Latest news with #airlinefees
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
I'm taking a stand against jacked-up airline fees by taking the middle seat
I'm trying to lose a few pounds before I go on vacation next month. Not to look better in a swimsuit, because I know that's a lost cause. I just want to be a little more comfortable as I'm flying to and from my destination in the middle seats of airplanes. I know of no one, myself included, who would rather sit in the middle seat. When people discuss seating preferences, it's always a binary choice of window or aisle. So why did I choose middle seats for all four legs of my upcoming travel itinerary? I've had it with the extra fees airlines are charging. I'm old enough to remember when you plunked down your money for a ticket, you got one or two checked bags, a carry-on bag, a snack or maybe even a meal on a long flight, and as many nonalcoholic drinks as the flight attendants would serve − all for one price. Airlines find new ways to fleece customers. Even Southwest charges baggage fees now. Times have changed. Ordering a plane ticket now is like buying a car − after you've made your purchasing decision and are ready to get on with the rest of your life, you're bombarded with decisions about add-on fees. Even Southwest Airlines, which for years trumpeted the fact it didn't charge baggage fees, recently added surcharges for checked luggage. Instead of getting a spiel about the benefits of rust-resistant undercoating for your new car, choices must be made about how many bags you want to check, whether you want "priority seating" and whether to add some optional trip insurance. When will we have flying cars? Trump should pump the brakes on testing air taxis. | Opinion Some people really like to overpack for trips, so I sort of understand the baggage charges. But the rest of it? Come on. Why should I pay more for priority seating so I can get to my seat a few minutes sooner and watch as later-arriving passengers try to stuff their carry-ons into overhead bins? And shouldn't everybody get refunds if flights are canceled, regardless of whether they've made an impulse buy for travel insurance? How can we avoid seat selection fees? Airline ticket costs are out of control. Call me a cheapskate, but I've never paid for first-class or even business-class seating. I get that paying for upgraded tickets means more comfortable seats and better service. But, to me, it's the same plane that will arrive at the same place at the same time. Can life really be that much better on the other side of that flimsy curtain? Yet, as I learned while booking my upcoming trip, the attempts to divide people by class have extended to the steerage section. Paying an extra $18 for the privilege of a window or aisle seat may not seem like a lot, but for frequent travelers, the costs add up. Opinion: Tourism is the next casualty in Trump's trade war. Our economy might not recover. It's always been hard for me to accept drastic fluctuations in ticket prices. That's because what the airlines charge doesn't seem to have any connection to the costs they incur to provide services. To use an example from last year's election season, if egg prices go up because bird flu kills a bunch of chickens and eggs are harder to find, then there's a reasonable link between supply and demand. That's understandable. What's not understandable is why an airline ticket purchased well in advance costs less, while one purchased closer to departure time, for the same flight, costs considerably more. Is it because the people buying tickets on short notice are more desperate and therefore willing to pay more? Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. On a per-unit basis, it would be ridiculous to suggest a window or aisle seat costs more to install or service. The seats are right next to each other. Where does this end? With rental fees for using an airplane's blankets or pillows? Surcharges on the amount of oxygen passengers consume during flight? It's hard for low-cost carriers to break into airline business Some will say free markets will correct any inequities, as we learned in Economics 101. I'm not confident of that. The airline industry is already heavily regulated, which makes it tougher for upstart competitors to break into the business and keep the large legacy carriers honest by offering more flights without extra charges. Congress has tried tinkering with airline fees in the past, without finding a way to end this sort of price gouging. One recent attempt was the FAIR Fees Act of 2023, introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee. The legislation would have prevented airlines from charging fees that weren't "reasonable and proportional." Decisions about what was "reasonable and proportional" would be left to the U.S. secretary of transportation. Sadly, the bill never made it out of the House of Representatives' aviation subcommittee. America's most annoying travel habits: Which state has the worst offenders? Cohen could refile the bill again. As a member of the Tennessee General Assembly, he filed legislation to legalize a state lottery for 20 years before it was finally approved. Similar reserves of persistence might be needed here. In light of Congress' current makeup, a Republican co-sponsor or two might be useful as well. We can't agree on much in this country now. Given the color's association with the Democratic Party, there might even be disagreement about whether the sky is actually blue. Surely, though, this issue of airlines nickel-and-diming us transcends political loyalties. It shouldn't be that hard to get politicians to reach across the aisle, so to speak, for solutions. Until that day comes, I'm taking a stand ... by taking the middle seat. Blake Fontenay is USA TODAY's commentary editor. You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: I hate the middle seat. But airlines give us no choice | Opinion
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'For frequent travelers, the costs add up'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. 'I'm taking a stand against jacked-up airline fees by taking the middle seat' Blake Fontenay at USA Today Ordering a "plane ticket now is like buying a car — after you've made your purchasing decision and are ready to get on with the rest of your life, you're bombarded with decisions about add-on fees," says Blake Fontenay. Choices "must be made about how many bags you want to check, whether you want 'priority seating' and whether to add" insurance. Shouldn't "everybody get refunds if flights are cancelled, regardless of whether they've made an impulse buy for travel insurance?" Read more 'Remember the real victims of Jeffrey Epstein' Renée Graham at The Boston Globe President Donald Trump is "not a victim of a vast left-wing conspiracy. He's not a victim at all," says Renée Graham. Those "who most deserve empathy and answers are the girls — now women — victimized by Epstein and others. Trump is "getting what he deserves." The "focus shouldn't be on the president's latest attempt to use victimhood and lies as a shield from responsibility, but in inching closer to some small justice for the victims and survivors." Read more 'It's okay to go no-contact with your MAGA relatives' Sarah Jones at Intelligencer Young adults are "going no-contact with parents and other relatives, often because of politics," says Sarah Jones. The "usual narrative pits liberals against MAGA elders." Sometimes the "act of knowing a person leaves you with no choice but to move on without them." Though "shunning won't work as a political strategy, there are still natural consequences for the way we speak and behave." Politics "never stopped at the family front door. Why pretend otherwise?" Read more 'Ivy leaguers aren't auto workers' Dominic Pino at the National Review Why "do graduate students at private universities get to pretend they're auto workers or electrical workers?" says Dominic Pino. Thousands of "U.S. grad students at elite universities" are "now members of traditionally blue-collar unions." Graduate "students at public universities are sometimes allowed to unionize depending on state laws." Ivy Leaguers "can be transformed into auto workers and unions can coerce graduate students into paying them, as long as three out of five unelected lawyers agree." Read more Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
11-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Heathrow wants to raise passenger fees to fund terminal upgrades
Heathrow Airport has proposed an ambitious plan to accommodate an additional 10 million passengers annually by 2031, contingent on an increase in airline fees. The proposal, outlining its strategy for the next five-year regulatory period, was submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Friday, detailing upgrades to existing terminals as a means to boost capacity. The initiative offers a quicker expansion route than the government's long-term vision for a new runway at Europe's busiest airport, located west of London, which is not anticipated to be operational until 2035 at the earliest. The proposed 10 million passenger increase represents a 12 per cent rise on current numbers. To facilitate this growth, Heathrow is seeking to raise the average charge per passenger from the current £28.46 to £33.26. The CAA, responsible for overseeing airport charges, is now set to review the detailed plans before issuing its official response. The request comes amid long-standing complaints from airlines, which say that Heathrow is already one of the world's most expensive airports and have urged the regulator to reduce charges. Virgin Atlantic, British Airways ' parent IAG, the Heathrow Airline Operators' Committee (AOC) and the Arora hotel group have joined forces in an unprecedented coordinated attack on the airport's regulatory regime. They hope to persuade the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) 'to conduct an urgent and fundamental review into the way in which Heathrow, the UK's only hub airport and the largest in Europe, is regulated, for the benefit of consumers, businesses and the UK economy'. 'Heathrow has become the world's most expensive airport, with passengers and airlines today paying £1.1bn more each year than if charges were in line with equivalent major European airports,' the partners said in a statement. Meanwhile, Heathrow has blamed expensive building costs, its constrained area and large numbers of long-haul flights for its high fees. In a letter to the Transport Select Committee, Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: 'One factor is that the airport's small physical footprint means a lot of our infrastructure has to be underground or built in a unique way, increasing the cost. 'We are also the busiest two-runway airport in the world, meaning the intensity of our operating environment is comparatively more complex and makes it much harder to make targeted improvements and investment while remaining operational.'
CBS News
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
As their policies shift, see how much U.S. airlines are making in checked bag fees
What to know about Southwest Airlines new fare options Checked bags are a big business for U.S. airlines, bringing in more than $7 billion in revenue last year, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The fees have brought more revenue to the airlines than it ever had prior to the pandemic, the data shows. Airlines began shifting their checked bag policy in recent years to keep up with what they say are rising operational costs, including higher prices for fuel and increased wages. Most recently, Southwest Airlines announced it will start charging $35 for the first checked bag — after more than 50 years of only charging for a third bag. Changes at Southwest came amid mounting pressure from activist investors to improve its financial performance. The airline in September predicted that new fees would lead to $1.5 billion a year in revenue. Last year, JetBlue brought Uber-style surge pricing to bag-check fees, making it more costly to check luggage during peak travel periods. American Airlines also increased its fees in 2024 from $30 to $35 for the first checked bag. Breaking down the revenue from checked bags for U.S. airlines Checked bags brought in about $7.27 billion in revenue last year for Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American, Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, Silver Airways, Southwest, Spirit Airlines, Sun Country and United Airlines, according to the government's data that was last updated on May 6. That is up from $7.07 billion in 2023, Bureau of Transportation Statistics' data shows. In 2022, U.S. airlines made over $6.7 billion in bag fees, another major jump from the $5.3 billion made in 2021. American, Delta and United — the three largest U.S. airlines — made over $1 billion each last year on checked bags — and their revenue from it has been climbing since the COVID-19 pandemic halted air travel in 2020. When the pandemic hit, total checked bag revenue plummeted to $2.84 billion in 2020, down from $5.76 billion in 2019. Kiki Intarasuwan Kiki Intarasuwan is a news editor for CBS News & Stations. contributed to this report.
