As long as they don't charge for the seat belt

Yeah, I was just thinking about flying a few days ago and I got an invoice from them.....:blink:......:D
 
Last time I was flying they cut off the air supply mid-flight and all of us passengers starting choking. Luckily the little yellow oxygen masks popped down. They were a little different than usual though. This time they had little slots on the side where you swipe your credit card if you want to breath air.

Of course I was a little displeased about this and briefly considered not being ripped off in this manner. Then I dutifully swiped the plastic through the machine. What a breath of fresh air that was.

I did write to the airline exec after the otherwise uneventful flight and ask what was up with the new fee for air. He said that in an effort to reduce air fares for all, they are focusing on individual user charges for things that not all passengers have a need for, like pillows, blankets, bathroom usage, drinks, and food.
 
Another example:

Airfare absurdity

The roundtrip airfare from Madison, Wis., to London is a reasonable $305 on American Airlines — until you add taxes, fees and fuel surcharges. Then it’s $691.

Delta Air Lines charges $742. Wait, make that $942 after you add in all the mandatory extras. And Lufthansa? $580. I mean, $1,034.
Click to expand...

And there is always my favorite one -- the round-trip ticket bait & switch underhandedness. Imagine going to Best Buy and purchasing a TV advertised for $1,000 but being forced to pay $2,000 because you must buy two of them.

I do have to thank the airline industry, however, since the pain of dealing with them forced the RV decision. I will be eternally grateful.

And this is from someone who spent many years in First Class during leisure travel (DW worked for the industry).
 
Next they will be charging by the pound, and I don't mean the luggage weight.
TG we're all FIREd here, or this idea could end up in the employee sugggestion program box.
Oops! The cat is already out of the bag. :facepalm:
 
It's not so relevant to airlines because they don't pay travel agent commissions any more, but non-commissionable "fees" are a favored way to raise prices without paying more commission to the agents who sell the travel.

Plus, the customer doesn't have to see right away that the $300 they were quoted comes to $450 by the time all the taxes and nickel-and-dime fees are added in.
 
The 2nd to last time I flew over the holidays was really exciting. I was stuck in Washington DC for a snow storm on the way to Providence. This flight was a short flight. Halfway into the flight the Captain came on and says " We need to turn back because of a hydraulic problem. When we land you will see emergency vehicles. Don't be alarmed. So immediately this woman gets hysterical as in hold her down shes going bonkers hysterical. I must have been surrounded by 4 infants all sleeping peacefully.The lady got one upset with her antics. Well that triggered them all. 4 screaming babies a lady going bonkers sitting in front of me. We landed safely and got escorted in by all these emergency vehicles.

At least I didnt die. :flowers:

Oh and I got 2 50 dollar vouchers off next flight. JACKPOT
 
I love the airline industry, since they are partly responsible for my FIRE. It was one of those never-ending business trips with canceled flights, ridiculous overcharges, and lost bags that made me say, I'm outta here a few years ago.
 
Notmuchlonger said:
We need to turn back because of a hydraulic problem. When we land you will see emergency vehicles. Don't be alarmed. So immediately this woman gets hysterical as in hold her down shes going bonkers hysterical.
Click to expand...
The same thing happened to me when we had an emergency. Took both my co-pilot and flight engineer to restrain me and stop my screaming....
 
Last edited:
REWahoo said:
The same thing happened to me when we had an emergency. Took both my co-pilot and flight engineer to restrain me and stop my screaming....
Click to expand...

Hmmm - I mean well hmmm. Family reunion this year is in debate Baja 50-60 miles south of San Diego being the front runner - we were thinking of flying. Drove last year to Nags Head.

Maybe a 1750 mile drive one way isn't so bad after all.

heh heh heh - what a heartwarming thread. :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Notmuchlonger said:
So immediately this woman gets hysterical as in hold her down shes going bonkers hysterical.
Click to expand...

REWahoo said:
The same thing happened to me when we had an emergency. Took both my co-pilot and flight engineer to restrain me and stop my screaming....
Click to expand...

The plane that landed in the Hudson had a lady who panicked and opened the door at the rear of the plane -- being under water, the plane lost all buoyancy and rapidly began sinking... as well as filling the cabin with water. I would be interested if she ever talked about it (publicly) to anyone. Is it something akin to the "buck fever" suffered by some hunters? I have seen some very strange incomprehensive behavior in that arena from people who could not explain it later.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
REWahoo said:
The same thing happened to me when we had an emergency. Took both my co-pilot and flight engineer to restrain me and stop my screaming....
Click to expand...

Were you the pilot?

RonBoyd said:
The plane that landed in the Hudson had a lady who panicked and opened the door at the rear of the plane -- being under water, the plane lost all buoyancy and rapidly began sinking... as well as filling the cabin with water. I would be interested if she ever talked about it (publicly) to anyone. Is it something akin to the "buck fever" suffered by some hunters? I have seen some very strange incomprehensive behavior in that arena from people who could not explain it later.
Click to expand...

I was scared too and thought about the plane crashing. I guess some people just handle it differently. On the next flight they got us I was situated at the emergency exit :LOL:
 
ziggy29 said:
Plus, the customer doesn't have to see right away that the $300 they were quoted comes to $450 by the time all the taxes and nickel-and-dime fees are added in.
Click to expand...
This is what happens all the time when you order something over the Internet... and then try to have it shipped to Hawaii.
 
Booked a ticket on Delta for DW last night.

The Good News: I paid with reward points from our Visa card and it was extremely easy to do on the internet. Within 30 mins we had picked a flight, picked seats, printed the itinerary and electronic ticket and some information about check-in procedures. Now that I've done it once, I'm sure I could do it again in 15 mins.

The Bad News: To get to Bangor, Maine from Chicago Ohare, she flies Chicago to Cincinati to Boston to Bangor. Four cities, three planes, over eight hours. Checking her bag will be an additional $15l
 
youbet said:
Booked a ticket on Delta for DW last night.

The Good News: I paid with reward points from our Visa cardl
Click to expand...

More airline mumbo jumbo.

5 rules for collecting frequent-flier miles

Industry experts generally value each frequent-flier mile at between 1.5 and 2 cents. But the airlines themselves aren't so generous. If you check a carrier's earnings reports and run a few calculations, then you'll discover that a mile may actually be worth only .000572 cents.

Why the discrepancy? It's complicated, believe me. But the bottom line is that a mile isn't always worth as much as you think.
Click to expand...

In any event, it just makes sense to take the Rewards from your CC use in the form of good ol hard cash rather than some artificial medium of exchange -- who do want in charge of value; the government or some desparate Board of Directors (or much lower power)?
 
RonBoyd said:
More airline mumbo jumbo.

5 rules for collecting frequent-flier miles



In any event, it just makes sense to take the Rewards from your CC use in the form of good ol hard cash rather than some artificial medium of exchange -- who do want in charge of value; the government or some desparate Board of Directors (or much lower power)?
Click to expand...

Actually, it depends on what the airline ticket you get would have cost in cash. Example: DW's ticket to Bangor would have been $397. (I shopped all the usual discount web sites and the airline sites.) A ticket to St Louis would have been about $150. If she was going to St Louis, I'd have paid cash for the ticket. To Bangor, I used the reward points.
 
youbet said:
Actually, it depends on what the airline ticket you get would have cost in cash. Example: DW's ticket to Bangor would have been $397. (I shopped all the usual discount web sites and the airline sites.) A ticket to St Louis would have been about $150. If she was going to St Louis, I'd have paid cash for the ticket. To Bangor, I used the reward points.
Click to expand...

I am just saying. YMMV, of course.
 
RonBoyd said:
I am just saying. YMMV, of course.
Click to expand...

Roger on that! ;)

It does seem strange that any domestic continental 48 ticket costs the same number of Visa points even though the cash price could vary by 3 or 4 to 1 depending on the trip. I suppose the Visa folks are hoping lots of folks will use their points to get what would have been cheap tickets if paid for in cash.
 
youbet said:
Actually, it depends on what the airline ticket you get would have cost in cash. Example: DW's ticket to Bangor would have been $397. (I shopped all the usual discount web sites and the airline sites.) A ticket to St Louis would have been about $150. If she was going to St Louis, I'd have paid cash for the ticket. To Bangor, I used the reward points.
Click to expand...

But for $397 (or a bit more) could you have found a better flight to Bangor?

Some frequent flier programs have horrible choices of flights to choose from, including loooong layovers and a couple extra connections.

Case in point, I was trying to book a flight from the east coast to Vegas. We have non-stop options for $230 for a ~5 hr trip, and tons of 1 connection flights for 6-7 hr trips. The "free" frequent flier flights varied from 10-35 hours with at least 2 connections, virtually all requiring overnight layovers or redeyes on the dates I wanted, and some with many looong layovers.

I'm sure frequent flier points are good in some cases. United seems to have a good program, and I can get really good options to a wide variety of domestic and international destinations with good schedules, layovers and flight times.
 
My travel agent (whose services I use very infrequently) tells me you have to know how to use the system. For example, I have a whackload of points on Aeroplan (Star Alliance). If I travel to Europe on Air Canada, the fees can be several hundred dollars. If I travel on another Star Alliance airline (e.g. Lufthansa) fees can be as little as $100.

And that is what I am doing tomorrow.
 
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