Some friends gave me a Tiger Moth trip recently and I felt that there's a fair bit that could be done to make more money for the school and to provide more customer satisfaction for the punter. In my case I'm a pilot but this is written from the perspective of someone who's not.
There are two different products here.
1. The "experience" where someone is being given a present.
2. Someone who already knows he wants to learn to fly and is checking out the school.
The approach should be different for both. The first one is commonly sold through a third party, who provide marketing and take their cut. It's therefore more expensive than the second. For the first one the certificate is a cheap and effective way of providing more perceived value to the punter. Another tweak would be to have someone with a digital camera on hand to take some pictures of the punter in and by the aircraft before departure and on return. Show them the images on-screen afterwards and offer them prints. If they also fixed a camera in the aircraft they could offer a video of the punter at the controls during the flight. At a basic level a bullet cam and video recorder setup could be had for under 250 quid. If you offered the DVD to the punter at say 25 quid a pop you'd soon earn the money back. Of course if you're Ultimate High you go for a more expensive setup with cockpit, wingtip and tail mounted cameras and charge accordingly.
For number 2 above the offering should be charged at pretty well the normal dual instructional rate and the instructor or a clued up staff member should be given the incentive of a bonus if he signs the punter up for membership, which should ensure that he is properly looked after.
Can't help feeling that schools are missing the plot a bit here.