Posted on 05/05/2010 11:37:52 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Those little fees sure do add up. Airlines across the county have been changing customers extra for all sorts of services, from checking bags to changing reservations, and it's paying off handsomely for them.
Last year, U.S. airlines took in more than $7.8 billion in fees from passengers, according to the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. And those fees are rising quickly. In the last three months of 2009, the airlines charged passengers $1.9 billion in extra fees, up a whopping 18.3 percent from the same period the prior year.
And there are signs that things are only going to get worse for passengers.
Delta, followed by Continental, then United, then US Airways and finally American, all raised their checked-bag fees at the start of 2010. And if that wasn't bad enough, Spirit announced last month that it will soon charge up to $45 to place your carry-on bag in the overhead bin.
"You can easily spend more on fees these days than on your fare," said George Hobica, president of airfarewatchdog.com. "Worst case scenario: an unaccompanied minor traveling with his pet cat and checking two pieces of luggage each weighing over 50 pounds."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
“In the past, only seeing-eye dogs were allowed to fly Southwest”
....and then they decided that they’d better hire actual licensed pilots.....
Militant
Yeah, but your chances of recouping your fee is pretty low if they don't follow through on their guarantee.
My drive-or-fly threshold continues to get larger.
I’ll drive nine hours instead of flying. Come and go as I please. Pack as much luggage in the car as I want. No cattle drives through security.
One solution would be to charge, say 40 for each checked bag, but each flyer gets a 20 dollar credit, so that two people could check one bag for free. Another would be to tell people they can have either two carry ons or 1 checked bag for free per person, so that our group of four would not be charged extra.
Why won’t you pay for checking a couple of bags? Why on earth would you inconvenience not only yourselves but your fellow passengers who have to endure seemingly ENDLESS waits while you stow and unstow all your crap? Or gate check them for crying out loud! Do you mean to tell me that the extra $100 it would cost you for checking your bags would make the whole trip unaffordable?
The problem is they’re lying. With most of these airlines the only way you’ll only pay the “basic” ticket price is if you fly naked, and even then they’ll probably have some sort of seat wiping fee they throw in. They charge extra for checked luggage, they charge extra for carried luggage, they charge extra to be on a flight with snacks, they charge extra to give you a snack.
Basically it’s all for advertising. Kind of like tire companies that advertise a great price that doesn’t include things like mounting or balancing or other highly necessary “extras”. These days take whatever the airline advertises and double it, that’s what you’re probably going to pay.
I meant to show how stupid the rules are that allow a family of four to bring 8 carry ons for free, but get charged for 1 checked bag. But, 4 tickets is expensive. Lately, we have had two sudden trips to visit family (I wanted to bring the children to see their grandmother for the last time), then the funeral. We could barely afford the tickets as it were, so scrimped and saved where we could.
“Lately, we have had two sudden trips to visit family ... then the funeral.”
Did you check if your airline offers “bereavement fares”. If so, you might still qualify for a rebate.
Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck!
Thanks...I’m here all week!
Militant
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