Baggage fees.. Tightening the Screws

[k ellis]

I said it earlier and I'll say it again: the airlines are doing just fine and they always will. After all, they have the monopoly on air travel, or any sort of speedy travel for that matter. They also have a near monopoly on overseas travel, since boats are pretty slow, expensive, and don't have a fraction of the number of crossings that airlines do.

It's odd that people nowadays think they have some God-given right to cheap air travel. In the old days of air travel, it was limited to the rich, people would dress up in finery and eat luxury food on-board. At some point, "economy" or "coach" air travel was invented, and more people were able to use the airlines for occasional travel or for business efficiency. At some point, air travel became cheap enough that everyone started flying everywhere, taking the family to Disneyland and Disneyworld, taking the family to grandma's, the 737 pretty much replaced the family station wagon. Flights are booked solid. Of course the airlines know this means they can squeeze more money out of people since demand far exceeds supply. At some point, it will balance out. More people will realize they can't afford to fly so they'll drive instead. People will price airfare as a larger percent of their travel budget and decide to vacation closer to home. Businesses will cut back further on travel and use teleconferencing instead. And hopefully, all this will mean less overbooking, shorter security lines, and more open middle seats for me.

Odd you mention it but yes over seas travel is a monopoly since most cruise lines done go cross seas very often and when they do it would be quiet a lengthy trip. But man would it be comfortable business are going to start looking at cost cutting too as so many are now because of the economy though it will cut back on these trips except those who absolutely have to be some where fast.

And as for price I am entitles same as anyone else to a reasonable price. I may not get it because some one disagrees but I am definately not entitled to be robbed. I have take up driving to destinations though as this trully is the best way to travel. A family of 4 going to disney world by air would cost probably 2000 dollars with one bag each. A family of 4 can take a nice sized vehicle to the same destination with less headache and do it for under 500 dollars travel with unlimited bags. Plus save hundreds more on rental cars.

Americans are entitled to good prices and cheap travel. They just have to be willing to decide whats more important. Making an airline ceo billions or cutting back and putting 1/5 of that into the ceos of an oil companies pocket and have great memories of travel! To me I think money is more important and having 4 vacations for the price of 1!

 

[k ellis]

The old lady's diaper was wet, full, and they couldn't tell what was in it, so the daughter took her to the restroom to remove it. Too bad they didn't pack spares, but who is to blame for that?

Wow steal my thunder why dont you how can I even debate that

 

[Diver Kat]

lol... I'm 6'5"... anyone even thinking about leaning their seat back is encroaching ;-)

Very few flights in Economy that I don't have bruised kneecaps on arrival.

Yeah, the DH is 6'4"+ so knees are a problem. Have to say they should probably just stop seats from reclining anymore. It was fine when rows were spaced farther apart years ago, but now-a-days, a person reclines and they're about sitting on your lap - whether your tall or not! Another reason we book early and watch the seating religiously is to keep him in an aisle seat. Used to be nice when you could switch to an exit row 24 hours before the flight, but now Continental has decided to make extra money off that as well. Of course on a few flights back from Coz the exit row seat was $39 - $49 but upgrading to 1st class was $59 - $69. Duh! If I'm gonna pay, I'll pay the extra $20 and get express check-in line; 1st on the plane, big comfy seats, food and all I can drink! And it doesn't hurt that even though we paid for the 1st class only on the 1st leg to Houston, our luggage is tagged for top priority and comes off the plane first when we get home to Austin.

Back to baggage. My biggest issue with carry ons is that they do not assign each seat with an overhead compartment. It's first come first serve and we board from the back of the plane first, so some of thos passengers see fit to put their stuff in the forward compartments so they don't have to carry them as far. That leaves no room left for the people towards the front of the plane. On top of that, these low lifes tend to stuff their coats and whatever else they don't want in the seat with them in there too!!!

Carry-on drives me crazy! We purposely downsized our carry-on's to a bit below the max measurement, so they fit in the overheads easily, and just in case they ever decide to change the limits. Meanwhile people march on with huge bags that need a football player to shove them into the overhead - if they can get them to fit at all; they often have more then the 2 allowed items (carry-on & personal bag); and as 1KWIK noted, they also throw coats and other stuff up there as well. So a bin that supposed to fit bags for 6 seats might be filled up by just 3 or 4 people. I think the idea of indicating that this overhead bin is reserved for these rows of seats would be a good one.

 

[dmoore19]

I said it earlier and I'll say it again: the airlines are doing just fine and they always will. After all, they have the monopoly on air travel, or any sort of speedy travel for that matter. They also have a near monopoly on overseas travel, since boats are pretty slow, expensive, and don't have a fraction of the number of crossings that airlines do.

It's odd that people nowadays think they have some God-given right to cheap air travel. In the old days of air travel, it was limited to the rich, people would dress up in finery and eat luxury food on-board. At some point, "economy" or "coach" air travel was invented, and more people were able to use the airlines for occasional travel or for business efficiency. At some point, air travel became cheap enough that everyone started flying everywhere, taking the family to Disneyland and Disneyworld, taking the family to grandma's, the 737 pretty much replaced the family station wagon. Flights are booked solid. Of course the airlines know this means they can squeeze more money out of people since demand far exceeds supply. At some point, it will balance out. More people will realize they can't afford to fly so they'll drive instead. People will price airfare as a larger percent of their travel budget and decide to vacation closer to home. Businesses will cut back further on travel and use teleconferencing instead. And hopefully, all this will mean less overbooking, shorter security lines, and more open middle seats for me.

The prices dropping and the size of the seats became part of air travel about 1978 when Jimmy Carter's administration pushed for a got through deregulating the airlines. Before that it was the Civil Aeronautics Board that set prices etc. Prior to 1978 the Airlines were considered a public utility and the government (CAB) approved or disapproved the price of the ticket, just like pricing for electricity is now.

 

[iztok]

The prices dropping and the size of the seats became part of air travel about 1978 when Jimmy Carter's administration pushed for a got through deregulating the airlines.

Darn Democrats!

 

[azscubadude]

The prices dropping and the size of the seats became part of air travel about 1978 when Jimmy Carter's administration pushed for a got through deregulating the airlines. Before that it was the Civil Aeronautics Board that set prices etc. Prior to 1978 the Airlines were considered a public utility and the government (CAB) approved or disapproved the price of the ticket, just like pricing for electricity is now.

I am a Capitalist and firmly believe in a company making money but the airlines should go back to being regulated because it is no longer a luxury, it is now a necessity and if you want to go a bit further it should be regulated as a utility. You can't drill your own gas or oil well or generate your own electricity (without oil and/or gas, at least enough to run your home).. so these companies are regulated.

Basically you can not travel without using an airline. Sure you can take a car but you can't drive many places you want to go. Trains are virtually non existent and if you've ever taken our lovely government subsidized cattle cars called Amtrak you will probably only do so once.

Letting the airlines operate unregulated now that they have found out they can make billions by charging for everything except the air you breath on the airplane they will continue to get worse, worse service, no customer service, quadrupling rates, etc. The airlines know you can not do without them so they gouge and gouge. What do you think you would be paying for natural gas or electricity if it wasn't regulated. Look what happens to gasoline when the speculators play games with it.

The attitude of the airlines and employees is some of the worst I have ever seen and they hide behind the TSA when doing so. Try speaking up at a ticket counter if your flight is cancelled. Try complaining on an airplane about the poor service and see if there isn't security/police waiting for you at the gate when you land. They can do anything they want and there isn't anything you can do about it.

I had a flight cancelled on me just a few weeks ago after confirming it before I drove 150 miles to the airport and spending almost $500.00 in hotel costs, ticket costs, etc. What did the gate agent do.. nothing, she just shrugged her shoulders and walked away after telling me I could write a letter of complaint to Customer Service. I asked for a phone number and she said.. no phone number, write or email only and then wait for a reply sometime in the future. What happened when I called their corporate office looking for a number to call customer service? The receptionist was very nice and quickly transferred me to a machine instructing me to write a letter and wait for a reply. I called back and asked for a real person, not a machine and she said there is no such person, only a machine.

I did email and a week later I got a phone call from someone offering me 1000 miles for my trouble. No reimbursement for anything except my flight and I would have to wait a month to get that. So the other hundreds of dollars I was out of pocket was just shrugged off. The shuttle service wouldn't refund, the hotel wouldn't refund, the expo wouldn't refund my expensive ticket costs. All that money just gone.

Price most European or Far East destinations and you will find out that you will get most of those flights almost cheaper than a short hop in the states. I priced a round trip ticket to Shanghai, China on one of the major carriers. It included meals, no baggage fees. The price was almost the same as a round trip ticket to Bonaire if you add the baggage fees to Bonaire. Some of the prices I've seen to Europe or England are obscenely cheap.

Yes, I firmly believe the airlines should once again be regulated and if that means the ticket costs have to be very expensive so be it, but at least they will have to be approved before they can quadruple the baggage fees for no reason other than greed (and the reason I started this thread).

 

[dmoore19]

Hold on folks. I just threw in the airline deregulation as a reason for the skinnier seats and lower prices (when compared to today's dollar). It had nothing to do with politics or drilling oil/gas wells. Personally? I am rarely on the plane for more than 4 hours. I buck up and be a big boy for that long to enjoy the vacation that is at the end of the travel to my destination. It's the travel back home that gets me.

 

[Mossman]

The old lady's diaper was wet, full, and they couldn't tell what was in it, so the daughter took her to the restroom to remove it. Too bad they didn't pack spares, but who is to blame for that?

And I'm sorry to all old ladies in diapers, but I for one would not be a happy camper if I had to sit next to an old lady wearing a full, wet diaper for several hours.

 

[Mossman]

Americans are entitled to good prices and cheap travel.

I am a Capitalist and firmly believe in a company making money but the airlines should go back to being regulated because it is no longer a luxury, it is now a necessity and if you want to go a bit further it should be regulated as a utility. You can't drill your own gas or oil well or generate your own electricity (without oil and/or gas, at least enough to run your home).. so these companies are regulated.

Basically you can not travel without using an airline. Sure you can take a car but you can't drive many places you want to go. Trains are virtually non existent and if you've ever taken our lovely government subsidized cattle cars called Amtrak you will probably only do so once.

Since when did travel, let alone cheap travel, become a "right" or a "necessity"? If you can't afford it, simply don't go. Stay at home.

Otherwise, should air travel be government subsidized for low-income people as many utilities are?

Heck, until recently, medical insurance/medical care wasn't considered something necessary for all Americans, and there's little doubt that the nation's health care system "robs" people as much as any airline. $30 for a 50 lb bag seems much more reasonable than $30 for an aspirin pill in a hospital. Do you believe air travel is as important for Americans' well-being as medical care?

 

[Sue Sue]

Yeesh..now I am thinking about the reclining seat issue...golly that beefs me too !!! Let's see, perhaps if I down a couple of screwdrivers AND take a benadryl right before boarding, then I will miss all the "fun" during the flight. DH and I are thinking about a GBR trip next year....how safe is it to be "put under" for a 14 hour flight ???? :sarcasm::silly::sleeping2: