Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

travelandtourworld.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

451–460 of 678 posts

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

#451

Post by AlotOfReading »

NickC25 wrote: post #160
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?

> Speaking of which, did you know the TSA screening area is a farce? My man, the TSA is a jobs program disguised as security theater. It's also a funnel for money into contractors' pockets (see: Leidos).

The current situation is the worst possible. They cost tax money, they raise ticket prices, and they make air travel worse for no benefit. If minimizing the jobs program is impossible, make them sit in a back room somewhere they can't cause backups and ruin proposals.

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

#452

Post by red-iron-pine »

wat10000 wrote: post #209
smt88 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why you think that would've helped. A lot of the people who won't shut up about 1984 and Ayn Rand still vote for the closest thing to monarchy they can find on their ballots.

Some people see "don't tread on me" as "don't tread on people," while others see it as "don't tread on ME specifically."

"tread on them especially hard"

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

#453

Post by OhMeadhbh »

caycep wrote: post #321
code_for_monkey wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, now imagine when its even worse

it was worse in the 80's-90's...I guess the past few years of enjoying refunds was not meant to last...

It absolutely was not worse in the 80s. Unless you mean more expensive. Yes. It DEFINITELY was more expensive. When I booked through a travel agent or over the phone with the airline, the fees were pretty transparent. I sorta feel for the airlines here because before deregulation they had to commit to unprofitable routes before they realized HOW unprofitable they would be. That cost was spread over the profitable routes and ultimately everything was more expensive. But... oh man... remember when you could get on a flight where only about 25% of the seats were filled and the food wasn't great, but was free? I remember being able to lift the arm-rests on seats up and stretch out and take a nap on the plane. Those were the days. Before American's MD/SD-80s started falling out of the sky, I would fly out to DFW from SJC each week and it was delightful.

And baggage handling systems are much better than the 80s. It's been 5 years since an airline has lost checked luggage for me. But of course, it's been 5 years since I checked luggage, so who knows? I really miss Yamato 宅配便 from when I lived in Japan. Americans really don't know how to travel correctly.

Meh. The dollar is probably going to be devalued soon so the dream of air travel for the typical American will likely only be in the rear-view mirror. We'll all be lost in wistful nostalgia about the time when normal people could afford air travel.

So... SOME things were worse in the 80s/90s. Not all things related to traveling.

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

#454

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #425
raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never had a gate checked bag where you don’t pick up your bag at baggage claim except for regional flights on small planes where even standard carry ons won’t fit in the overhead. And for the pedantic really small planes like Sansa in Costs Rica for their 30 minute flights between San Jose and other cities.

I've seen everything from gate-checks on the carousel to a special pickup counter to leaving the bag on the tarmac covered in ice, with standard commercial airframes. It depends on airline policy and available airport infrastructure.

And thats why i brought up Sansa. I flew into here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quepos_La_Managua_Airport#/m...

https://www.vacationscostarica.com/_next/image/?url=https%3A...

But that has more to do with the realities of the plane and the airport infrastructure like you said. It’s not about airline policy with regards to checked bags vs non checked bags.

On that plane, they not only weigh your bags, they weigh the passenger to make sure the plane isn’t over the weight limit.

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

#455

Post by jermaustin1 »

OhMeadhbh wrote: post #446

This is part of the reason I don't fly so much anymore. In the last 10 flights I flew, only 2 arrived on time. For one flight I was delayed in D/FW for 72 hours. I haven't had a flight on United that wasn't canceled or rescheduled or I was bumped in about 10 years. And the behaviour of the airlines has been getting MUCH worse over time. The Alaska flight from DFW to SEA that was delayed 72 hours... They originally we…

I flew a LOT pre-covid, and still more than average post-covid (2-4 times a year), and primarily via United (thanks to racked-up miles from the Continental days) out of Houston/NYC/London, and I have never had any issues with delays or cancellations - In 2009, a Continental flight did have me circling IAH for 2 hours while they troubleshot a landing gear malfunction before landing again and switching planes, though, but that is the only issue I remember, and I was flying 2-5 flights/week at that point between HOU/NYC/LAX/DEN.

The handful of times I've flown Southwest have been slightly less than perfect, but some of that was user error not understanding how Southwest worked compared to normal carriers.

I don't want to discount yours, or the thousands upon thousands of reports about United or Southwest, but in my experience, it has been pretty solid on both counts.

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

#456

Post by dmoy »

ByteDrifter wrote: post #269
eadmund wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do you want to sit next to my three-year-old? Not particularly, no. What I want is for you to purchase the seats your family needs ahead of time, not ask me for them for free. I know that travelling with kids is really tough. I sincerely sympathize! But it’s not a surprise that a kid needs a seat next to his parents. They know when they bought the ticket that he’ll be coming along, because they’re buying the ticket…

I believe every airline should offer a basic service: when minors are traveling with an adult, they should automatically be seated together. Ideally, airlines should provide a designated family seating area to avoid situations where a child ends up sitting next to a stranger.

This is what happens now. The proposal is to get rid of that.

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

#457

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

rimunroe wrote: post #421
raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then pay the extra money to choose your seat like most adults do. Delta said in an earnings call for instance that less than 5% choose basic economy where you can’t choose your seat.

> Then pay the extra money to choose your seat like most adults do. It's an additional expense which isn't a luxury for parents. You can't sit far from an infant for 6+ hours because they need close attention. Also, sometimes there aren't adjacent seats for you to choose. Nevertheless, gate agents are usually able to somehow make things work. I'm not sure how they do this on a packed flight though. I didn't notice an…

Flying is a luxury. It’s one thing to pay taxes to fund the school system, pre-K, health care, even state college. I’m all for that. But if you want to fly as a parent either suck it up and pay or don’t fly. There are parents who take long road trips because they can’t afford to fly.

But I paid for my seat and if I did pay to sit next to my wife (which isn’t really a big deal for either of us), I would be really pissed if my seat was changed because a parent was too cheap to pay to have an assigned seat.

My wife and I have chosen a different flight because the seats we wanted wasn’t available.

Of course all of these opinions of mine go out of the window if it truly is an emergency. But even then, at least with Delta, they only allocate a certain number of seats as “basic economy” and once those are sold out - like they might be on a last minute flight - you have to pay a fare where you choose your seat.

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

#458

Post by OhMeadhbh »

jermaustin1 wrote: post #455
OhMeadhbh wrote: post #446

This is part of the reason I don't fly so much anymore. In the last 10 flights I flew, only 2 arrived on time. For one flight I was delayed in D/FW for 72 hours. I haven't had a flight on United that wasn't canceled or rescheduled or I was bumped in about 10 years. And the behaviour of the airlines has been getting MUCH worse over time. The Alaska flight from DFW to SEA that was delayed 72 hours... They originally we…

I flew a LOT pre-covid, and still more than average post-covid (2-4 times a year), and primarily via United (thanks to racked-up miles from the Continental days) out of Houston/NYC/London, and I have never had any issues with delays or cancellations - In 2009, a Continental flight did have me circling IAH for 2 hours while they troubleshot a landing gear malfunction before landing again and switching planes, though,…

I'm flying out of the west and have to go through SLC or DEN when flying United. It's ALWAYS a PITA. Now that I think about it... I had a segment a couple years ago on United from JAX to ORD that was delayed only 5 minutes and wound up arriving 5 minutes early, so maybe east of the Rockies things are better. And my brother tells me international flights on Untied through SFO to Asia are generally pretty stable.

I bet if I looked at where flights originated, United is doing a East to West pattern and there are just fewer opportunities for cascading delays to impact people getting on the plane in the east. Comparing with Alaska, which has other problems, but hasn't canceled too many flights on me, I bet most of the flights I take originate out of SEA going south or east, so you don't have that same pattern.

Also... Southwest... I remember when it was a good airline. Just another example of what hedge funds can do to you. FWIW, they have a train at DFW now that will take you to either downtown Ft. Worth or downtown Dallas (or even Las Colinas. Or DENTON. I took a train from DFW to "downtown" DENTON once!!! The wonders never cease.) I would love to see LUV field step up it's mass trans game.

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

#459

Post by buellerbueller »

ReptileMan wrote: post #399
buellerbueller wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

oh, like that classic Democrat line "tylenol causes autism"?

We are talking about the same hepatotoxic compound that is absurdly easy to OD on but it gives negligible relief on stuff you should just power trough? That anecdotal - is barely better than a pacebo? Personally - I think that the two main drivers of autism are people having kids later and too high rates of smart people intermarriage. Of course Trump should not have said Tylenol, but paracetamol. And there are some v…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gish_gallop

My point is merely that the lie against reality is being perpetrated by Republicans. You never really addressed that.

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

#460

Post by tptacek »

Spooky23 wrote: post #93
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…

It’s really easy: it’s all about revenue maximization. Honestly, people fly too much. I’m 6’5 with a 24” shoulder - flying economy is painful for me and the poor soul stuck next to me. I don’t need to fly for business and am fortunate to have a lot of PTO. So, I fly first class, business class, or not at all. If the cost is too much, i drive. There’s virtually no east coast trip that is more unpleasant to me via car.…

I regret to clarify here that you will definitely save time flying between NYC and Chicago. Would that it were otherwise! Toronto is arguable.
Post reply on HN