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106 Comments
- Bloodwine, on 05/13/2009, -6/+411. fuel costs are back down, but they are still nickel-and-diming passengers on things that used to be included in the ticket price. You might argue that they are nickel-and-diming now due to the downward pressure on ticket prices right now.
2. you aren't getting a deal, others are just paying extra. I know it is semantics, but you aren't getting a discount. You are paying full ticket price, while others are paying full ticket price + $$$ for each extra. - inactive, on 05/13/2009, -6/+36Who cares? It's a legal business. If you don't like them, choose another airline.
- DontHassleHoff, on 05/13/2009, -17/+43So? Fuel costs spiked last year and airlines were trying to stay out of bankruptcy.
And if you think about it, bag check fees are a good thing. If you don't bring a bag, you save money. It is like having free drinks on the plane -- do you really think they are free? You pay for them in the high ticket costs... so why not make the ticket cost less and charge for the options that a person may or may not want? - Arkyll, on 07/16/2009, -9/+27I feel bad for the Airline Industry. First 9/11. Then oil is almost $200 a barrel. Later, economy takes a dive. And now swine flu... Koo dos to them.
- bromac, on 05/13/2009, -0/+11Wouldn't charging for the washroom be a health hazard if its the only restroom available on the vessel?
I mean, eventually you'd get tired of cleaning the seats after Papa Penny Pinchy tells Jonny to hold it just a little longer, we're almost there. - Bloodwine, on 05/13/2009, -3/+14The Airline industry has been getting bailouts for decades. They are heavily subsidized. This isn't the story about upstart companies with iron resolve surviving the harsh conditions to make ends meet and come out victorious.
- JoeParanoid, on 05/13/2009, -2/+11In my experience, there are two types of luggage: carry on and lost.
- SkippyDoorknob, on 05/13/2009, -0/+9That's not always easy if you're in a smaller market with fewer airline at your airport offering fewer flights to where you want to go.
- Mirsky, on 05/13/2009, -1/+10That's crazy logic. Where have you ever been on an airplane that you don't need at least some luggage?
I was on a NY/SFO American Airlines flight last month and all the baggage charge does is encourage the passengers to try and fit medium or even large size wheeled luggage into the cabin's overhead bins. The result?
- 20mins late at the gate as the stewardesses ("We are only here for your safety") try and perform the work of the luggage handlers in much more confined spaces
- Unsafe overhead bins with far more weight against them was ever designed for the latches,
Last time I'll ever fly with them...next time I'm going to try Virgin America. - inactive, on 05/13/2009, -3/+12I like the part where the article mentioned 'putting it at the top of the list of airlines making extra scratch by charging to lose your luggage'
They would've been better off raising prices than charging passengers checked bag fees. - IvanB, on 05/13/2009, -0/+8Sorry, I was just trying to fit in the character limits, didn't realize there could be a confusion.
- Junkyarddawg, on 05/13/2009, -6/+13It's really heartwarming to see how airlines have embraced the fine old business practice of nickle-and-diming people to death.
- camaroz06, on 05/13/2009, -0/+7Originally I thought they should have just increased ticket prices across the board by the first checked bag fee. If checking a second bag then charge a checked fee, that way you get an extra $15 - $25ish from each passenger even if they hadn't checked something in. No one would notice extra $ tacked onto the ticket price, everyone notices an extra $25 when you pay at check in.
- bobartig, on 05/13/2009, -1/+8Who travels without baggage? The baggage fees promote gaming the system in ways that are worse for everyone. It is much more efficient for baggage handlers to stow/retrieve bags than for customers to drag them onto the planes. Customers looking to save $25 bring bigger and bigger bags, causing more competition for limited overhead and underseat spaces. It's just bad policy that aggravates bad behavior, which will eventually feed back into lost utility/increased prices due to inefficiency.
- ObeseSnake, on 05/13/2009, -3/+10Title is a little misleading. "Made $278M" does not equal $278M gross from baggage fees.
- sHockz, on 05/13/2009, -2/+8It would be one thing if they dropped ticket prices and made you pay for the rest, but they still are charging ridiculous amounts for the same services, and NOW you have to pay even more for the same service you were getting before.
And this is why I don't check luggage. I travel frequently and their hasnt been a place ive gone where i needed more clothes and accessories than I could fit in a carry on.
if the airlines want to encourage more people to fly, then they need to cut the cost to fly. and all you people who are like "oh but then they will lose money".....that is untrue, they will make that money back up in customer count. more people will be able to afford to fly, so therefore they will. - hakamanakus, on 05/13/2009, -0/+6Coin operated flush...so it's kind of like one of those sales, first 10 people are free!
- kinseyincanada, on 05/13/2009, -1/+7what are they supposed to do? They are a business they are in it to make money.
- amorrise, on 05/13/2009, -0/+6Is anyone familiar with Spirit Airlines? They charge super cheap ticket prices but everything (including going to the bathroom) costs. Still, if you can hold it, you can get super cheap fares.
- aresef, on 05/13/2009, -1/+6The thing is it's kind of a joke because they use that excuse ("Well, it's better than raising ticket prices") then they go and raise them anyway.
- ModernDayDarwin, on 05/13/2009, -0/+5what the hell is a koo do?
- aresef, on 05/13/2009, -1/+5There are airlines I feel bad for. Southwest, for example, used its fuel hedges to undercut the competition... then got burned when prices plummeted. I feel nothing for United or American, because they have been relying on taxpayer leniency to stay afloat for years.
My most recent flights were taken through ANA. It was an experience in what flying should be like. Good service, good price, good food, attentive personnel on the ground and in the air -- granted, it was a long-haul international flight, but if United were more like that, I'd happily fly them more. - aegis17, on 05/13/2009, -2/+6Their expenses are in baggage handling. People do still drive baggage carts and manually load luggage into aircraft, you know.
- borez, on 05/13/2009, -2/+6If you think that's bad, you wanna try Ryan Air in the UK.
- EdCenter, on 05/13/2009, -0/+4Who's to say the lay off list would be longer WITHOUT checked bag fees? This is a struggling industry FFS.
- ladysherwood, on 05/13/2009, -0/+4in researching flights for an upcoming trip, I determined that every airline (at least that flies out of my hometown of Kansas City) except Southwest charges baggage fees, similarly to AA. Here's a list of airlines that do charge, and how much, courtesy of Travelocity. So, it's not just AA, they're all (for the most part) guilty of it.
http://leisure.travelocity.com/Promotions/0,,TRAVE ... - tnoy, on 05/13/2009, -1/+4So they shouldn't fire anyone, and they shouldn't raise prices.
If they're operating at a loss, how should they make the money? - Subduction, on 05/13/2009, -1/+4That's 1 percent of their revenue. I come to Digg to stoke my mindless outrage. This is leaving me empty.
- Black6x, on 05/13/2009, -0/+3Ryan Air restricts prohibits employees from charging their cell phone at work, in order to cut electrical costs.
http://business.scotsman.com/budgetairlines/Ryanai ... - inactive, on 05/14/2009, -0/+3I find it much more frustrating when some airlines charge you for using your credit card to buy their tickets (and a lot, like 12 euros.) You think they would be happy to take my money.
- aegis17, on 05/13/2009, -2/+5As opposed to charging everyone an extra $20 flat fee per ticket, for all-you-can-carry luggage.
While I am no fan of fees, I can understand why they are nickle-and-diming, and I can respect their decision in the face of all the ***** the airline industry has been through in the past several years. - DontHassleHoff, on 05/13/2009, -0/+3>>Where have you ever been on an airplane that you don't need at least some luggage?
A: Carry-on only. You can go at least a few days with just the allowed carry-on baggage. Weeks if you have access to laundry. You get to skip all possibilities of lost items and you don't have to wait for the baggage handling system. - Anand999, on 05/13/2009, -0/+3I haven't had a piece of lost luggage in at least 15 years, and I've taken many multi-leg domestic and international trips during that time.
- vtron, on 05/13/2009, -0/+3It makes things a little difficult when the 3-1-1 rule is out there. The airlines are basically extorting people because they can't carry liquids on the plane. They're taking advantage of an FAA mandate to get $30 a round trip extra from people.
- inactive, on 05/14/2009, -0/+2If I buy a ticket for 200 dollars, I can then budget around my ticket costing 200 dollars. If all of a sudden I find costs being thrown at me it messes up the budget and creates a lot of frustration. I think that is why most people get so upset about the extra fees.
- CoD4, on 05/13/2009, -1/+3The economy isn't the only thing that occasionally takes a dive
- cubicledrone, on 05/13/2009, -3/+5How many people did American Airlines lay off in 2008?
Oh look. They fired 7000 Americans. I'm shocked. - diggydougie, on 05/13/2009, -1/+3But as a portion of their total budget it's a drop in the bucket.
- MisterFurious, on 05/14/2009, -0/+2You miss the point. The airline industry is one of the least competitive. Every airline is always looking for another to cave in on something else they can charge the traveler. Remember when in-flight food was FREE? Continental Airlines led the way in cheapness with their sack lunch you picked up on your way into the plane, but it was still FREE.
Then JetBlue came along with a devil's bargain. "You can have free DirecTV in your seat, even in coach. You just have to pay a 'nominal' fee for a meal." That was what the airlines had been looking for. Suddenly, they all started charging for meals that used to be FREE. Now everyone just accepts it. Hell, people now think it's pretty cool to order food from your seat on Virgin America.
It's the same with these douchebag baggage fees. They claim they had to do it because gas was over $4.00 a gallon, but last I checked it's gone down to about half that, and they're still charging.
Some travelers don't have the "option" of carry-on baggage, because they're on a long trip. Would you prefer they wear the same clothes three days in a row? How about if they then sat next to you for five hours? And what about the long list of "prohibited" items travelers can't even bring onto a plane? How are people supposed to get these where they're going?
There are small airlines that still manage to put the customer first, like Southwest, which doesn't charge baggage fees, and never has had to (interesting how most other major carriers "had to"). Problem is, they don't go to some of the cities I need to go to.
But I digress. This is just another example of how the airlines rape customers - by slowly inserting the broom handle further and further up their collective asses. Sure, it hurts, but then the body adjusts until they're not kicking and screaming. Then the airlines push it in another inch or so, and the customer kicks and screams a little bit more, but then the body adjusts again, etc. Trust me, the airlines will continue doing this until they're tickling our uvula with the broom handle. - asgardshill, on 05/13/2009, -3/+5Yeah, the nickel-and-diming is annoying. But I don't fault the airlines much for doing this - they have been (and still are) paying out the nose for fuel for years. They're in business to make a profit for their shareholders, something that hasn't been seen at most airlines for a long time.
Besides, it's the rare occasion that I check a bag, so it really doesn't affect me that much. - Philbert, on 05/13/2009, -0/+2I never check bags, I can easily fit everything I need for a week in a carry-on , plus my laptop.
- kinerry, on 05/13/2009, -3/+5that was already included as part of the ticket price, those man-hours are already worked, there are no baggage costs
- aegis17, on 05/13/2009, -1/+3You just answered your own question: it's already included in the ticket price, and the man-hours are already worked, but those are the expenses. The expenses are distinct; no matter where the money to pay them off comes from, there are expenses, and that's where they are.
Perhaps you meant to ask, "exactly why are airline companies charging for the expenses now?" The answer is evident if you look at the airline industry's margins. - jaimequin, on 05/13/2009, -3/+5Hey man, times are tough, airlines are going bust, so why is this a bad thing? It is a business after all, and if this helps keep them operating then so be it. Find an alternative to flying if you think thats going to be cheaper.
- athinnes, on 10/01/2009, -3/+5And people continue to fly AA, who is in the wrong here?
- Black6x, on 05/13/2009, -1/+3Well, if they did not charge the fees before (all while paying the handlers) and now they made $278M, I would think that it would be all profit. This would seem be bolstered by the fact that people are traveling lighter and with less bags to avoid the fees.
- Silentnite85, on 05/14/2009, -0/+2Yeah, an airlines that is one of the largest airlines in the world, with over $1billion a year in revenue didn't put any thought into the possible consequences of being the first airline to charge for bags. That totally makes sense and doesn't sound like armchair rationalization of an industry.
/s. - Barackalypse, on 05/13/2009, -1/+3And how much money did they lose in fares from people who decided to just drive or fly on a different airline to avoid these fees? Let me guess, you never bothered to look for that information.
- GREEDOnvrFIRED, on 05/13/2009, -1/+3extra scratch? Since when is getting paid to transport an item "extra scratch." Mail your bag. See how much you save and see how often it gets lost or damaged.
- MaryCait, on 05/13/2009, -1/+3ah ***** back in the day i could bring my own snacks and pack my toiletries however the hell i wanted and get lunch on the plane and check my two bags and....
sigh -
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