Posts Tagged ‘fee’
Too Many Carry Ons
A new type of passenger has emerged, the bag fee dodger. Airlines charging for bags have spurned many into bringing more carry ons. This seems to be making passengers who pay the fees upset. Mainly because the fee dodgers are getting bags checked for free at the gate. When a passenger shows up to the gate with a bag that won’t fit into an overhead compartment or, if the overhead bins are full because there are too many being brought, the airline gate checks them. This usually results in the passenger getting a free checked bag or two. Most airlines are supposed to charge for the gate checked bags but are waiving the fees with regard to getting flights out on time or not wanting to deal with the hassle of the charges.
Who is at fault? The passengers are always going to try and get away with what they can. Is it fair that some are caught at the various checkpoints and others are not? Shouldn’t they get stopped by the agent at the counters? The agents checking in for flights usually don’t like to deal with the grumbling passengers over bag fees but most try to do their job. Most of us get to pay the fees due to an airline representatives doing their job. But the ticket counter can be a very hectic place and agents will miss things. What about security? TSA is also supposed to be enforcing the quantity and size of bags passing through. But, you will find that for the most part they are more concerned with searching for prohibited items and moving the line along.
Overall, the one common denominator for bags getting past is “time”. Every aspect of air travel involves moving you and your stuff through as quickly and smoothly as possible. If the measures were to be enforced, more delays would negatively affect passengers as a whole.
There are two solutions, in my opinion, for this. One get rid of the checked bag fees or two, start charging for carry on luggage. Personally, I can understand those trying to dodge the fees but I also would be upset if I paid the fee and someone got away with it for free. This is just the byproduct of the new system of checked bag fees.
Tags: airline, airline representatives, charges, checked bag, checked bag fees, checkpoints, delays, fee, gate checked, luggage, overhead bins, passengers, TSA
Wi-Flight?
Major airlines are working to provide Wi-Fi service to passengers for upcoming flights. The service is believed to be extremely marketable especially to business travelers. Research shows whether a flight has the possibility to connect to the internet or not is more important than if it offers a meal. Besides offering yet another amenity to it’s passengers, there is another motive to install Wi-Fi on the airlines’ fleets. This added service would mean an added potential for more revenue, via a fee to connect, for airlines.
Airlines with Wi-Fi already installed, like Virgin America, use Aircell for their service and fees can range from $5.95 to $12.95 depending on the length of the flight. Airlines share the belief that passengers who want to stay connected to the world through, email, Facebook, Twitter, and other online media will happily pay this fee. It could be a money making venture not unlike the checked baggage fees.
With so many airlines working to install this service like Delta, American, and Southwest; they may just end up losing their target market for this fee . . . the business traveler. With most major carriers offering the service, it is only a matter of time before an airline makes the service free to it’s elite passengers in order to lure them away from other airlines. JetBlue has already announced intentions to offer free email and instant-messaging services on twenty of it’s Airbus A320 jets. If this becomes the case that would leave the average passenger to pay for the optional service. How willing would they be to opt for it?
According to Virgin America, the first US airline to offer the service, about 10% to 15% of passengers pay for the service. This percent jumps to 25% on transcontinental flights. It may be tough to gage how much revenue the airlines can seek to gain in this move. It is a relatively new service and market for airlines and it may take awhile for passengers to warm up to the idea. People do seem to love their mobile devices and staying connected to the web wherever they go. It has proven to be a very marketable feature in the cell phone industry. With most jets already modified for the feature, airlines like Delta seem to have confidence in the commodity. What do you think? Is tweeting in flight worth a fee?
Tags: airlines, American, baggage fees, business traveler, delta, elite passengers, email, Facebook, fee, flight, internet, jetblue, mobile devices, passengers, Southwest, Twitter, Virgin America, Wi-Fi