That's How They Getcha: Airlines Extract $6 Billion in Fees From Americans

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/01/thats-how-they-getcha-airlines-extract-6-billion-in-fees-from-americans/267034/

What's the true price of flying? It's much more than the price of a ticket. And it has been for a long time.

Last year, Americans likely spent more than $6 billion in baggage, cancellation, and change fees, on top of their ticket price, in 2012. The Bureau of Transportation only has data through the first nine months of last year, but total fees are up about 4 percent over previous years.

Here's a look at total fees by airline:



And here's the baggage fee data as a pie chart, if you prefer that sort of thing. Delta, United, and American account for about 60 percent of total baggage fees.

[Scuba]

1. Yeah, but at least once you've gone through security you can buy a bottle of water for $6.00.

[marmar]

2. And as much as I hate carrying anything larger than a laptop case on with me......

...... on my last flight (on Delta), I carried my 21-inch rolling suitcase on. ... Or fly Southwest, which still allows a free checked bag.

[Robb]

3. I'd love to see this data presented on a per flyer basis.

The numbers are appalling, but I could make a buying decision if I knew which airline was doing the worst on a per customer basis.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. It's getting to the point where it's more cost effective to send your baggage

via UPS to your destination than pay the airline fees.

[Marrah_G]

5. Delta also flies the most passengers by far

Perhaps you could post them per bag and also post the amount of lost bags.

By the way, they all charge 20-25 dollars per checked.

Also you need to look at the percentages of international passengers who often have large amounts of baggage, especially when going home.

[HiPointDem]

6. giving the lie to the claim that deregulation made flying cheaper. let alone improved service.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Yes, you've gotta love Delta. Because they couldn't get me home from an

international trip in a single day, I had to pay $25 in checked baggage fee.

[Blue_Tires]

8. As I've opined before, consumers mostly have themselves to blame

Ever since travelocity and similar travel sites (where you could see every airline's fare price in just one place) sprang up, the consumer has put the priority of finding the lowest possible price--Even to the point where we'd happily spend $250 on a bare-bones, no frills flight instead of $265 on a much more comfortable, roomier one...

Because of this, it has become essential for airlines to publish the lowest ticket fare possible (even if it means dropping features that used to be included in that price) since they know that is what the buyer is basing his/her decision on...