I think that Ryanair is the leader in that 'race'.......IIRC, they charge passenger's to use the restroom.........
Spirit Airlines was on the path to bankruptcy back when they operated business as usual. So, even though I won't be flying them I can understand why they turned everything upside down. They're not trying to appeal to people like us anyway. They're probably trying to appeal to college kids and backpackers. I actually flew Frontier to Las Vegas for under $150 round trip a couple months ago. Do you suggest I should have taken Amtrak to Las Vegas instead? Every other airline was closer to double Frontier's price and Amtrak doesn't even reach Las Vegas on their own hardware. If you don't want to pay extra fees for luggage and drinks (water is still free) then you can always price check on other websites before booking directly with Frontier. These days that's generally how I do it unless it's a business trip or award ticket.
Frankly I find the belly-aching about airlines charging for coffee, tea or soft drinks in economy class somewhat amusing in a forum that sings the glory of Amtrak. Try getting a coffee, tea or soft drink in Amtrak Coach without paying for it. For that matter you can't get any for free even in Acela Business Class, which could hardly be characterized as an LCC.
The reason for the carry-on charge is to reduce the number of bags carried on in order to maintain short turnaround times. Planes on the ground don't make money, and long turn times keep planes on the ground. Much of the delay in boarding passengers comes from those who carry on too much stuff, then struggle to get it all in the overhead. For later boarding groups, often that means running the bags back up front to be gate checked. Those bags then have to be sent down to the ramp and loaded on the plane. All this results in slow boarding and long turn times. If an airline can limit the number of bags carried on, it can greatly reduce the time needed to board an aircraft. It does not take much time to simply walk on a plane and sit down.I don't use the third-party sites anymore. Sometimes I'll use them to compare flight costs, but that's it. I realized that, 99% of the time, the price I paid through Expedia or Travelocity was the exact same price I would have paid through the airline's website. I use Google now, like Betty. So much easier.
Charging for carry-on is ridiculous. I understood charging for checked bags since it was intended to relieve some of the cost for those who only travel with a carry-on and don't bring their entire wardrobe. I didn't see ticket prices go down after that, so so much for that, but whatever.
On the other hand, I don't know anyone who flies without SOME kind of carry-on luggage, so that charge seems rather unfounded. Just build it into the ticket prices. Same with the soda and coffee. Not many people will notice tickets going up $10/stretch, but they ARE going to notice a bunch of BS fees tacked on afterward.
Actually, they don't. The CEO floated that idea briefly but it never came to fruition. The CEO of Ryanair is known for making outlandish proposals to get publicity then quietly walking them back (or being told by regulators or aircraft manufacturers that they won't accommodate his ideas...such as Standing Room Only tickets and replacing most on-board lavs with more seats). The reason he does this is that the airline's actual policies seem quite reasonable in comparison to his headline-generating ideas.
I try to book directly through airlines' websites too (guess I got "trained" to do this back in the day that you would actually get bonus FF miles for booking directly on an airline website). But the fact is, there are some itineraries that are cheaper by booking multi-airline connections. So once in a while I'll book a flight on Expedia that includes Airline A to a connecting city, and Airline B for the next segment. Sometimes this saves significant cash versus booking it on a single airline (or sometimes booking on a single airline isn't possible if no single airline serves both my departing and arriving city). I'm not saying I'll avoid Frontier in this situation, but it would certainly make me think twice.
Excellent point! In fact, try getting a soft drink on Amtrak for "only" $1.99. The going rate seems to be $2.25.
When I don't fly Amtrak and have to fly "the other guys", I first compare the fares on sites like Expedia or Travelocity, but then I book directly with the airline's website. Sometimes you can even find lower fares, and you don't pay any other fees (like a booking fee). And if you collect frequent flyer miles, you may also get extra from booking on the airline's site! :excl:
1. Which aggregate sites charge the consumer for booking fees?
Bleh. So we're all getting punished for the entitled morons who can't use a measuring tape to save their lives. Excellent.The reason for the carry-on charge is to reduce the number of bags carried on in order to maintain short turnaround times. Planes on the ground don't make money, and long turn times keep planes on the ground. Much of the delay in boarding passengers comes from those who carry on too much stuff, then struggle to get it all in the overhead. For later boarding groups, often that means running the bags back up front to be gate checked. Those bags then have to be sent down to the ramp and loaded on the plane. All this results in slow boarding and long turn times. If an airline can limit the number of bags carried on, it can greatly reduce the time needed to board an aircraft. It does not take much time to simply walk on a plane and sit down.I don't use the third-party sites anymore. Sometimes I'll use them to compare flight costs, but that's it. I realized that, 99% of the time, the price I paid through Expedia or Travelocity was the exact same price I would have paid through the airline's website. I use Google now, like Betty. So much easier.
Charging for carry-on is ridiculous. I understood charging for checked bags since it was intended to relieve some of the cost for those who only travel with a carry-on and don't bring their entire wardrobe. I didn't see ticket prices go down after that, so so much for that, but whatever.
On the other hand, I don't know anyone who flies without SOME kind of carry-on luggage, so that charge seems rather unfounded. Just build it into the ticket prices. Same with the soda and coffee. Not many people will notice tickets going up $10/stretch, but they ARE going to notice a bunch of BS fees tacked on afterward.
For those airlines that do this, the prepaid charge for checking a bag is usually lower than the charge for carrying on, thus encouraging checking bags and discouraging carry on.
Not necessarily - if everyone brought on the allowed number of carryon items that were near (but within!) the limits, there's no way there would be enough room in the overhead for all of it.
I agree with this completely. Just try to cancel or change reservations, I have and got a three way runaround each time.
