per ticket per day.
- Universal Studios theme park offers an unlimited "Express Pass" starting at $110 per person (on top of the admission cost).
Of course, segmenting customers into tiers is nothing new. But now it's institutionalized.
"What used to be done on an ad-hoc basis with a local manager is now done on a national basis," said Edward Tenner, author of The Efficiency Paradox.
There's a big difference between an airline rewarding frequent travelers, which is a way for businesses to reward loyalty, and offering faster ski lift access for a price, Tenner said.
"They are no longer rewards for patronage, but a pure auction," he said.
There are downsides to this trend, and not just for the customers who can't or don't want to pay extra. Businesses are sowing resentments and potentially creating an environment in which service caters primarily to the wealthy. (See also: The Grand Canyon-sized gulf between flying business class and flying economy).
In the best-case scenario, businesses could use the funds from line jumpers to improve service for everybody else, said Gad Allon, a professor of operations, information and decisions at the University of Pennsylvania.
But that's ... not common. Removing the VIP customers from a line leaves little incentive to advocate for better service for the rest.
The VIPs are the people who would have most leverage to improve service for everyone, Tenner said. But with line-skipping, "you're taking them out and, therefore, depriving the masses."
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