Handy Table of Airline Fees
Flying somewhere used to be simple, but recently airlines have begun to implement unbelievably complicated pricing policies. If you ask them, they’ll say it’s because of the increase in the price of oil. But it’s funny how all these special fees only seem to go up, never down. Some airlines are saying that this kind of pricing is a life-and-death proposition for the industry, while other airlines don’t feel terribly compelled to follow suit.
If it’s really the case that airlines can’t make money in the current environment without resorting to these pricing practices, how come Southwest, one of the most consistently profitable airlines in the country, doesn’t charge anything to check a second bag? And how is it that Continental can possibly get away with serving free meals on its flights?
Also: Fifty bucks to check a second bag, Delta? Seriously? Seven bucks for a fruit plate, Northwest? You guys are douches.
Tacking on all these little charges is cheesy. It’s yet another thing (in addition to abusive airport security and interminable delays) that makes me not want to fly at all. Anytime you can’t express the price of something in a sentence or less, there’s nearly always something predatory and possibly crooked going on.
People accept these charges because they have to; by the time you get to the airport, you don’t have any choice but to pay them if you want to get on your plane. But if all these charges were applied at the time you purchased your ticket instead of at the airport, my guess is that we’d see them evaporate (folded into the regular cost of a ticket) pronto.
I actually don’t mind what United and other airlines do with upsells at the airport — they let you pay a few extra bucks (typically under $20) for an exit row seat, which is sometimes worth it to me since I’m a big guy. But this is an option, not a requirement they force on you at the last minute.
This table shows a handy list of a few dozen major airlines and the fees they charge for stuff they used to do for free.
Update: I just booked a flight to London in November and paid an extra $100 out of my own pocket to fly Virgin Atlantic instead of United, la la la.
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How about US Airways charging $2 for soft drinks?! (http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/traveltools/intheair/foodandbeverages/maincabin.aspx) I flew a US Airways red-eye last week and almost went into shock when I asked for a water and they gave me a bottle and asked for $2. It is definitely a slap in the face that these things that used to be free are now being charged for and its only exacerbated by the fact that ticket prices aren’t going down as a result (I’m willing to pay for shit on Southwest or Virgin America or JetBlue because I’m getting a good deal on the ticket price).
One thing that also really detracts from the experience on the ‘conventional’ US carriers is the service, which is far from accommodating and many times adversarial. The flight attendants clearly don’t want to be there and their policies have turned them into cops instead of hosts. For example, United now makes an emphatic point of announcing that Economy Plus seats cost more and those who haven’t purchased one aren’t entitled to switch to an Economy Plus seat even if the flight is empty — before they closed the doors on my half-full flight Sunday, they even went as far as to instruct passengers to deplane and purchase an upgrade if they wanted to switch seats. Even though I have a shitload of United miles, I will fly Southwest, Virgin America, or JetBlue over them anytime I have the chance.
US Airways is definitely high up there on my list of airlines to avoid, particularly after they were bought by America West. I like to think that I have a pretty high tolerance for travel-related misery, but after stranding me in Las Vegas twice in two years after midnight on a weeknight, I said “never again” to them.
They should just put slot machines into the seatback video and use the house proceeds to serve free scotch and sodas for everyone.
You frackin’ nail it with “Anytime you can’t express the price of something in a sentence or less, there’s nearly always something predatory and possibly crooked going on.” Every time I fly — which is often — I thank my lucky stars I live in place served well by Continental and Southwest.