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Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

theguardian.com

11–20 of 70 posts

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#11
post #6

I agree that the 20E charge to print a paper ticket seems excessive, but I'm not sure about the bag fees. I know it's a bit annoying to get nickle and dimed for everything, but on the other hand it makes sense to only charge passengers for the services they need.

20€ seems almost reasonable – I think I’ve seen Ryanair charge far more than 100 at some point.

100€ for a... piece of paper!?

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#12

My very selfish reason for becoming pro cabin bag charges is how much quicker it has made boarding planes. The way people took the piss with the bags they brought on board before was ridiculous and resulted in a big delay of people trying to find space for their oversized bags of stuff they absolutely don't need for their weekend trip.

I've been a bit skeptical of this theory. It's not really true of budget airlines but business travelers and frequent flyers with status just don't want to check bags because it takes longer and can have complications with flight changes.

Personally, I rarely check bags (mostly if I need checked for outdoor activities) but the money has basically nothing to do with it.

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#13

My very selfish reason for becoming pro cabin bag charges is how much quicker it has made boarding planes. The way people took the piss with the bags they brought on board before was ridiculous and resulted in a big delay of people trying to find space for their oversized bags of stuff they absolutely don't need for their weekend trip.

People started doing it in part because the airlines were taking outrageous times to get bags.

Ironically, that’s been very much improved. With Delta and Alaska now, it’s actually quite rare that I get to baggage claim and my bags are not already there.

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#14
post #6

I agree that the 20E charge to print a paper ticket seems excessive, but I'm not sure about the bag fees. I know it's a bit annoying to get nickle and dimed for everything, but on the other hand it makes sense to only charge passengers for the services they need.

20€ seems almost reasonable – I think I’ve seen Ryanair charge far more than 100 at some point.

I was caught by this surprise pricing once, so I'll explain: printing a boarding pass at the airport is €20, but that's only if you have checked in online beforehand.

But checking in in-person is €0 only if there's more than 2 hours left until the planned departure, it is €55 if there is less. So in practice, a lot of people end up paying €75 for something that's free when flying with other airlines.

In Ryanair's defence, they explain it on their site. But if you are booking via e.g. Kiwi.com, you will probably never visit Ryanair's site and you will miss this detail.

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#15
> The government investigation also looked at concerns around a lack of transparency by the airlines over the final price of services when booking online, and the decision to block cash payments at the airport for additional services.

I just went through this a week ago and I was shocked RyanAir was doing this as I was sure this was not legal in the EU.

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#16

My very selfish reason for becoming pro cabin bag charges is how much quicker it has made boarding planes. The way people took the piss with the bags they brought on board before was ridiculous and resulted in a big delay of people trying to find space for their oversized bags of stuff they absolutely don't need for their weekend trip.

Yeah this. Also the plane tickets are so bloody cheap these days that the baggage doesn't hurt a bit.

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#17

Spain could also look into fining all these scammy car rental agencies that operate at or near airport. They are totally abusive and should be not just fined but fined to death. It's these kind of things, as in TFA, that makes life miserable for tourists.

I'd like to hear more about this. It's always been unpleasant interacting with them, but I haven't seen anything abusive. Usually I'm told I either have to leave a huge deposit or buy insurance. Is this what the abuse is supposed to be? I don't love it, but I can't say it's a crazy notion.

Even in Alaska, if you go to Anchorage you’d be well advised to take an Uber to a car rental place at least a couple of miles from the airport.

All sorts of BS, like “we have to phone your insurance company to verify your coverages” (at 11pm), or same with credit card, etc, to be “allowed” to waive their insurance. Oh, and the regular car you reserved, and several of them you can see on the lot? They’re unavailable. And the manager isn’t here to authorize a discount on a larger or premium vehicle. And so on.

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#18
post #6

I agree that the 20E charge to print a paper ticket seems excessive, but I'm not sure about the bag fees. I know it's a bit annoying to get nickle and dimed for everything, but on the other hand it makes sense to only charge passengers for the services they need.

20€ seems almost reasonable – I think I’ve seen Ryanair charge far more than 100 at some point.

Ryanair doesn’t allow you to login online for printing tickets with just PNR - they require email for 2fa. Which you don’t get when booking via third party. Got caught by this while travelling with a party of 6. €120 down the drain. Third party sheds any responsibility.

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#19

My very selfish reason for becoming pro cabin bag charges is how much quicker it has made boarding planes. The way people took the piss with the bags they brought on board before was ridiculous and resulted in a big delay of people trying to find space for their oversized bags of stuff they absolutely don't need for their weekend trip.

People started doing it in part because the airlines were taking outrageous times to get bags. Ironically, that’s been very much improved. With Delta and Alaska now, it’s actually quite rare that I get to baggage claim and my bags are not already there.

True. Recently flew Alaska. They announced on speaker that if your bag didn’t come out within a certain time (I think it was 20min), you were entitled to some compensation or even the refund of the flight

Re: Spain fines budget airlines €150M over 'abusive' cabin bag and seat charges

#20

My very selfish reason for becoming pro cabin bag charges is how much quicker it has made boarding planes. The way people took the piss with the bags they brought on board before was ridiculous and resulted in a big delay of people trying to find space for their oversized bags of stuff they absolutely don't need for their weekend trip.

at least in the US they started asking people to pay for checked bags first, so the airlines caused this whole "rush for the overhead bins" problem.
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