United Bag Charges

[jjgoo]

Hello all my boss just shared with me that United Airlines is now planning to start charging $15 for checking your first bag.:fork:

I'm not sure of any more details but I bet they will be on the news soon.

Just thought people should know for planning purposes. I am sure that other major carriers will follow suit soon. BOO to the airlines!

 

[maryszhi]

R U SERIOUS???
Why dont they add the cost to the ticket and hush up about it???
that is soooo dumb

 

[jjgoo]

Personally, I really think the airlines should just raise their prices a little and stop trying to nickle and dime people to death.

I can understand a charge for an overweight bag and I am not overly upset about a charge for a second bag. The first bag thing though is crazy.

Just a few years ago they were trying to get people to stop bringing these super overstuffed carry-ons onto the plane. Now they are encouraging it. Plus you are going to find people doing all sorts of silly things like wearing 3 outfits in order to avoid the charge.

I hope that people complain wildly and it causes problems for the airlines and they have to take back the charge. BOO to the airlines again!

 

[michelemily]

We booked our flight with Spirit Air in February, but effective June 1, 2008, all flights after that date, you have to prepurchase your bags and it is $10.00 for every first bag per passenger if you purchase ahead of time. If you purchase it at the airport on the day of your flight it is $20.00 per bag. So i just prepurchased that for the way there and back.

and now, spirit is making you pay for your seat if you want to sit with people you are flying with ($5 for inside seats, $10 for aisle and $15 for window). If not, you may not be sitting with your party. When i called spirit to let them know that I had a 3 year old who would not be happy to be split from their mother they said that they are taking exception to kids travelling with parents.
thank goodness - - - I can't see them splitting up parents and their kids.

 

[maryszhi]

i use to enjoy flying, now i dont. its this economy that makes everything a pain. i mean i use to love flying because it made everything easy, not any more

 

[rwa2204]

But the airlines are already adding to the ticket price. My wife just purchased round trip thru United 2 weeks ago for $350 from Chicago. Now that same flight is $550.

They said the airlines are losing $200-$250 per person per flight right now cause of the cost of fuel.

 

[jjgoo]

We booked our flight with Spirit Air in February, but effective June 1, 2008, all flights after that date, you have to prepurchase your bags and it is $10.00 for every first bag per passenger if you purchase ahead of time. If you purchase it at the airport on the day of your flight it is $20.00 per bag. So i just prepurchased that for the way there and back.

and now, spirit is making you pay for your seat if you want to sit with people you are flying with ($5 for inside seats, $10 for aisle and $15 for window). If not, you may not be sitting with your party. When i called spirit to let them know that I had a 3 year old who would not be happy to be split from their mother they said that they are taking exception to kids travelling with parents.
thank goodness - - - I can't see them splitting up parents and their kids.

Wow those charges really stink! Were they really that much less than another carrier that does not charge for certain seats? I'm sure I would factor all those things into my price comparison.

Really who do the airlines think they are fooling? If you pay $100 for a round trip but then have $200 in fees. You might as well find the $250 ticket and save yourself the trouble and $50.

Meanwhile, it seems to be perfectly okay with them to lose your bags (that you are now paying them to carry), have delays all over the place and absolutely no service. They think they have angry customers now, just wait.

In the end I wouldn't mind all the fees if a R/T ticket from NY to Florida was $50 and then I could choose to be in a cheap middle seat and bring only one bag for a lower fee. It does make some sense that people that use more services should perhaps pay more (no I don't think they should ever charge fees for strollers and such or to seat parents with children) but the base ticket should be A LOT lower to start.

Okay I will now step off my soapbox. :wave:

 

[michelemily]

our tickets were $334.00 a ticket with the added $10 per bag per flight ads $20 per ticket and if we had to pay for our seets it would be another $10-20 a ticket. Just charge me $350 and be done,,,,,i would rather just pay up front and end it....

they are just scamming us into paying more and there is nothing we can do especially if we paid for the tickets before these new rates went into effect but are still making us pay for them just because our flight is after the effective date of the new rates......

 

[maryszhi]

i know, eventually if people get mad and protest, they will have to do something. they will push us to the limit, just like the oil companies

 

[ROTM]

i know, eventually if people get mad and protest, they will have to do something. they will push us to the limit, just like the oil companies

Good one ! :lol:

 

[davidpw97]

According to this morning's USA Today, United and US Air are both going to join American in adding the 15$ for checking a bag. Also US Air is going to start charging for all soft drinks, juice, bottled waters, and coffee.

This really is getting ridiculous. Makes me glad I don't fly very often and happy that most places I visit (the beach, Disney) are easy driving distance.

 

[Fade_to_Blah]

They have to make up money somewheres. They flat out will all go out of business if they dont do something. That may be cutting flights, charging for extra bags, whatever. We wont be flying anywheres if they dont. They are losing billions every year.

I agree that they should just raise the ticket prices and be done with it. Everyone knows the fuel is expensive, I think this is the best thing to do. Its just ing people off when they start charging for stupid things. The problem is they have to compete with southwest (well, the discount carriers anyways) and southwest has hedged againt oil for quite a few years. Therefore the cost of oil really doesnt effect them as much and they can keep their prices somewhat low.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

i know, eventually if people get mad and protest, they will have to do something. they will push us to the limit, just like the oil companies

To play devils advocate....what else can they do? They are victims of fuel costs, just as we are. Jet fuel is even higher than gas....they have to charge more.

 

[Fade_to_Blah]

To play devils advocate....what else can they do? They are victims of fuel costs, just as we are. Jet fuel is even higher than gas....they have to charge more.

On a side note, theres a company that is supplying jet fuel that is a 50% blend of regular jet fuel and a 50% blend (i think thats the percentage) of jet fuel created from coal. The air force has been certifying their planes to use the new fuel, and I think commercial airlines are starting to do the same thing. Without starting an argument of whether or not creating jet fuel from coal is good, this is cheaper than the usual jet fuel from purely oil standpoint....so should be interesting to see if this gets picked up more.

 

[jjgoo]

To play devils advocate....what else can they do? They are victims of fuel costs, just as we are. Jet fuel is even higher than gas....they have to charge more.

I mostly agree with you, but part of the problem is mismanagement too. Many of these airlines that are currently charging new fees have recently emerged from bankruptcy, sometimes more than once. The government bailed them out and how did the government bail them out but with our tax money. So since we all have paid for them to still be in business (don't get me wrong I am glad theya re still in business) I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that they do some serious rethinking of their operations before they start trying to hide fare increases in fees.

They're problems are more than just fuel prices. Otherwise ALL the airlines would have gone into bankruptcy after 9/11, but not all did.

I still very strongly disagree with first bag fees and think that there are going to be a lot of protests and shenanagins from passengers when it all goes into effect.

 

[imamouse]

I think that the most cost effective thing for me to do is move to Florida .

 

[Phonedave]

I have read that it is better to put it in the fees for two reasons.

1) When deciding on if they should fly for vacation or do something different, people tend to take a quick look at the airfare, NOT at any fees. It a mental price point thing. Just like the difference between $99.95 and $104.95 is not much in terms of money, but in terms of perception, its huge

2) When people compare airfare, they compare airfare, not fees, especialy on many online sites. If two carriers have flights for $250, but one lists it as $250 and has no fees but the other lists it as $220, but has $30 of fees, which one do you think is going to get clicked on the most.

-dave

 

[fosse76]

To play devils advocate....what else can they do? They are victims of fuel costs, just as we are. Jet fuel is even higher than gas....they have to charge more.

That's not quite true, to an extent. Airlines pay for their fuel in bulk quantities at a set price. So technically yuo shouldn't be paying more for fuel that didn't cost as much. What you are paying for is the fuel they will purchase in the future.

As for the extra fees, they are added as a surcharge for accounting purposes as opposed to hidden in the overall cost.

 

[shoppingnut]

they are just scamming us into paying more and there is nothing we can do especially if we paid for the tickets before these new rates went into effect but are still making us pay for them just because our flight is after the effective date of the new rates......

I know when CO added the baggage fee for the second bag, if you bought your tickets before a specific date you didn't have to pay for a second bag, you were grandfathered in because of the date of purchase.

 

[disneytopdog]

Southwest purchased some type of fuel future allotment a few years back which locked there fuel price in for something like 5 years. I am sure all these other carriers could have done the same thing but for some reason choose not to.

This seat charging is insane. Whats to prevent people from asking their fellow passengers "hey you mind if we trade seat so I can sit with my wife/husband/kids"