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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

#271

Post by JustExAWS »

doodaddy wrote: post #16

> Instead of the clear, itemized pricing system that passengers currently rely on, airlines could hide fees until later in the booking process… They call what we have now “clear”? Where when looking at a page of flights I don’t know how much the multitude of economy/economy+/economy++/premium economy/business/business++ seats will cost until I click on each flight? Where every carrier offers slightly different variat…

Well rule #1 is never to book a flight on a third party travel portal. When things go wrong, you now have to deal with the travel portal and the airline.

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

#272

Post by jeltz »

thesmtsolver wrote: post #150
tshanmu wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you would know before consuming how much you would end up paying. not so in the land of the free.

Only if you can’t multiply two numbers or if you can’t monitor a digital gauge that literally shows how much it will cost. I suspect the person above hasn’t even travelled to the US.

Yeah, if he had he would have known the gasoline is one of the few things in the US where the pricing is fully transparent.

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

#273

Post by baq »

afavour wrote: post #255
AtlanticThird wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's what anyone wants. I think they just want families with young children to pay to sit together, like everyone else has to

They are meaningfully different scenarios, though. If you and your partner board the plane, sit separately, and one of you sits next to me that's not a negative for me. You'll sit, you'll watch a movie, read a book, whatever. You're self-contained. If you and your five year old child board the plane, sit separately, and your child sits next to me that's a clear negative for me. Your child needs attention and assistan…

At which point a homo sapiens specimen becomes a homo economicus?

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

#274

Post by gertlex »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #81
doodaddy wrote: post #16

> Instead of the clear, itemized pricing system that passengers currently rely on, airlines could hide fees until later in the booking process… They call what we have now “clear”? Where when looking at a page of flights I don’t know how much the multitude of economy/economy+/economy++/premium economy/business/business++ seats will cost until I click on each flight? Where every carrier offers slightly different variat…

If each flight leg is a different price, how can the website show you the total until you select both (or all) legs?

Kayak.com does it... it's very much a UX choice of whether to show combinations of flights at a given "level" (economy/main/1st class) or instead dedicate the space to showing the prices at all levels, and only show a flight at a time.

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

#275

Post by rimunroe »

tveyben wrote: post #239
rimunroe wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flying with babies (and other young children) presents challenges which "everyone else" doesn't have to deal with. Babies and children need much more attention. Babies are much more likely to throw tantrums, to feel pain from pressure changes, to be sick, etc. They often need a LOT of soothing. Many also need to be breast fed (some babies don't take bottles), which depending on the baby's length and the side they're…

Do kids have to fly…???

Yes, just like other people need to. Families move. Families are spread out. Families go on vacation.

We traveled so my only remaining grandparent could meet her great granddaughter before she dies, which could be any day now. Do you think we should make doing that harder just for slightly higher profits?

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

#276

Post by kumarsw »

I was hoping that the pendulum would swing the other way with the scandal over too many passengers bringing out their bags on a recent AA evacuation caused by a burning tire. The push to eliminate checked bags has created a chaotic cabin environment that probably exacerbated the situation. There's no sign of it getting better either. The overcrowding of overhead bins creates a prisoners dilemma where flight attendants pressure passengers to put smaller bags under their seats, disincentivizing bringing anything but a big roller bag.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l2n-di3hJE

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

#277

Post by trzy »

JustExAWS wrote: post #271
doodaddy wrote: post #16

> Instead of the clear, itemized pricing system that passengers currently rely on, airlines could hide fees until later in the booking process… They call what we have now “clear”? Where when looking at a page of flights I don’t know how much the multitude of economy/economy+/economy++/premium economy/business/business++ seats will cost until I click on each flight? Where every carrier offers slightly different variat…

Well rule #1 is never to book a flight on a third party travel portal. When things go wrong, you now have to deal with the travel portal and the airline.

Google Flights isn’t a third party portal! It takes you directly to the airline web site to book. It attempts to estimate the fare price but that’s becoming increasingly difficult with variably priced seats and other “gotcha” expenses that get figured in deep into the booking flow.

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

#278

Post by lotsofpulp »

dboreham wrote: post #192
lotsofpulp wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I avoid southwest because they don’t have assigned seating.

Post time traveled from when they didn't. But now they do.

Interesting, I’m sure they didn’t as recently as 4 weeks ago when I tried shopping for flights.

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

#279

Post by euleriancon »

mcaravey wrote: post #199
AtlanticThird wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's what anyone wants. I think they just want families with young children to pay to sit together, like everyone else has to

I think that part of the problem is a want versus a need. I don't particularly care if me and my wife don't sit together. We see each other all the time. But I don't want to have my four-year-old sitting in between two strangers, six rows in front of me where I can't see him. That's not fair to the two strangers, but also I don't trust strangers. I get the idea of paying for the privilege, but at the same time, it's…

This exactly. For parents it is not a choice, you absolutely must have a parent sitting by a young child. The effect of not automatically putting parent and children next to each other would just be making tickets more expensive for parents.

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

#280

Post by rescbr »

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.

As a person who regularly flies international with just a carry-on bag, I very much prefer to get out of the airport with my bag in 20 minutes after I leave the plane vs waiting who knows how long for it to arrive and hope that somebody didn't break it/into it.

Newer planes/retrofitted ones with larger overhead bins with space for everybody are the solution.

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