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US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

travelandtourworld.com

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Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#171

Post by fwip »

AtlanticThird wrote: post #153
jjcob wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you want to sit together, pay for that privilege This is evil. There is no cost to the airline to put people who booked together next to another. It's seems like Mafia-tactic to seat people apart from another unless they pony up another $500 in upgrades. I refuse to fly with United. I understand that there may not be 10 adjacent seats when flying with a big group, but spreading out a family on purpose just so yo…

What do you mean there is no cost? Aisle and window seats are more valuable and can be sold for more, and this would force airlines to sell them to families without any up charge they would've received from other customers

If you're sitting together, that means at least one person is in the less-desirable middle seat, right?

Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#172

Post by [deleted] »

egonschiele wrote: post #130

> Family Seating Guarantees: Under current regulations, airlines must ensure that families with young children are seated together without additional charges. This would no longer be guaranteed under the new proposal, meaning families could face extra costs just to sit next to one another. This one is wild. You want to sit next to somebody's crying 2 year old? Go nuts. Change their diaper while you're at it.

[deleted]

Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#173

Post by itopaloglu83 »

cdrini wrote: post #26
eadmund wrote: post #17

> [Elimination of] Automatic Refunds for Cancellations Does this mean when the passenger cancels or when the airline cancels? If it’s when the passenger chooses to cancel, this seems fine and fair: he paid for a flight; he chose not to take it. If it’s the latter, then it seems very unfair. > Transparency of Fees This seems patently unfair. Folks should know what they’re going to be paying ahead of time. > Family Sea…

> [Elimination of] Automatic Refunds for Cancellations Airline cancellations. Seeing as they're talking about making a change, I assume it's airline cancellations, since no airline will currently refund you for a passenger cancellation.

They want to benefit from passengers who don’t know their rights, because they won’t request a refund.

Similar things happened to family members multiple times where their initial flight (overseas) was delayed by 6 hours, they had many issues, and nobody provided information about their rights. I told them about what to ask for and voila, $1100 refund.

Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#174

Post by red_rech »

wartywhoa23 wrote: post #143
Mistletoe wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve seen the movie Brazil and I wish more people had so they would have voted better.

[flagged]

Sure, but what then? The people would rather slaughter each other than reject their favorite entertainment personalities.

Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#175

Post by dweinus »

jghn wrote: post #79
az226 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$99 recline your seat fee

I'd pay $99 so that the person in front of me *can't* recline their seat

Perfect, digital bidding app on each seat so you and the person in front of you can see who will pay more for reclining control.

Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#176

Post by bthrn »

itopaloglu83 wrote: post #155
egonschiele wrote: post #130

> Family Seating Guarantees: Under current regulations, airlines must ensure that families with young children are seated together without additional charges. This would no longer be guaranteed under the new proposal, meaning families could face extra costs just to sit next to one another. This one is wild. You want to sit next to somebody's crying 2 year old? Go nuts. Change their diaper while you're at it.

Asking families if their teenager could be seated separately is one thing, but knowing the airlines, they might as well start seating the toddlers in the overhead luggage compartments.

The most profitable way to fill a plane would be to knock everybody out and just pile them up in the fuselage.

Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#177

Post by fwip »

lumost wrote: post #112
hedora wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Checked luggage charges are mostly about price discrimination and not cost savings. They also free up the cargo hold so they can transport mail. Speaking of which, did you know the TSA screening area is a farce?

I’ve always wondered if it would be cheaper to just have everyone check their bags and eliminate the overhead bin. I wouldn’t be surprised if airline boarding was sped up by 2-3x this way.

I've heard that the boarding process itself is rarely the limiting factor in flights. They're usually waiting on other plane-related things (refueling? Pre-flight checks? I can't recall the details).

If it were, they probably wouldn't be doing their 8-group boarding process that takes 20 minutes just to let people start boarding, because gate-time is expensive for them.

Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#178

Post by cats_4_freedom »

nemomarx wrote: post #87
hopelite wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Related to that; I am curious in what airlines think they will get or what motivates them to prioritize being deceptive, sneaky, dishonest, manipulative, lying, con-artists, i.e., just abusive all around? If everyone is required to provide "all in pricing" then there is no competitive advantage in being a bigger, better fraud; so must it be concluded that they think they have a competitive advantage at being the bett…

First principle is that customers will choose whoever has the cheapest flights in general, and airlines that try to market on having an inclusive price without surprise fees suffer anyway because the real cost is closer to fees. The second is price discrimination - think current McDonald's prices. Soaking people who can afford it and letting people who are very frugal navigate your confusing system and membership etc…

Not entirely true with the cheapest = first. I've been using a reputed and magnanimous airline for years and it doesn't matter what the other low-blow contenders are offering.

As long as it's in my anticipated budget, I want comfort, consistency, and courage. These undercutters have me scared they shaved off a wing to save on price. @#$% them. I fly with my airline, and these jerkoffs who want to bend over for fascism can die with it.

Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#179

Post by thieving_magpie »

Larrikin wrote: post #76
jghn wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know way too many parents who take the stance of not bothering to pay for assigned seating, on the assumption that people will move around to accommodate them. As someone who pays for an assigned seat so I can sit where I want, this annoys the crap out of me as now they expect people like me to move. When I point this out, their response is "why should I pay for that?" I agree with the airlines here but if it makes…

You don't have to engage or justify staying in your seat, just say no thank you and end the conversation

And I'll smile back knowing you're about to have a really great flight with my 3 year old :)

(to be clear, I don't do this personally and pay extra to sit together but I do hope people start parking their kids all over the plane since that's what we all seem to want! It's tempting.)

Re: US airlines are pushing to remove protections for passengers and add more fees

#180

Post by JackFr »

ericmay wrote: post #110
xenator wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

If you drove your car across 17 countries in Europe would you expect to pay the same at every station you come across? I don't think what you're saying is even the norm within European countries, is it?

Exactly.

States in the United States are more than just administrative districts. in the case of the first thirteen states, the predate the federal government.

Each one has its own elected government. They have their own criminal and judicial system, as well as their own tax regimes.

Apart from the tax regime though, some states are home to large refineries which produce gasoline and many states don't. The distance you are from the point of production of the gasoline also comes into play.

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