more fees possible?

[NYDisneyKid]

check out # 4

http://www.gadling.com/2011/01/10/f...?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl4|sec3_lnk1|194701

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I don't believe a movement to ban lap children will ever be started by the airline industry. They would lose money from families deciding not to fly.

 

[Lewisc]

Nice information. This thread may be available long after the link has expired.

Point 4 was the possibility of an airline charging a fee for a lap baby.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Point 4 was the possibility of an airline charging a fee for a lap baby.

They already do for international flights.

 

[Lewisc]

I don't believe a movement to ban lap children will ever be started by the airline industry. They would lose money from families deciding not to fly.

I read the article as saying if the gov't doesn't ban lap kids then the industry might start charging a fee.

They already do for international flights.

The article went back and forth on domestic vs international flights. Point is anything that's charged for one may wind up getting charged for both (baggage for example).

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I don't believe a movement to ban lap children will ever be started by the airline industry. They would lose money from families deciding not to fly.

Yes and no. If there seems to be a lot of energy on it and the mumbles from other airlines seem to indicate they are looking at the same thing, they will move. Bag fees were once thought as taboo, but as airlines started to mumble, they jumped on. But no airline is going to jump on it by themself.

That said, I wonder how many airlines are going to sweat about losing a few lap-children customers to other carriers. Typically, these are individuals seeking the lowest fares, the leisure traveler, not the more profitable business traveler.

 

[pumpkinboy]

These five inconvenient fees are nothing compared to folks like Ryanair in the UK and Ireland flying to Europe. They are rock-bottom discounters who grab any fee they can, kinda like Spirit, but Irish style. Ryanair has contemplated a fee to use the restrooms. Ouch! It's a good thing most of their flights are short ones. They already charge you €5 to check-in online and there is a €40 fee if you do not print out your boarding pass and bring it with you.

 

[deedeetoo]

Well I paid a fee for a lap baby once. It was ten years ago and on an international flight (on Delta airlines), so this isn't completely new. If I remember correctly the fee was about $65 and our tickets were about $800 each so I really never even thought to question the fee. I was glad they weren't making me buy a seat.

 

[bicker]

I read the article as saying if the gov't doesn't ban lap kids then the industry might start charging a fee.

And the way it read to me, when I first read that last week, was that it was really saying, "No sense in incurring the PR-cost of introducing a new fee for something that the government is going to ban soon anyway." So effectively, what may be the case is that the airlines are waiting until the FAA's intention in this regard is a bit clearer, and waiting for a time when introducing this fee won't cost them as much PR-wise, and then they'll aim to add this surcharge.

As long as consumers who don't need to pay these fees see an advantage in paying a lower fare, then airlines will be idiots to fail to take that advice.