Air travelers facing even more fees
Airlines, now providing the worst service in their history, combined with a flurry of canceled flight because of maintenance glitches, are adding fees everywhere they can.
The Washington Post chronicles additional fees for airline travelers from the newly minted “additional baggage fee” to increased charges for flying pets and unaccompanied minors.
Just in time for the summer travel season, airlines have tacked on a $25 fee to check a second bag, and yet another carrier announced last week that it was adding a fee for curbside baggage check-in. Others have steadily brought back pesky overnight-stay requirements to help them better separate business fliers from penny-pinching leisure travelers. Most have tried to slip fuel surcharges into the cost of tickets — fees that have climbed past $150 each way on some international flights.
Part of the reason these fees are beginning to show up in greater numbers is because the airline software systems are now coming online that allow the airlines to more effectively “unbundle” their airfares.
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2 Responses to “Air travelers facing even more fees”
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Well, given that I am NOT in a position to fly business class and all of my flying is done for leisure, I suppose I should just take the hint and stop flying all together. Plenty of lovely places to go within 200 miles of Delaware. A pity, really, but if all the airlines see me as is just one more pocket they can pick, I am done with them.
If there are any attorneys who can address this, I’d be interested to know:
Now that airlines are charging specifically for one bag or for the second bag, does that change their liability for lost baggage? Also, does it change the level of compensation from whatever they decide to the actual cost of whatever was lost?
It seems to me that luggage transported as part of one’s transportation fee is one thing but becomes another when they charge you for it–isn’t that establishing some sort of contract between airline and passenger with the “fee” consideration paid by the passenger for a specific service?