I was recently interviewed by The New York Times over my pet peeve regarding travel fees imposed by airlines and hotels. Now, Spirit Airlines has announced that it will charge a $100 fee for a carry-on bag. Conversely, other airlines are increasing their charges for checked bags which has generated billions in new revenues. There will be a $70 checked bag fee on international flights at American for some flight, for example. At one time, airlines blamed the new fees on fuel costs but that rationale fell away as the fees continued regardless of fuel costs.
Notably, we discussed these fees in my torts class in discussing the case of Andrews v. United Airlines dealing with the question of negligence by airlines in the design of overhead bins. This case occurred before airlines started charging fees that resulted in many people taking cases on the plane — resulting in delay and an increase in the number of injuries.
As I mentioned to the Times, the strategy is clearly to drop the expectations of the new generation of travelers who do not remember that bags were once considered a basic element of traveling and covered in a ticket. Allegiant Air announced this month that it will be charging up to $35 for bags. Delta will charge $75 for checking a second bag.
JetBlue, which recently shrank legroom in a disappointing reversal, will also start to impose a fee of $40 for a second bag though to it credit the airline does not charge for the first bag.
The fleecing of travelers is now out of control. With the bag fees, boarding has become a contest that makes the Roman games look tame in comparison, People crush each others bags and coats in trying to wedge huge bags into bins. Passengers who check their bags, like me, are now told that they must not use the bins for their jackets or computer bags to make room for bigger bags. You are asked to stuff these bags at your feet while the airlines are continuing to reduce the leg room in standard seats. This leaves you virtually entrapped with no ability to open a lap top or change position if you are average height for a male. After denying you any room, the airline then offers to sell you different seats with varying degrees of space: what I called the “misery index” menu now common on U.S. domestic airlines.
I am only waiting for the baggage fee charges to become uniform so that you are charged on the same airline for carrying one a bag or for checking a bag. The message is clear: put on multiple layers of clothes and go without luggage.
Source: USA Today
Fedex was more than happy to ship our very full suitcase from home to the hotel for $28. Most of us schedule ahead of time. Why not get your stuff to where you’re going with a little planning?
They charge you for bags you check-in and they charge you for bags that you don’t. All of this was forseen by the writers of the Marx Brothers comedy, A Day At the Races (1937), as described in this dialogue (adjusted for inflation):
Groucho: Is there a printing charge on this?
Chico: No.
Grouch: Oh, thanks.
Chico: Just a $50 delivery charge.
Groucho: Delivery charge? But I’m standing right next to you.
Chico: Well, for such a short distance, I make it $25.
Groucho: Couldn’t I move over a bit closer over here and make it $5?
Chico: Yes, but I’d just move back over here and make it $25 just the same.
Airlines spread disease: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/10/01/web-site-tracks-mosquito-borne-diseases-spread-globally-by-air-travel/
What is the lefts fascination w/ choo choo’s.
Socialist is the best thing I would call you w/ that statement, MikeS.
“properly identified jews” huh?
“Socialist is the best thing I would call you w/ that statement, MikeS.”
Nick,
I knew someone would. The problem is, as you’ve often pointed out yourself, is that our society’s overuse of the left/right meme.
“Blouise, I share your lament and it is overused..the left/right thing. That’s part of our insane duopoly political system. But, in this case, involving trains it’s appropriate.”
But then how could I have lacked the perception that your lamenting the overused left/right meme is only applicable when you can make points that reinforce your political beliefs? On the other hand you give yourself the right to use the meme when you decide it will bolster your point of view. To define government run railroads, or utilities for that matter as socialistic, is itself a meme that was created by those seeking economic gain by having monopolistic control over services available to the entire population.
These monopolies, unless closely regulated, will always gouge the public for every last cent they can garner. That is historically factual. There is nothing socialistic about certain vital services that meet the needs of the general public
being run for the benefit of all. The history of the railroads is especially illustrative of this simple fact. There were massive giveaways of land rights to help create our national railroad system which became corrupt due to lack of competition. Capitalism only is workable in a given industry if there exists the possibility of competition for the market. Monopoly is extremely anti-capitalist and always creates bad situations. Monopoly is in fact an example of Fascism if you look at it. Fascism being a system where the government favors certain businesses and cleans their markets of competition.
One example of this became apparent to me as I was growing up on Long Island, in New York. Our electric and gas company, private monopoly, was called LILCO. It had the highest rates in the nation and eventually bankrupted itself by heavily investing in building a nuclear plant in a place called Shoreham in Northern Long Island. They invested so much money into the plant, which was unneeded, that when they failed to make it operational due to public alarm, they went bankrupt. NY State had to step in and create a public entity to take over from them and pay off their debts at taxpayer expense. If you don’t think that is also what happened with AMTRAK, then you’re misreading history.
Also you disparage rail transport as an anachronistic technology and the facts don’t bear that out as displayed by its history in Europe and in Japan. It would be much smarter, quicker (and safer) to go from NYC to Boston or Washington D.C., by high speed rail, than by plane. It would take an hour or less to go from downtown to downtown. A plane could do it in probably 45 minutes, but when you add in traveling to the airport and security you’re looking at a 2.5 hour minimum. Sometimes it is better to seek viable, creative solutions, rather than limiting the range of thought by labeling solutions in terms of economic/philosophical/political theory.
Finally, politically I really am iconoclastic and am more interested in fixing problems with the best available solutions, despite political philosophy. The problem is that conservative political philosophy is by its nature and definition against innovation and creativity. More creative ideas for needed changes do come from the Left. However, my long life experience has been that people chained to any “Ism”, be it Left or Right, are limiting their range of creative thought. I’ve actually had more personal battles in my life with actual Communists and Socialists that I knew and worked with in the Union Movement and in the 60’s Movement for Social Justice. I dislike entities who limit their range of thinking no matter who they are. I use entities, rather than people, because on a personal level I’ve had many friends on both sides of the Left/Right divide, I just don’t talk politics with them anymore.
“They want that superb comfort of sitting in a train for 2 days rather than on a plane for 5 hours.”
Nick,
NYC to LA by high speed rail would probably be about 13 hours. When you talk about the five hour flight you are not taking into account the probable 2.5 hours before takeoff and after landing that it would take for someone to fully get to their destination. At 10 hours flight becomes less attractive. As far as the food goes recently I’ve taken the AMTRAK Auto Train down to Florida and the food was great. It takes 18 hour from Virginia to the Orlando area. If you need your car that compares to a twenty hour non stop trip. While in my younger days I’ve driven for twenty-four hours straight, that type of odyssey no longer appeals to me. 🙂
At the risk of being called socialist, I believe that all airlines should be run by the government and railroad too. Their operating costs simply are too great to turn a profit that will attract investors, without adding these torturous fees. The same should be true of railroads and we need to develop high speed rail service, just as most of the industrialized countries have.
There is no aviation industry. There is only an on-going experiment to prove that people will actually pay good money to debase themselves.
Next year, a new phase of the experiment will begin. Passengers will be allowed one free checked bag, or an upgrade to a seat that is not physically unhealthy to sit in, in exchange for pointing out passengers who are not properly-identified Jews.
Did you know that UPS offers a service to overnight your bag to your destination for less than the baggage fees most airlines charge? Given their ability to track packages I’d tend to trust them more also. If I were still traveling a lot I’d be using it.
Thanks for this info. It lets me justify my fear of flying with rational evidence.
“The message is clear: put on multiple layers of clothes and go without luggage.” (JT)
Then they’ll start weighing passengers and charging for “overage”.
Spirit isn’t charging $100 for carryon bags. They wanted to but he public balked ..starting Nov 6, 2012 ..they will charge anywhere from $25 to $40 depending on when you pay for the bag. http://www.spirit.com/OptionalFees.aspx# Need to get your facts straight before you write an article..
Lies and fraud as a profit center–what shock!
Throw theft by some TSA workers into the mix and flying may be even more costly:
http://rt.com/usa/news/tsa-stealing-from-travelers-358/
“Ex-TSA agent: We steal from travelers all the time”
Corporations are not people, they are bullies …
When Democrats take control of Congress, the first priority needs to be change the name of National Airport from the one of the worst President for aviation in history. Reagan destroyed the ATC system by firing all the controllers, destroyed Eastern Airlines by allowing Lorenzo to buy it when ALL of his adivsors said to NOT allow it. Then he shot down an Iranian Airbus in international airspace on a legal airway, and decorated the captain. He also decried the Soviets for shooting down a Korean 747 that was in PROHIBITED airspace in the Soviet Union. All in all, Reagan is the last person to be rewarded with naming an airport after him.
My first flight? Yeah, I’ve described it before.
Non-stop NYC to San Francisco. One class. All like kings and queens. Jingle comes to mind: “I was high class and…..!”
Live it up peasants.
Bulls by the nose, cows by the teats……either way, you’re gonna be beef. Say after TSA, “Mooooo!”
Stand still cows, don’t kick the bucket. We are milking. Forever……and ever.
rcampbell, Southwest flies to Dulles but not Reagan, and you have to fly to Midway in Chicago. Denver is a good hub for them.
I recently flew on Southwest Airlines to Denver. Checked a luggage bag AND golf clubs. No fees.