American Airlines adds another fee!

[M3 Mitch]

Originally Posted by PacificFlights

They would go kaput!

How do you think all these fee's and extras came about? Airline A charges $500 for a ticket that includes everything. Airline B charges $425 but fees and extras add up to $525. Airline B would get the business and Airline A, even though cheaper, would only get the smart travelers or the left overs. Even if all but one airline had all inclusive pricing, if it's just $1.00 over the lone holdout, that lone holdout will get most of the business.

Sad but true. I would go with Airline A in a heartbeat, but I ain't everybody. I would go with Airline A even if Airline B's fees and extras added up to $475 - to me it's worth $25 not to be pencil-necked.

I just hate being nickeled and dimed, same principle as being nicked a buck for using the phone in a hotel (although cell phones have rendered this about moot). If I want something really "extra", OK fine I expect to pay for it. But I think it's quite reasonable to expect me to check one small bag, if only to put liquids into anymore.

Anymore I don't take personal trips by air, but sometimes have to fly for work - the baggage fee is absorbed by my company, but it's still irritating.

[Mattie]

Originally Posted by PacificFlights

They would go kaput!

How do you think all these fee's and extras came about? Airline A charges $500 for a ticket that includes everything. Airline B charges $425 but fees and extras add up to $525. Airline B would get the business and Airline A, even though cheaper, would only get the smart travelers or the left overs. Even if all but one airline had all inclusive pricing, if it's just $1.00 over the lone holdout, that lone holdout will get most of the business.

That's what marketing is for. Advertise that you understand that consumers are fed up with all the add-on fees, and that the quoted price is the final price.
I just ran into this at CheapCaribbean.com. Their price was the lowest, but performing my due diligence, I checked for customer reviews before booking. The majority were negative, because the add-on fees at the end of the transaction made their prices higher than Expedia or Orbitz.

I'd like to think that travelers are getting savvier about this stuff, but maybe not?

[wheelsup]

Ticket prices have fallen by something like 70% over the past 40-50 years in real dollars, you people need to realize you are getting a steal. That "ridiculous" $350 round-trip ticket used to cost $1500-$2000 in today's dollars 40-50 years ago.

You can't expect to pay less for something 40-50 years later and get the same service, sorry not going to happen. Not in an industry where its expenditures are directly influenced by inflation (fuel, cost of equipment, labor, etc.). Do cars cost what they did back then? Houses? Gas? How about labor? Do places pay what they paid back then? No? Yet airline ticket prices have continued to fall in real dollar terms.

Yes the airlines make money on fees. But that is because they aren't making money on their tickets. Do you work for free? No? US airlines transport y'all safely about the country thousands of times a day. An aircraft isn't like a greyhound bus, although we have become accustomed to thinking of them like they are.

The airlines are once again starting to make some money. I can tell you that they are putting money directly back into the system upgrading facilities, fixing ground equipment, etc. They are trying to make the experience better. But they need money to do it, they can't expect others to do the work for free.

[Oildog]

At least United charged me 19$ to move up, but it was into 'economy plus' which give a few more inches of legroom.

I'm getting pretty sick of all these fees...like $49 to be in the first group to get on, or 25 for trip insurance. what a bunch of crap.

[samyn on the green]

Flying is so cheap these days. Back in the early in 1980's it was $199 to fly from New York to Florida. Here we are 30 years later and the fare remains at around $199. Jet-A is likely 5 times as much but the fare remains the same. Try to drive yourself to Florida for $200 round trip.

There is tremendous pressure to raise fares due to increased operational costs. The way the airlines do it now is through backdoor fees. Maybe it would be better to raise the fares themselves but the nature of the cutthroat airline business makes it easier to raise the fare via fees. That fare listed in the website can not be a dollar more than your competitor or the competitor is going to fill up their bird and leave you with an empty plane and a load of debt.

Consumers are a funny bunch. They will likely choose a ratty flight with a long connection time with minimum seat pitch if the fare is $10 cheaper. Consumers don't seem to respect quality. Most of them want cheap.

Time after time airlines have tried to improve their product with things like "more room in coach" or hot meals on china but consumers just do not respect quality, they are all about cheap. So cramming them in and raising back door fees is how airlines are able to raise fares to what they are supposed to be. This way the customers get what they want - the lowest fare- while airlines are able to cover their costs.

[rogerbacon]

Once the online booking sites (where most people book their tickets now) start listing all the fees and the cost of each, instead of just the ticket price, then we may see airlines start to reduce fees and increase ticket price. Until that happens the ticket price is all that matters because that is what 99% of people base their purchase decision on.
I would like the online booking sites to list little things like which airlines still offer free drinks and snacks. I like knowing I can ask for orage juice during a flight without having to dig in to get my wallet out. I would base my purcase price on more than just the ticket price if I had the information available to me.