Post: #1

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/get-rea...eid=yhoof2

In fact, 2012 was a record year for extra-fee revenues: U.S. airlines raked in a staggering $6.03 billion in baggage and reservation-change fees, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. And it’s likely they will climb even higher in 2013. “We’re going to see more and more higher fees and new categories of fees,” says George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog.com.

Delta outpaced both its legacy rivals and smaller carriers in baggage-fee revenue, chalking up a jaw-dropping $866 million. United took second place at $706 million. (Delta merged with Northwest Airlines, and United merged with Continental.) American, still without a merger partner at the dance, racked up $557 million. Its suitor, U.S. Airways, came in fourth with $516 million — together, they would have left their counterparts in the dust at $1.07 billion.

As for cancellation fees, Delta again took the top spot, collecting $778 million in 2012, while United pocketed $661 million. American added $518 million to its top line as U.S. Airways brought in $298 million.

And those figures are only going to swell. In what FareCompare.com chief executive Rick Seaney calls “the worst fee ever,” cancellation charges already have risen: United last month upped its change fees to $200 from $150. As is typical of the herd mentality of the airline industry, American, Delta and U.S. Airways followed suit.

That basically renders some tickets unchangeable. If you bought a one-way discount ticket for $200 and wanted to change your flight, it would cost you another $200. Hobica thinks the change-fee hike isn’t targeted at discount leisure travelers but at business travelers who carriers hope will opt for the more pricey nonrefundable tickets. If the difference between the refundable and the nonrefundable fee is $300 but a change fee is $200 on a nonrefundable ticket, “business travelers might be more apt to choose the nonrefundable fee from the beginning,” he says.

Meanwhile, Frontier Airlines has introduced new charges that it hopes other carriers will follow, thereby decreeing an industrywide acceptance that travelers just have to, well, accept. So far, however, the legacy carriers are standing still.

Beginning this summer, Frontier will require passengers who bought tickets through a third party to pay carry-on baggage fees of up to $100. That’s right, for carry-on bags. The goal here is for travelers to bypass discount online providers like Expedia, Kayak or Hotwire, not to mention travel agents, in favor of Frontier’s own booking site.

If you buy the carry-on choice in advance, it will cost you $25. But it doubles to $50 if you pay at the counter or at an airport kiosk. It doubles again to $100 if you purchase it at the gate. But buy your tickets at FlyFrontier.com and the carry-on bag is included in the airfare.

Frontier also said it will begin charging $1.99 for coffee, tea, soda and juice on all flights. It’s unclear if taxes will be charged.

Frontier, which is transforming itself into what it calls the “ultra low-cost” carrier, is following the lead of Allegiant and Spirit airlines. Those carriers offer bargain-basement tickets for flights, but tack on exorbitant fees for everything else. Frontier’s carry-on bag charges, however, are steeper than Allegiant and Spirit.

Airline experts expect the carriers to again up their baggage fees, but at this point most are a standard $25 for the first bag. It’s the second bag that will cost you much more, depending on where you’re going, according to AirfareWatchdog.com.

For a thorough rundown of baggage fees by carrier, see AirfareWatchdog’s baggage-fee chart.)

Post: #2

Isn't it their job to rape consumers as much as possible?

Post: #3

Quote:As for cancellation fees, Delta again took the top spot, collecting $778 million in 2012

Damn.

That is a lot of money in cancellation fees.

I tried to change a flight that cost me like $350 the other day to a later flight that same day. It would have costed me an additional $450 to do it.

Crazy.

(On American if anyone is interested).

Post: #4

I'm convinced that RyanAir puts all U.S. carriers to shame in their extra fee schemes.

Third party websites can be good (most often just link to the airline's website), but I've found calling the airline's reservation desk to be beneficial as well. Saved nearly $400 on an upcoming roundtrip from Frankfurt to NYC (and cutting out connecting flights), just by calling the airlines reservation desk and talking to the lady (granted it was a heavily restricted ticket with zero flexibility) but nevertheless discount ticket services aren't always best, but do provide a good starting point.

Post: #5

http://news.yahoo.com/sen-demands-airlin...01046.html

NY Democratic senator demands airlines reverse flight change fees, says it hurts families on fixed budget

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York Sen. Charles Schumer is urging airlines to reverse flight change fee increases.

The Democrat said Sunday that the additional charge makes it difficult for families on fixed budgets.

Four major airlines — Delta Air Lines Inc., AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, U.S. Airways, and United Continental Holdings' United Airlines — recently increased fees on ticket changes from $150 to $200.

He said most families plan their trips in advance and get non-refundable tickets to save money. But he said plans can change due to sick children or work demands.

He said "I am asking, really demanding" that the four airlines "put the brakes on these out-of-control changes of flight fees."

Post: #6

(05-20-2013 01:44 PM)JayMillz Wrote:  http://news.yahoo.com/sen-demands-airlin...01046.html

NY Democratic senator demands airlines reverse flight change fees, says it hurts families on fixed budget

I love socialist. They think flying is a right, not a privilege.

Post: #7

I like to think of myself as a (hypocritical) libertarian so am not keen on stopping airlines charging these change fees should they so wish. But with just one (small) proviso which I think would help matters: Make it illegal for airlines to insist that the person who bought the ticket must be the person who flies. i.e. Make it so that air tickets can be resold/traded.

Say you buy a ticket JFK to YYZ, but then stumble on RooshV and discover that Toronto sucks. Now you want to fly to Montreal instead. You put up both legs of your JFK-YYZ ticket for sale. Obviously a more efficient secondary market than Craigslist would have to be developed, but it wouldn't be that hard. If you can get more money than you'd be left with after the change fees (though you almost certainly wouldn't be allowed to change your destination anyway) then you accept and use the money to buy a new ticket to Montreal.

In most cases consumers have the right to resell items they purchase in secondary markets. Even copyrighted items like books. I don't see why airlines should be allowed to restrict resale in the way they do. I understand why they do it. Just think they shouldn't be allowed to.

Post: #8

(05-20-2013 01:47 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

(05-20-2013 01:44 PM)JayMillz Wrote:  http://news.yahoo.com/sen-demands-airlin...01046.html

NY Democratic senator demands airlines reverse flight change fees, says it hurts families on fixed budget

I love socialist. They think flying is a right, not a privilege.

Normally I would agree with that, but since the big three has nearly a monopolistic grip on the U.S. flying market and since there is so much government regulation and barriers to entry (i.e. no new competition) they can do this without worry since they don't have to worry about nimble upstarts taking away profits. There is essentially zero risk for them to do this, because there is simply no alternative.

Post: #9

(05-20-2013 02:23 PM)Pacesetter20 Wrote:  there is so much government regulation and barriers to entry (i.e. no new competition)

This is a pretty capital intensive industry, which is a natural barrier to entry. There are some smaller airlines, but the rash of mergers would seem to point to a greater need for economies of scale.

Post: #10

Airlines been losing money for years. The last three years have been decent for them but I believe they had years of losses from 9/11, to rising cost of fuel, to the recession. As a player who wants to travel it sucks but as a man who wants to understand business I can't hate. As soon as one major carrier adds a fee the others follow suit.

What can we do not to get raped is the question. Everybody should get on their standby game. We as players should try to smash every airline bopper we can. Stand up to the greed of the airlines by fucking their employees just to get a free flight. Quadruple F. Fuck For Free Flights.

Post: #11

(05-20-2013 08:47 PM)TexasMade Wrote:  Airlines been losing money for years. The last three years have been decent for them but I believe they had years of losses from 9/11, to rising cost of fuel, to the recession. As a player who wants to travel it sucks but as a man who wants to understand business I can't hate. As soon as one major carrier adds a fee the others follow suit.

What can we do not to get raped is the question. Everybody should get on their standby game. We as players should try to smash every airline bopper we can. Stand up to the greed of the airlines by fucking their employees just to get a free flight. Quadruple F. Fuck For Free Flights.

I did last night. Working on a buddy pass out of it.

Post: #12

Airlines have been trying (and have) upped the prices for years. Also, it seems that (to me) that when a place gets "hot", especially the places WE like to conquer, somehow the airlines find out and all of a sudden, the prices skyrocket.

In the early 2000's, one of the reasons that we (my Washington DC area buddies) were going to Brazil so often was that round-trip tickets were as low as $425. By mid/late 2000's, those tickets were $1200.

Even now with the Dominican Republic, you basically have to fly to Santiago and drive to the Puerto Plata area because Puerto Plata (all of a sudden) is $200-$300 more to fly to (than Santiago) and even Santiago has went up about $200. Get this, Punta Cana (more for couples and families) has real cheap deals (cheaper than anywhere in DR), but of course, that is not the place in DR for us on this forum.

Post: #13

These change fees are obscene because it's just someone sitting at a terminal, checking to see if there's an available seat on another flight and plugging in your name. They don't have to pay that employee extra to do it. I do know that the airline industry has taken some hits, and need to make a buck in any way they can. Some of the smaller airlines usually serve as the guinea pigs for new fees (for carry-ons for example), because they HAVE to try to squeeze a dollar out of any area they can. The larger carriers take note, then follow suit. But to charge more than half the value of the original ticket to change some info on a computer is ridiculous to me. They already got your money - you just want to use it for a different flight. Charge a fee - just make it reasonable, instead of punitive. It isn't about being socialist - I'm sure consumers of all political ideologies want to be able to change a flight if necessary without going completely broke.

Post: #14

The only two cities worth traveling to thats under 400 for me are Mexico City and Miami. Everything else isnt worth it for a 42-48 hour trip. I remmeber getting a round trip trip to Vegas from here for under 400. Now the same route is 650. Damn you airlines.

Post: #15

Wait until they start charging for restroom service on flights in the US.

Post: #16

(05-20-2013 12:24 PM)Pacesetter20 Wrote:  I'm convinced that RyanAir puts all U.S. carriers to shame in their extra fee schemes.

But if not for Ryanair, how else is someone going to get to Santander from Dublin?

---

Quote:Posted by TexasMade - 05-20-2013 09:47 PM
Airlines been losing money for years. The last three years have been decent for them but I believe they had years of losses from 9/11, to rising cost of fuel, to the recession. As a player who wants to travel it sucks but as a man who wants to understand business I can't hate. As soon as one major carrier adds a fee the others follow suit.

This is exactly it.

It is only going to get worse.

Post: #17

I think some airlines might also not be discounting as much for when you purchase seats in advance. I've notice not being able to select seats more often and seeing flights sold out with only premium classes or seating available only to see availability as the flight gets closer to departure date, as though the airline intentionally holds/blocks discounted seats to the last minute more often now.

Post: #18

Interesting that airfares in America seem to be increasing. I've been looking at airfares from Joburg to Western and Eastern Europe in July. Fares seem pretty low. Around $750 return. Would include 11 hour flights SA-Europe and an internal flights in Europe.

JayMillz:
Are you finding increased fares just for local US/Canada flights, or are flights to Europe/Asia/South America also increasing. With the foreign flights there's competition outside of a possible US cartel so maybe fares are a bit lower.

Post: #19

(05-23-2013 11:09 AM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  JayMillz:
Are you finding increased fares just for local US/Canada flights, or are flights to Europe/Asia/South America also increasing. With the foreign flights there's competition outside of a possible US cartel so maybe fares are a bit lower.

I've been mostly doing Latin America and that is where I've been seeing increases. Fortunately, I've been using miles lately, but most airlines have increased the threshold for awards which sucks.

Post: #20

(05-22-2013 01:41 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(05-20-2013 12:24 PM)Pacesetter20 Wrote:  I'm convinced that RyanAir puts all U.S. carriers to shame in their extra fee schemes.

But if not for Ryanair, how else is someone going to get to Santander from Dublin?

Wasn't designed to be Ryanair hate (I'm flying on them tomorrow, but your statement may be more tongue-in-cheek due to the amount of hate you got for using them before).

Just an observation of the quantity of things they charge for versus American carriers.

Post: #21

(05-23-2013 11:28 AM)Pacesetter20 Wrote:  

(05-22-2013 01:41 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(05-20-2013 12:24 PM)Pacesetter20 Wrote:  I'm convinced that RyanAir puts all U.S. carriers to shame in their extra fee schemes.

But if not for Ryanair, how else is someone going to get to Santander from Dublin?

Wasn't designed to be Ryanair hate (I'm flying on them tomorrow, but your statement may be more tongue-in-cheek due to the amount of hate you got for using them before).

Just an observation of the quantity of things they charge for versus American carriers.

I was just playing.

Yeah, and I was referencing my Ryanair "scandal" a while back.

That was such a close call for me. I was shocked I was able to escape that one.

It almost ruined me.

That all being said, I love Ryanair.