Airline Fees

[beccasmom]

The latest Consumer Reports has an interesting blurb on airlines' fees - incredible! - some are no surprise anymore.....

$5 for a snack box (United and USAirways)

Booking a ticket on the phone w/the airline ($8-$10) with some carriers

For international flights on Northwest, $25 excess weight fee kicks in at 51 pounds, not the old 71

At Continental, a checked stroller and child safety seat will use up your allotment of two bags per ticketed passenger and each extra bag will cost from $80 (3rd bag) to $180 (7th or more)

Delta adds 10% to a mom’s international ticket for an infant who sits on her lap

Delta raised the fee last year for minors traveling non-stop w/no adult to $50 each way

 

[Lewisc]

I'm not surprised. Customers are looking for, and sometimes getting, R/T fares from the NE to MCO for not much more than $100.

The airlines aren't having much luck pricing the tickets high enough to make money so they have to find additional sources of revenue.

Some of the overseas charter airlines limit your free luggage, including carryon, to around 33 pounds.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I agree with Lewisc... part of the blame rests with the flying public who have demanded ever lower airfares for years. But part of the blame rests with the airlines who allowed salaries and costs to skyrocket while doing little to manage that process. Now we are at the point where some airlines are even looking into renting or selling things like pillows and blankets to go along with your rented headset and your $5 snack box.

 

[CarolA]

AA also charges something like 10% for infants on international flights.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

If you book with the airline's website, you'll pay the quoted price. Then, if you stay within the luggage limits and you bring your own food, you won't have to pay another dime to the airline.

When you adjust them for inflation, vacation airfares are very low these days.

 

[PlaneJoy1]

Can't blame them! There is a cost associated with each of those items.... fares are so low, they aren't covering costs.

There was an interesting article last week regarding the perception of good/bad customer service. The top three "good" service airlines were discounters (I believe Jetblue was #1). Could it be that because they never set the expectation that you will get a meal, pillow, ontime arrival, etc. that's why they get rated so well? (BTW, Jetblue is almost last for ontime arrivals) Where as the legacy carriers are trying to change their business model to become more like the low cost carriers and because of that are being penalized for what they used to offer when fare were higher.

Thoughts to ponder.....

 

[Lewisc]

Just remember it's the rules that are in effect when you fly not the rules that were in effect when you booked. Airlines are starting to lower their limits to 50 pounds, 2 pieces of checked luggage per passenger. If you're going above those limits double check before you start packing.

 

[goofy4tink]

An informed consumer is a money saving consumer, especially when it comes to flying. I know that while on hold for several different airlines, the message tells you that you can save money by booking online, rather than via the phone. They also tell you, on the different websites exactly how much luggage you can have. Sure you have to double check before you fly but that's not a big deal. It's those people that just call up to book a flight, think they can have 4 bags apiece, with all their worldly possesions in those bags, and expect a meal on the flight that have a big surprise waiting for them. There is so much information out there that no one should be so uninformed anymore. I read the same article and dh and I were talking about it. He asked me how much of it was new to me...of course, none of it was new. Yes, I hang out here, on the DIS boards, so have a lot of currant info. But I also take responsibility for myself and try to have the info I need to make informed choices.
I will take a lower fare in exchange for doing some legwork.

 

[beccasmom]

I have no real issues with some fees - for instance, I remember to eat before flying or I bring a snack with me (always have.....never know when one might get stuck in a delay!). And we try to pack light, so we're not likely to go over the weight limits. However, I've always considered the $100 fee most airlines charge to make changes (even though we've lived with them quite some time) extremely excessive. We all know it doesn't cost that much to make changes.

As for customer service, I would rate both JetBlue and SWA very high. Most of the other airlines I have flown would be mediocre at best. Labor problems or not, most of us would not be able to get away with such poor customer interactions at our own jobs. I don't mind paying for a superior product/service, but domestic airlines for the most part do not fit into that category.

 

[dvc guy]

Can't blame them! There is a cost associated with each of those items.... fares are so low, they aren't covering costs.

(BTW, Jetblue is almost last for ontime arrivals)

I don't know if you fly Jetblue much , but they are usually on time. The have gotten slammed the last few months from Hurricanes. i would rather take my chance with Jet blue then a legacy carrier, and no i don't work for Jetblue

 

[Lewisc]

Most airlines offer a refundable fare with no change penalties. We book deeply discounted fares. The airlines offer us a significant discount in exchange for a non-changeable ticket. The change fee was instituted as an alternative to the airlines having to evaluate hard luck stories.

The fee isn't just to cover the expenses. It's a penalty, we didn't live up to our part of the bargain.

I've always considered the $100 fee most airlines charge to make changes (even though we've lived with them quite some time) extremely excessive. We all know it doesn't cost that much to make changes.

 

[ducklite]

I want to tell you--I had one of those $5 US AIrways snack boxes last week. It was WELL WORTH the $5!!!

It had the folowing:

Plastic cup of fruit cocktail (Dole or Delmonte--don't recall which)
Tasty Cheesey Bread sticks--the really good "skinny" type
Nestle's Crunch Bits--a movie sized box!
Nacho's and really good salsa (Newman's I think)
Two other items--can't recall what.

It was more than enough for two, or even three people to munch on. I couldn't believe not only the quantity, but also the quality. I was more than happy to pay for it!

Anne

 

[DebbieB]

I noticed last week on my PIT/LAX USAir flights that more people were buying the meal boxes. I think the price cut for the full meal from $10 to $7 helped. I ate before I got on so I didn't try it. Maybe next time I will.

 

[JDietz40]

We flew SW for the for the first time in Nov. MDW to TPA for our WDW trip and we knew the 50 per bag limit with 3 bags per person. We only brought 2 bags each and were under 50# on all of them on the way out. On the way back we were over by a couple of pounds in 1 bag and to close on the others to move things around and resolve the problem. We knew this before heading to the airport and were expecting the $ 25.00 charge(for the price we paid how could we argue) When they weighed the luggage and told us the bag was overweight I jokingly made a comment that I had 2 seats as I had booked a 2nd seat for myself based on all I read on these boards about how SW handles their person of size program(I am happy to say that the diet that I have been on made a 2nd seat unnecessary although I still enjoyed the extra room). From the look on the face of the young lady working the counter I thought that she was about ready to rip into me(they must get every excuse imaginable and I am sure that many people argue about this charge.) When she saw that I was laughing she didn't say anything other than they are not allowed to waive the fee for this as it is for the safety of the baggage handlers. I think that if we want the continued low fares we have to accept the various fees that are needed to make them viable.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I think that if we want the continued low fares we have to accept the various fees that are needed to make them viable.

The airlines have to find some way to remain solvent, if not, to actually make money for a change. The public may soon have to give up the idea of super-cheap airfares if we want to continue to have a choice of airlines to patronize.

 

[bicker]

The public may soon have to give up the idea of super-cheap airfares if we want to continue to have a choice of airlines to patronize.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, on two accounts.

First, the public won't give up super-cheap airfares until the choice of airlines to patronize is already gone, and the fares go up in response. The public, unlike individual members of the public, doesn't have "foresight," and so won't take action in anticipation of what might happen if they don't. More specifically, a sufficient number of members of the public would continue to make the purchasing decision that is in their own personal best interest, rather than the purchasing decision that would be in the best long-term interest of the public-at-large, so much so that any actions taken by some members of the public in the best long-term interest of the public-at-large would be wasted.

Second, the status quo is unsustainable long-term. Super-cheap airfares will have to end, eventually, whether it be due to constriction of the market, as alluded to above, or some level of reregulation. Before you say, "No that could never happen!" -- it already has. The federal judiciary has already prevented normal market forces from ceasing operations of two carriers that, in any other industry, would already be gone. They've already applied the resources of the federal treasury to sponsor this effort at back-door reregulation.