- American, JetBlue and Alaska have all raised baggage fees this year.
- Carriers have changed the price to check a bag depending on whether travelers pay for it in advance or at the airport.
- Airlines and other companies have been grappling with how to grow profits while reining in costs, such as new labor contracts.
And that’s the problem. It’s not enough to be profitable, you have to be more profitable year over year, forever.
The next recession when they’ll get bailed out by the government (yet again) and start the same process over again.
Privatize the gains, socialize the losses
Oh wait but it’s wrong when the people get government support, that’s socialism!
- Ticket prices constantly fluctuating, pricing structures deliberately designed to game customers and milk them for as much money as possible
- Random fees for bags, random fees for where you sit, random fees for how you board, random fees for your fees, more fees depending on when you pay your fees, and always rising all the time
- A minefield of hidden gotchas and fine print, clauses on top of clauses that declare the airline isn’t at fault for anything even when they’re totally at fault for all of it
- Stand in line to get hassled and have your 'nads fondled by belligerent TSA whackers
- Sit around the terminal for hours getting coughed and sneezed on by roughly 45% of the world’s population
- $8 for a bottle of water past the security checkpoint
- Oh, and the door might just fly off of your plane because Boeing
Yeah, and people wonder why if I’m traveling domestically I’ll just drive or ride. Fuck all of the above, plus when I get wherever I’m going I’ll already have my motorcycle with me.
I basically came here to vent similar frustrations. The last few times I have flown it’s been even more hellish than usual. IMO Airlines overbooking flights is out of control and should have never been allowed in the first place.
Last time I flew American Airlines, 5 of my 6 flights were delayed, with one being delayed overnight into the next day and no offer to pay for a hotel room or anything. Another of those delays was because a part fell off the plane. Another was due to the landing gear not retracting properly after we took off, so we had to turn around.
Now they are pushing facial scanning harder and I’m sure before long it won’t be optional. Flying is a violation of my body, my privacy, and my personal space and comfort, and having to pay ever more for the “privilege“ to do so.
I don’t ever want to fly again under this system.
I haven’t flown in years. It’s simply too expensive.
If you factor in the amount of time wasted waiting around to get through security, waiting to get on the plane, waiting on the plane to take off, waiting at the gate after landing, waiting on your luggage, waiting on transportation from the airport, flying isn’t much faster than driving.
Gas may be expensive, but the buttfucking you get at the airport just isn’t worth it anymore.
Really depends on how far you travel. I hate the air travel process in general, but there really aren’t great alternatives to go across the country (U.S.). Need high speed rail, but the politics for that to be approved is soooo slow and complicated.
I live south of Toledo and my parents live in Houston. If my brother (who lives in town) goes with me it’s cheaper for us to drive, plus we can take more stuff with us, but it takes us 2 days to drive there and 2 days to drive back vs about 8 hours total travel time (1.5 hours to the airport, 1.5 hours window for security and getting to the gate, 1.5-4 hours depending on if it’s a direct flight or has a layover, 1 hour from airport to my parents place). Obviously it depends on the distance, and i much prefer road trips, but it’s not always so clear cut.
We will use that $5 to make sure the doors are closed.
