Returning member

[steven_kerfoot]

I'll be honest, I still think there should be two options for joining the Airfix Club within the UK, one option with kit, one cheaper without, as it was previously, but Airfix clearly appreciate that if people want to be in the club they'll cough up the extra. For myself, I didn't want the Hawk kits from last year, but am quite a fan of the Meteor, so thought I'd re-join this year.

To be clear, if I hadn't enough Flying Hours to get the particular kit I wanted, a nice new series nine, I'd still not have joined. I don't regularly buy from the website, (many sites being cheaper, even though Airfix will be the ones selling their own kits to them) and not being terribly ambulatory, discounts when visiting the shop in person or wherever aren't for me. So yes, it's all about the Passport, and recognising the Flying Hours scheme will not last forever, better to use them now.

I will say though, I did use the £4 discount I had from the new reward scheme to reduce the price to close to what it was last year, (a £6 increase at a time when many people have a lot less cash, nice going) and I can see a time when the new reward scheme supplants the Flying Hours completely, (cutting and posting tokens with cheques being very 1985, must be why I like that) and I still say, at this time, Airfix would have won a lot of fans, and grown the club considerably, with a two tier price scale. After all, right now, if you are finding it tough to pay your energy suppliers, will you be picking now as the time to spend £30 on the Airfix Club?

As always, just one man's opinion, and I wish everyone a very happy 2023.

PS; any news on producing the much sought after Avro Lincoln? After all, other manufacturers are selling kits of planes that didn't even make it off the drawing boards, even paper panzers that are pure fantasy. Are we really to accept the old chestnut that Airfix don't know how well it would sell? Yes, how well would the first ever 1/72 scale kit of a four engined super-Lancaster sell? Tricky? No, the only question would be could Airfix meet demand from the modellers around the world given how amazing their kits are now, and how this plane tops so many wanted lists.

[Madmac]

Hi, I have to agree with much of what is said. It annoys me frequently to find that a well known website supplier can often supp airfix products at a similar price to my club discount but only require me to spend £20 to obtain free delivery. I agree that hobby rewards will go some way to reducing club prices. I hope that if "flying hours" are to be supplanted that airfix will convert existing hours at a favourable rate. Thereby recognising the loyalty of long term customers and members.

[steven_kerfoot]

Hi, I have to agree with much of what is said. It annoys me frequently to find that a well known website supplier can often supp airfix products at a similar price to my club discount but only require me to spend £20 to obtain free delivery. I agree that hobby rewards will go some way to reducing club prices. I hope that if "flying hours" are to be supplanted that airfix will convert existing hours at a favourable rate. Thereby recognising the loyalty of long term customers and members.

 

 

I am sure the brand defenders will say that because said retailer is so huge it can afford to give a better price and free delivery at a lower level because of economies of scale. However, that fails to appreciate that Airfix, as manufacturer, doesn't have any interim costs such as delivery from manufacturer to retailers or mark-up to cover additional retail expenses. Airfix should always be the lowest priced retailer of it's own produce, but it seldom, if ever, is. As for Flying Hours, I'm a genuine fan of those since it is a physical exercise in collecting tokens that are only available on the box. Doesn't matter how old the kit, if it was made after a certain date it will have Flying Hours attached that can be used. Introduce a purely techy-techy method and you eliminate that, which is probably why Airfix will want to do that as soon as possible.