Airlines to Begin Charging for Amenities

AP on Yahoo ^ | 4/3/06 | Leslie Miller - ap

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The airline industry's main problem is that they make flying too pleasant an experience. They should hire a bunch of high school dropouts to perform body searches on anyone who enters an airport. They will soon have so many customers they won't know what to do with them all.

[pikachu]

They will keep charging a buck here, three there and wonder why people are getting nastier as they fly. Add in the reports that they are more prone to lose bags and run behind schedule, and you have a perfect storm forming.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Ask for a pillow and blanket to help get through a long flight and you may be out of luck. Or you may be able to buy a "comfort package" from Air Canada for $2.

Just as long as I can bring my own travel pillow. More comfortable than the disintegrated foam fragments the airline offers and far less smelly.

[edcoil]

This story is about 6 months old.

[mtbopfuyn]

Airlines are starting to charge for many services that once were free

They were never free. These fees were included in the price of tickets. How fast do you think they'll waive the barf bag fee when little Billy starts spewing across three rows?

[hattend]

Sharon Ansara, a government supervisor from El Paso, Texas, flew an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Washington Monday morning.

"We didn't even get peanuts," she said after the 2-1/2 hour flight. "They offered us a snack pack for $4. It stinks."

Whaaa! Stop at a Quickee-Mart on the way to the airport and fill your purse with peanuts at 2 packs for 99 cents. For 4 bucks you could stop at Subway!

[saganite]

$2.00 to go to the bathroom. It's coming!

[EagleUSA]

"We didn't even get peanuts," she said after the 2-1/2 hour flight. "They offered us a snack pack for $4. It stinks."
-----
Really sucks, doesn't it? I take my own food now. Much better quality and I get what I want, when I want it. :-)

[2banana]

The airlines respond to the market. My guess is that people are going to want to fly Continental...

[Alberta's Child]

Personally, I don't have a problem with this. It makes no sense to offer discount pricing when you have ever-increasing passenger demand on a system with limited capacity.

They will keep charging a buck here, three there and wonder why people are getting nastier as they fly.

The ideal scenario would be for large numbers of these people to simply stop flying. It wasn't all that long ago that airline travel was considered a luxury. Maybe it needs to become a luxury once again.

[stevem]

I don't object to any of this. Just about everywhere I have flown in the last two years has been on a flight jammed to the teeth. Still the airlines are going broke. It may be that they can't make a profit these days.

On the other hand, I learned to hate flying long before 9-11-2001. It became much worse after that, and I only fly when it isn't feasible to drive. For me that is in an emergency or if the drive is longer than 12 hours. I also think if not for my wife, that 12 hour limit might stretch a bit more. She just isn't long on driving.

Cost is a factor, but much more, I simply hate the atmosphere at airports these days.

[YouPosting2Me]

Then I expect a refund of $10 per minute when the flight is late!



(along the lines of a Seinfeld episode w/George)

[Revolting cat!]

"We didn't even get peanuts," she said after the 2-1/2 hour flight.

I'd call the United Nations about that! Clear violation of human rights! Worse than the starvation in Africa!

[cardinal4]

Sharon Ansara, a government supervisor from El Paso, Texas, flew an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Washington Monday morning.

"We didn't even get peanuts," she said after the 2-1/2 hour flight. "They offered us a snack pack for $4. It stinks."

She didnt pay for the ticket if she is on govt business..

[thinkthenpost]

United, Delta, Northwest, US Air how many more are going to declare bankruptcy and saddle the taxpayer with pension liabilities before we finally let a couple die for real.
I wonder if these "customer friendly" move will hasten that end for any?

[Hank Rearden]

Sharon Ansara, a government supervisor from El Paso, Texas, flew an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Washington Monday morning. "We didn't even get peanuts," she said after the 2-1/2 hour flight. "They offered us a snack pack for $4. It stinks."

It does my heart good to see government drones getting tweaked.

[TSgt]

The airline industry's main problem is that they make flying too pleasant an experience. They should hire a bunch of high school dropouts to perform body searches on anyone who enters an airport. They will soon have so many customers they won't know what to do with them all.

They made it to high school? ;)

[skip_intro]

$2.00 to go to the bathroom. It's coming!

That would be a great moneymaker!

Leave one free bathroom back in steerage class, and charge for all the others.

You ought to register your intellectual property before someone else steals it.

[siunevada]

Pack a lunch and bring a jacket even if the weather on the ground is warm.