United to Begin Charging Extra for Second Bag!

[Damselfish]

there's always a chance it won't stick and will backfire on United instead of other airlines doing the same, and they'll backpedal. Other airlines could use it as a marketing point. (I know, probably wishful thinking, but I seem to remember things like that happening before.)

 

[RonFrank]

We ran into the curb side check-in thing last year, can't remember what airline. I was going to Tip the guy $10 (I think we checked four bags) and he said, that will be $8. I said what? He then told us about the charge. The bottom line is that while the airline is making more on this, the curb side folks are taking the loss. I think i tipped the guy $12, but the bottom line is, he would have got $10 clear, instead he got $4, and he was saying how most folks just pay the charge, and he gets nothing.

I can't fly and dive with one bag. When we fly as a family, we don't generally do two bags per person, normally we check 4 bags between the three of us. I guess if the prices remain where they are, it's not horrible. I could do one bag if they allowed 75lbs. It's not the size for me, it's the weight.

 

[TNdiver6387]

Like I said earlier... The prices of the tickets themselves have not been rising proportionally to the price of fuel. We're still paying about the same for airline tickets as we were 2 years ago, when the price of gasoline was only about $2 per gallon at the pump. This 33% increase hasn't translated to a 33% increase in airline ticket prices.

Of course it hasn't. The price of the ticket isn't only for fuel. The cost of the ticket also covers a LOT of people's wages, etc.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Like I said earlier... The prices of the tickets themselves have not been rising proportionally to the price of fuel. We're still paying about the same for airline tickets as we were 2 years ago, when the price of gasoline was only about $2 per gallon at the pump. This 33% increase hasn't translated to a 33% increase in airline ticket prices.

:11: Speak for yourself! Two years ago I flew round-trip, direct flight to St. Maarten...7 days lodging plus airfare was $550. In september I flew to Fort Lauderdale round trip for around $150. A week ago I had to pay over $300 just to fly to Puerto Rico in March. I was also looking at prices to fly to Freeport to do a liveaboard and the cheapest flight (with transfers even) is $400.

 

[ReefHound]

If United is charging it's regular non-refundable fare passengers $25 for a second bag, it's still not a bad deal alltogether when the alternative is driving somewhere; flying is still cheaper based on today's gas prices for most longer distances to be traveled. I can still fly round trip from Denver to Fort Lauderdale (1700 miles each way) non-stop for between $250 - $300 (on United).

If I had a car that averaged 30 MPG, and I paid an average of $3 per gallon of gas, I could do the same trip for $340 in gas (not including meals, and possibly a hotel) and it would only take about 24 hours of driving in each direction. So potentially paying $325 (to pay for an extra bag) to do the trip in 3.75 hours seems worth it to me.

Just my 2 cents...

Now run the numbers with a buddy in the car going with you. Airfare doubles, car costs remain virtually the same. For really dramatic savings, consider the case of 4 buddies (or a family of 4 or more) in a van that gets 25mpg.

Don't forget to factor in the rental car or taxi costs you'll have if you fly.

Of course, that's an exceptionally long drive and that is a subjective factor. If it's too much driving for someone then no amount of savings matters. If I were doing it I'd make a stop in Pensacola for the Oriskany and maybe another for Ginnie or other springs. Can't do that flying.

 

[BEM]

If the airlines are going to charge extra for the extra bags, then they should provide increased service with that. If I have to, I’ll pay $25 for the second bag AS LONG AS they deliver my bags when and where they are supposed to. If the bags are lost, they shouldn’t charge.

They provided an incentive for me to travel lighter, l’ll give them an incentive not to lose our bags!

I often dream in Technicolor also…

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Won't fly them or any airline that does this, jerks.

 

[RonFrank]

Won't fly them or any airline that does this, jerks.

Don't blame the airlines. Blame the gov., and the oil companies who are just raping the economy. Everything has been going up in price, and the oil companies are making record profits. They say, hey, supply and demand, but don't kid yourself they are gouging.

So if the cost of fuel is up, and the airlines are taking it on the chin having to provide extra security, they may need to raise prices to cover costs. Heck, the cost of mailing has skyrocketed, food costs have been inching up, fuel costs are killing me (propane costs went up 150% in late 2005, and never came back down).

Exxon and Chevron earnings soar on record oil prices.

Revenue in the quarter rose 30 percent to $116.64 billion. For the year, the company pulled in $404.55 billion, slightly larger than the 2006 gross domestic product of Turkey, the world's 17th largest economy.

The company's full-year earnings of $40.61 billion set a new record for U.S. profits -- beating out its own previous mark for 2006."

So if you want to ask why everything is getting so damn expensive, there is a big part of the answer. Fuel costs trickle down to the consumer resulting in higher prices for just about everything we buy as it all has to be shipped for somewhere.

 

[DeepDiver36]

I was watching the Discovery Channel program on either American Airlines or United but I feel it was American. Anyway, they interviewed the CEO at the time and discussed ticket pricing and how hard it is to keep a plane in the air.

American tried a program where they took out X amount of rows and gave each seat a little more leg room. They did this for a year and found people would not pay the extra $15.00 dollars per ticket to have more leg room so they went back to cattle cars. I would have gladly paid an extra $15.00 dollars for that.

The program went on to poll each passenger about how much they paid for their ticket. Some people paid as low as $100.00 for that flight when the guy next to him paid $500.00. After doing the math, they said that flight made a total of $1,500.00 profit. Of course, the show did not detail how they came to that number and if it included administrative, mechanical, income tax or other such line item or if it took into account all overhead.

Eitherway, if they make $1500.00 for each flight, then the airline would not be in financial trouble so I can only assume they are not making that type of money. Especially when a flight is delayed 20 minutes and every passenger wants a free flight voucher because of the incovience. Granted, some warrant compensation, often times it is just an inconvience and no more.

I could not even guess how much they spend a year in soda products. Millions? If each person on a flight took one extra soda, that total would double.

I hear what everyone is complaining about with pricing. I too would like a single price that was inclusive of everything a standard flight requires and not be nickel and dimmed every step of the way.

Just a few thoughts from the other side of the coin. Being in business can be very hard. :blinking:

 

[Gombessa]

The real bummer on this is the amount of carry on is going to increase.

GOG hit the nail on the head. It's going to translate into longer lines and waits at boarding, as people try to bring overstuffed, overweighted carry-ons that don't fit into the overhead or under the seat, are over the carry-on weight limit and will be screened-out, argued-over, tagged and moved by gate personnel, and less overhead space due to additional carry-ons and people inevitably sneaking by with 2-3 carry-ons per person.