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Air Travel 2.0
By Daphne | May 21, 2008
Airline travel is going to become only for the rich or those who scrimp and save.
American Airlines’ recent announcement that they will start charging for the first checked bag is ridiculous. Unfortunately, the other animals in the herd will probably try to do the same. Many Americans had become accustomed to inexpensive airfare. Oil prices have made a change to that, unless plans start flying on discarded fast food oil airfare will be high.
What is really annoying is that rather than charge higher prices, the airlines have the unmitigated gall to add hundreds of dollars in fees which may be more than the price of the ticket.
What this means is that people who travel for business are in trouble. This is not as much of a problem for those who are traveling for pleasure. If you are taking a vacation once or twice a year or every other year, then you just have to save more to get to where you are going.
The additional fees that the airlines are now charging reminds me of when banks started adding additional fees for every little thing. With banks people could go to another bank, but many people still had the need for some financial institution. Air travel is another matter, not everyone needs to travel by air.
Charging an additional $15 for one bag is an additional fee like the airport tax that the majority of travelers will have to pay. Since you cannot carry on certain items paying $15 is more convenient than not carrying your toiletries and trying to replace them when you get to your destination.
I would rather pay a higher price with no additional fees or restrictions than to pay a lower price with more restrictions and more fees which would be equal to or more than a higher price sans fees.
Will this affect leisure travel? Definitely!
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Topics: May 2008 |