Comments on: An Open Letter To The Airline Industry http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/2008/12/an-open-letter-to-the-airline-industry/ Thoughts, rants and musings about Adobe, the web, technology and 200+ days a year traveling as a software evangelist. Fri, 27 Dec 2013 11:02:23 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.40 By: Moodster http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/2008/12/an-open-letter-to-the-airline-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-334 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:18:30 +0000 http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/?p=132#comment-334 One major “gotcha” about bag check charges:

with 3oz rule on carry-on I am forced to check a bag for any liquid over 3oz. So, even with a tiny bag I can’t, for example, buy a bottle of wine while on a day trip to Cali unless I want to check my bags.

How is it ethical to enforce a $20 bag check charge for something that is essentially beyond my control?

]]> By: Mordy Golding http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/2008/12/an-open-letter-to-the-airline-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-332 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:06:16 +0000 http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/?p=132#comment-332 I feel your pain. But there’s no simple solution. For someone who flies as much as you do, there’s only one answer — Adobe needs to get you a Gulfstream IV. Oh, and when that happens, you can take me with you :)

]]> By: Cheryl http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/2008/12/an-open-letter-to-the-airline-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-331 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:56:50 +0000 http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/?p=132#comment-331 You make some great points here. Executives don’t always think through the ramifications of their decisions, unfortunately — or maybe they just underestimated the lengths people will go to in order to save $15 – 25. I’m sure they also failed to consider that asking their passengers to pay for every soft drink and bottle of water just adds to the burden of the flight crew… not to mention adding theft risk, when you consider how much cash would pile up after a full day of flying. Personally, I say tack an extra $2 onto the ticket price and give the drinks for free; it’s not enough price change to discourage anyone from flying, and it would certainly save a lot of extra effort. (Not to mention hard feelings.)

]]> By: Rob Huddleston http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/2008/12/an-open-letter-to-the-airline-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-330 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:37:41 +0000 http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/?p=132#comment-330 Greg,
I couldn’t agree more. I had to fly to North Carolina this week. I was flying USAir, which I suspect you’re fairly familiar with … and yeah, I couldn’t believe the nickel-and-diming. $15 to check my bag. $2 for a soda, $7 for a freaking snadwich. Plus, they now have the fun bit that you get to pay extra for a decent seat as well. Don’t want to be crammed into a middle seat in the rear of the plane? That’ll be $10, please. (Thanks to the person at the company I’m contracting with not paying attention, I had all of 25 minutes to switch planes in Phoenix, so I really felt I had no choice but to “buy” a decent seat up front in the plane.) And of course, that charge is per leg of the flight. I’ll get to repeat all those charges on the way home, so in reality, I’m paying at least $50 more for the flight than the actual advertised fare, and that doesn’t include the food (which again, I didn’t have a lot of choice on since I wasn’t going to have time in Phoenix to get something for the much longer PHX-CLT flight.)
And here’s the kicker: thanks to the new boarding policies where they load the window seats first, then the middles, then the aisles, those who pay extra to sit in the aisle for rewarded for paying more to get on the plane by being in that group that gets on after the overhead bins are full!
All of this is why, when I make my own reservations and when I’m flying somewhere they go, I go with Southwest. They’re at least up front: no baggage fees, no food. You pay extra for your ticket to get the privilege of getting on board first, but that’s OK because it’s an upfront, one-time charge and you’re assured that you’ll not only get the seat you want but that you’ll also have space overhead. And they throw in a drink (even alcohol), too.
I like both of your ideas: charge for the carry-on instead (which in addition to the points you make will also speed up security) and just be honest and tack a fee onto the actual fare, for everyone.
Rob

]]> By: Sherry http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/2008/12/an-open-letter-to-the-airline-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-329 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:34:58 +0000 http://blog.assortedgarbage.com/?p=132#comment-329 Hi Greg,

Should your salutation read: Dear American-based Airline Executives? I only fly Lufthansa or Berlin Air (or some other European airline, when I can). For the former, I was offered wine on a EUR flight to Budapest. I inquired what the charge was and the attendant responded: “Charge? Nothing, my dear. This is Lufthansa.” I don’t know if this is pervasive amongst all non-American airlines and it does seem that Lufthansa is in the minority of airlines making a profit.

But, I do get your frustration. I would be livid at the inconvenience as well. It’s bad marketing really. Americans love free shit and come to expect it. $15 surcharge? Phuck dat! But if they wrapped that charge into the price of the ticket, no one would be none the wiser and this would be a non-issue.

It’s almost as if they are encouraging stuffing carry-on luggage in the overhead bins. Why? What does this gain? Would it not be smarter to slyly increase the ticket fee to accommodate the need for more revenue?

cheers,
sher

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