You know the drill: An airline hikes its fees, and within seconds travelers vent their outrage in response. JetBlue shows …
Airlines
Airline Baggage Fees: On the Rise — Yet More Passengers Deem Them ‘Reasonable’
Even as overall baggage fees have increased, some of the nation’s biggest airlines aren’t collecting as much as they did a couple of years ago. Perhaps even more surprisingly, there’s been a sharp rise in travelers who aren’t …
Airlines Collected Record Baggage Fees in 2012
NEW YORK — U.S. airlines collected more than $6 billion in baggage and reservation change fees from passengers last year — the highest amount since the fees became common five years ago.
These fees — along with charges for boarding early or picking prime seats — have helped return the industry to profitability.
(MORE: One …
One Airline That Stubbornly Refuses to Pile on the Fees (For Now)
Most airlines view fees for baggage and ticket changes as easy, highly lucrative revenue streams. Southwest Airlines views them quite differently: If it added baggage fees on par with other carriers, Southwest says it would lose …
Oof! Airline Fees Rise Yet Again: At Least $200 to Change a Flight
This week, United Airlines jacked up fees on passengers who need to adjust travel plans. For flights within the U.S., customers must fork over at least $200 (up from $150) for changing tickets.
Air Travel by the Pound and Other Odd Airline Pricing Schemes
After tiny upstart carrier Samoa Air announced it would start charging passengers based on how much they weigh, travelers reacted by calling the pricing model wacky, impractical, even discriminatory. But it’s only one of several weird, possibly unwelcomed ways that flights might be priced down the line.
Flight Prices to Get Personal? Airfares Could Vary Depending on Who Is Traveling
Travelers are annoyed by the very real possibility that they’ll sit down on a plane next to someone who paid much less for the same flight. Potential changes to how flights are priced in the future could be even more annoying.
Is $500 Enough for Enduring the Cruise from Hell?
So you’ve survived for five days stranded at sea aboard the Carnival Triumph. Here’s $500 for your troubles.
What Can Consumers Expect from the American-US Air Merger? Nothing Good
American Airlines and US Airways have agreed to merge, and it looks like the result will be a mega-carrier that’s the world’s largest airline in terms of passenger traffic. Consumers groups say this is one marriage travelers …
When Airfare Is So Cheap It’s a Steal – Literally
Sometimes, flights are so cheap that they’re obviously not just terrific sale prices, but mistakes. While everybody loves a deal, is booking a secret, mispriced fare tantamount to stealing?
End of New Airline Fees? Nation’s Most Fee-Crazy Airline Is Tapped Out of Ideas
For years, airlines have rolled out new fees to foist onto passengers like clockwork—see American Airlines and Southwest Airlines as the two latest examples. There is somewhat of a silver lining, though: With every new fee …
Ugh, More Airline Fees: Want a Decent Seat on Southwest? Pay Up
Et tu, Southwest? A relative absence of fees and an overall nonelitist, democratic approach to airline travel are among the reasons Southwest Airlines has been so successful. A new fee — $40 to be among the first on the plane …
