This nickel-and-dimeing has to stop. Rules should be that tickets are inclusive and include checking-in, your seat, lavs, etc.
I think they're all totally outrageous!
So do I! But you know what. Passengers on flights are already down. Pretty soon they will be begging us to fly and then maybe some of the fees with disappear.
I get a little upset with the "toilet mint" fee from some airlines, as well as the "burned rubber" fee applied upon successful landings.
I would be willing to pay a "passenger window de-sliming" fee, though.
The whole experience has gotten to be so much of a hassle that I've switched to train or even Greyhound bus -- anything to avoid flying.
The airline employees that come up with the fees and fare rules are demented cryptographers!
if sombody would like to charge me for a sick bag, ill through up on some airline property, rather than pay $5. They can clean it up, instead of just taking out the trash!
I never pay extra fees for anything, because I fly on SouthWest whenever possible. They don't charge me for checked baggage, bathroom use, non-alcoholic beverages, sick bags, check-in fees, special seating, etc. Plus, they have the best cabin crews around. The crew is always friendly, helpful and thankful that you are flying on their airline. And guess what? They are one of the few airlines that are making money. Go figure! I only wish they flew to Atlanta and a few other South/Eastern locations. I just had to book a flight on Delta (the lesser of the other evils), and I'm already dreading it... Do the CEO's at the other airlines not look at who's on top, and why they are there? Hello!
yeah, well it's too bad they don't fly everywhere and/or have some really inconvenient flights to some locations. North Worst airlines had such a lock on the Mpls/St Paul market for so long that SW JUST got in last year and still don't have many flights. I hate the airlines. It's rather stupid to say they will keep charging until there is market pushback. what exactly are you supposed to do to push back if you need to fly and don't even know about these new, ridiculous (but not publicity stunt) fees like extra to pay for your bags at the counter or a fee just to check in? I wish I didn't have family all over the country b/c with two small kids I just can't drive to see them....not feasible. I do wish they'd just raise the rates to what they need to cover and be done with it though. I'd happily let my toddler pee in the aisle if they wanted to charge me for that. I'd probably fill her up with extra juice just to make it happen!
Unfortunately, with Southwest, you have to get on 3-4 separate flights to get anywhere. No cross country flights for them! Plus, the whole rat race to pick your seat gives me panic attacks. No thanks.
I call it corporate arrogance. There's a lot of it out there these days. Herb Kelleher just wanted to have fun while providing the public with a good service. The CEO's of other companies in the travel business need to take notice of what is happening.
I fly as seldom as possible. Rather than something that I used to enjoy, it is now something I dread and actively seek to avoid. I hope those jerks who make policy for their airlines all wind up in the unemployment line. Maybe, for a fee, the unemployment office can provide them the information and instructions they must have in order to access benefits.
One of the reasons I fly Southwest whenever I have the choice is I don't get hassled with all those fees that are not included in the posted ticket price. Another is their cancellation policy: they simply "bank" whatever I paid if I have to cancel, and I can then apply that amount to any subsequent flight. No penalties. No rebooking fees. Simple, fair and I don't have to buy the "insurance" other airlines try to sell me in case something happens and we have to reschedule a trip. I've booked SW even when Delta is a little less expensive, just so I don't have to worry about what it will cost if we have to cancel. [Note: In the last five years, I've canceled one trip --- illness. Happily it was on SW.] They clearly understand the appeal, to passengers, of KISS. [Keep It Simple, Stupid.]
SW makes it easy, and the price they post for the trip is the price you pay. I like that a lot.
Cabin crews that are helpful and know how to defuse irritation [caused by tarmac delays] with humor help too.
I fly a lot, and I hate Southwest Airlines! All they have are those crappy sardine cans (737s) that are so cramped and overcrowded, it makes even the shortest trip miserable. Also, to get any kind of decent seat on those lousy planes, you have to be on a computer exactly 24 hours before your flight to get your boarding pass in the lower numbers. That's fine when you're home, but when you're away and can't be by a computer, it's bad. If they had assigned seats, I would use them more. I don't care about their funny crews. I care more about being relatively comfortable for 3-4 hours, but that's just me.
It's time for government regulation of the airline industry again. The deregulated era was and is a disaster. Poor service, idiotic pricing, stupid security procedures, overbooked planes in a computerized world, and half broke airlines seem to dominate the scene. Obviously the FAA must be doing a great job or they would be crashing all over the place. And cattle car Southworst is nothing more than a stinky cheapo flying bus. Americans with any class at all deserve far better. Are you idiot CEOs listening? Can ya hear me now? Maybe if British Airways takes over American we just might have an acceptable alternative.
dear chuck156034...
have u heard that british airways is asking their employees to work free for a month so they can save money?
My 11 year old just went to Boston to visit her grandparents, with her 15 and 16 year old sisters. Purchased the tickets online as normal. ONCE to the ticket counter, the airline charged us an additional $100.00 for the 11 year old to fly as an UNACCOMPIANIED Minor. I am glad I had cash with me, as i didnt bring anything else in with me besides my car key and identification to make going through security easier.
$100 on top of and extra $45 for checking bags. Delta charged us $15 PER person to check 1 bag each.
I don't understand the $100 unaccompanyied minor fee, as two other siblings werre along with her.
When we made this same trip just a few years ago, they checked 2 bags each, and no additional fees.
Just venting.
You should have fought the unaccompanied minor fee tooth and nail. She WAS accompanied and the fee is so to be for the extra service of looking after a child who is unsupervised. In her case, there was no extra work.
She wasn't accompanied by an ADULT.
Going overseas in the next week, I have to travel via "the friendly skies" but I dread already the fees. I am going with a group, we haven't been given the option to list whether we are checking a bag. However, we are going for a month. Sorry, I'm female, my liquids demand that I must check a bag. (True, since some of my liquids are medical I can claim an exemption, but hassle!) I will truly be annoyed if they charge me an extra fee to check a bag that I wasn't allowed to "check" before I got to the airport.
And as far as charging for the lavatory? Go ahead ... I wonder how many guys (and some girls) will relieve themselves via water bottle before that stops! When you are holding someone "hostage" and not allowing them another way of relieving themselves, you can't charge for it. Otherwise I deem that torture -- and definitely cruel and unusual punishment!
*sigh* contemplating my 22 hours on a plane in the next week.
Airlines are providing a service, try going to a lawyer or doctor who doesnt charges for every second of their time or service and complain about their fees for service. Give the airlines a break they're trying to stay in business with airfares of next to nothing !
Perhaps a lavatory/sickbag fee would be reconsidered quickly when people wet their seats or use the pocket in the seat in front of them for a sick bag and the airlines are then posed with clean-up costs.
nickel and diming passengers? have you ever thought why? It's to keep those CHEAP tickets around to keep you from going by train or grayhound bus. Have you seen 75% of a flight's passengers? Trashbags and/or WalpMart plastic shopping bags used as carry-on luggage, most are dressed like they were heading to a pimp & hooker's convention in Vegas, absolute pigs and nasty attitudes. Most don't even know how to say "thank you", "excuse me" or "please", don't know the meaning of the words "vacant" and "occupied", don't even lock the lavatory door when they use it and actually think that pulling down on an ashtray could open a door instead of using the doorknob. Most need directions to their seat because somehow they managed to forget how to count past 5 and the alphabeth..inside a single aisle plane! Some even manage to forget that they bought those cheapass tickets and believe they are entitled to a first class seat, just because it was empty when they walked in. Majority would blame the airline employee for every delay caused by weather between the departure city and destination merely because "it can't be weather related, it's sunny here!"
If the airlines sold their seats for what they really would and should cost I'm sure most of you wouldn't even step into an airport or know what it is to travel by air.
Sure blame your travel woes on "unruly" airline ticketing and gate agents, the pilots and flight attendants...somehow you managed to forget the real reason why you were treated that way because you were too busy screaming and threatening the airline employee with "letters to their supervisors" because they wouldn't give in to your outrageous demands.
Get over yourselves people and quit blaming the airlines for everything.
Wow you must really have a high opinion of yourself. I fly a good deal and rarely see those miscreants to which you refer. I'm going to go out on a limb here, but... you don't have any mirrors in your house do you?
I don't fly anymore.Now Flying with an Airline is a horrible experience to include TSA.
Flying with an Airline is a horrible experience and TSA is just as bad. I don't fly anymore.
Gee, that sounds nice, but swimming across an ocean to save a few bucks just doesn't appeal to me. Nor does driving 2500+ miles just to visit family, which would take an extra week.
If there is no way to avoid the fee, then it should be included. Bu then in the US we have this kind of behavior in many places - and so should be used to it by now.
In stores most goods are quoted without taxes, so the amount you pay is more than the price on the tag. That is now essentially a convention - but was hard for me to get used to when I first moved here.
In restuarants, tips are essentially fees. It's the way that restaurants can get away with paying ridiculous wages to wait staff, and then making it up with "fees" that the diner is expected to pay. Yes, in theory we can opt out, but has anyone tried that recently?
Bottom line for me - if we continually demand low, low air fares (below what is economically viable for the airline to fly), then the airlines do have to find a way of getting more for it. In the days of airline profitability in the US, full fare coach was $0.50 per mile. Good discounts were at about $0.30 per mile. Now my average ticket comes in around $0.12 per mile - in today's dollars - or about $0.09 per mile in 1980's dollars. So yes they have to charge somewhere - and the fares have to be low to get noticed on discount web sites. Look for the hidden extras and make your own decisions.
Flying strictly for work,my cost /mile averages 1.35.Where are all these cheap tickets?
I am waiting for the bridge to Hawaii to be built so I no longer have to rely on air travel to take me there. It is ridiculous for all of the hassle to travel by air, including all of the TSA requirements. I have health issues that require me to wear certain items to support my life. Air travel is almost out of the question anymore.
Still waiting....
Fly Southwest or Jet Blue. Let UAL, Delta, USAir and the rest of the sillies go bankrupt.
Oh so the people who are stuck working with those companies like USAirways for example loose their jobs and get screwed. Great plan. Trust me if some of them could change employers they would but they can't. And you idiot if you narrowed it down to two airlines the fees would get higher moron.
ColoMtnWoman, & Pelican36...What does TSA have to do w/Airline Fees??
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any "fee" that all customers must pay but not included in ticket is FRAUD