Baggage fees.. Tightening the Screws

[Sue Sue]

scubafanatic posted..."it's getting to a point where we won't really care about the quality of the actual diving when we travel, our dive destination selection criteria will be primarily based on airfares/baggage limits-fees/assorted fuel surcharges/etc. "

It already is.....

 

[k ellis]

Now I am just curious as to how they do their math. If your bag weighs 51 pounds yet takes up the same amount of space as a 49 pound bag why would they charge 200 dollars and as a result encourage people to use a second bag for 30 dollars that now takes up the space of 2 bags. This run the risk of not having enough room for everyones bags and be forced to leave someones baggage behind to catch up on a later flight. Now not only have you gouged errrr over charged someone you have pd off a customer who may never return to your flight.

I now drive most places to dive in the us as opposed to travel by plane because you can rent a car for say 200 dollars per week unlimited mileage. Load all the luggage you want until the wheels touch the wheel wells and you cant see out your passenger or rear view mirror and still come out ahead paying for the gas versus having to be sexually assaulted at a gate, pay 3 times more for a stale sandwich inside the gates, be pushed into a kindergardners sized seat and charged 5 dollars or more for their stale sandwich and then when you really got to go to the bathroom you wont be able to go because the seat belt light is on and the stewardess has a fit when you almost pee yourself.

I now carry with me a coleman stove along with an ice chest full of goodies so I can utlize the rest stops and get the exact same meal a restraunt would for 30 or 40 dollars less.

Take a road trip and enjoy America for thousands cheaper then the soon to be out of buisness airlines who will price theirself right out of clients.

 

[dmoore19]

Now I am just curious as to how they do their math. If your bag weighs 51 pounds yet takes up the same amount of space as a 49 pound bag why would they charge 200 dollars and as a result encourage people to use a second bag for 30 dollars that now takes up the space of 2 bags. This run the risk of not having enough room for everyones bags and be forced to leave someones baggage behind to catch up on a later flight.

I see your point, however, there is plenty of room in the cargo hold. That's because everybody has all their crap packed into the overheads in the cabin to avoid the extra $30 charge.

(I don't know about that for sure, just thought I would make an attempt at humor.)

 

[Diver Kat]

The DH & I also always book aisle seats .... he's tall so he needs the aisle for some leg room, I'm just claustrophobic, so I like the ability to get up and stretch. I always hated in the old days (before on-line check in) that when we would check in at the counter, they would have change our seats to put us together giving me a middle seat - as if they were doing us a favor! These days I love on-line check in as, even after you've checked in, you can monitor the seats and if something better pops open, you can grab it. Last trip we got stuck over night in Tampa and had to take what we could get the next morning to get home. We'd already check in and had boarding passes - both in middle seats. Can't remember if the cut-off is 1 hour or 30 minutes, but I was checking the seating on my i-phone just before it cut-off when an aisle seat came open. Being nice, I gave it to the DH. All he had to do was ditch the paper boarding pass and use the i-phone app as his boarding pass.

Now if we could just get Southwest to fly to Cozumel, we wouldn't have to worry about all these baggage problems!! :depressed:

 

[Sue Sue]

Overall, regardless of size or height of passengers, unless of course you are a child or perhaps pint sized and petite, sitting comfortably in economy has become part of "remembering the good ole days ??? ". Even a normal sized or slightly larger person runs into trouble. I agree that a very large person should not take up more than their seat. Paying for two seats or at least traveling with and connecting themselves to a smaller companion who is able and willing to share their space should be required. On the same hand, stowing both a personal and carry on item in the overhead storage because a person needs or wants room for their feet to stretch out should not be allowed. Base line, we can complain and gripe about our airline traveling woes til the cows come home, and it will, in the end, mean NOTHING to the powers that be. What is sad, is that we most likely have not seen the end of it. Oh well, as some people say, "then don't fly, don't travel, don't buy the ticket, it's your choice". Hmmm.....that swimming pool in the backyard and "STAYCATIONS" are looking better and better.

 

[iztok]

The worst has to be U.S. Airway. I don't think they make seats any narrower than the ones U.S. Airways uses. I'm 5'-8", 165 pounds and can barely fit in one (no exaggeration).

US Airways coach width is 17-18".

Delta is 17-17.5" (just cursory look on some samples).

Continental 17.2"...

Southwest 17"

So pretty much industry standard is 17-18"

It would be helpful if you would refer to facts here. If you have specific aircraft make/model I can be more specific on the seat width.

BTW: If person next to you encroaches your space for more than 1" you can ask F/A to address the issue and they have to find another seat for him/her or she/he has to purchase 2 seats or take another flight.

 

[DandyDon]

BTW: If person next to you encroaches your space for more than 1" you can ask F/A to address the issue and they have to find another seat for him/her or she/he has to purchase 2 seats or take another flight.

Any proof for that claim? A print out would be nice.

 

[k ellis]

WOW Making a person miss a flight because of their size. That can be a law suit right there. How would a person like it if you had to be a certain weight and you were under it so you had to weight till another flight. Nope I dont think thats a recommended idea.

 

[iztok]

Any proof for that claim? A print out would be nice.

I got the info from US F/A during verbal conversation. According to her it is apparently in F/A manual but I have no access to it

Wish I would.

 

[iztok]

United to charge obese for 2nd seat - Chicago Breaking News

It is apparently different per airline. I fly US most of the time. My info could be wrong as it might have changed since 2 years ago.