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New U.S. Senate Bill Proposes End to “Ridiculous” Airline Fees

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The new bill would impose limitations on charging fees for checked bags and travel changes or cancellations. (airwaysnews.com) さらに...

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zcolescott
Once again...the airline industry in the US is the most regulated, deregulated industry!
LoralThomas
When was the last time Congress saved you any money??????
Muchits
Muchits 1
Haha no kidding! :)
joelwiley
The US Senate is going to statutorily define 'ridiculous'?
cmp5n
cmp5n 3
The only theft going on in the industry is the taxes that are attached to an airline ticket. And that by law the airline has to market the price of the ticket plus taxes..

Different airports should be able to charge different prices based on their facilities.

And the airlines should be able to show the flying public how much we pay in taxes each flight!
Muchits
Muchits 6
Okay....if the traveling public wants to pay another $100 per ticket! The airlines have gone to an un-bundled fare structure to make flying more affordable. Interesting how these senators are actually going to increase the overall cost of flying.
RGB3RD
I would like to see some accountant or a real smart guy who "works in the weeds" regarding the price(s) airlines charge for travel. I did a little research and discovered the following article about how airlines spend your money.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303296604577450581396602106

By all means, it is not in-depth, but it does shed some light on the subject. Paraphrasing the author, it is unfortunate that we just see the face of the watch and not all that makes it work.

I share the distrust of our elected "representatives". It seems the only thing they do well is to discover better ways to obtain our money. I wish they were just as adroit to find ways to spend it efficiently.
andyc852
Senate needs to focus their attention on bigger issues than this. We supposedly live in a capitalist society and it is up to the flying public to decide if the fees are reasonable.
n3502w
👍🏻👍🏻
pwreschi
andyc852, I agree, we do live in a capitalist society, but what the airlines are doing is pure thievery.

Please explain why and initial cost of a ticket is $n dollars, only to double after all the fees have been added. I buy a ticket, why should I have to pay more for the seat, or to check a bag, or a carry-on. That's not capitalistic, that's thievery.

monstrok
You don't have to pay extra fees if you travel on Southwest. Or pack light with just a carry on which incurs no fees with most US Airlines. That's the great thing about choice - you get to make the decisions and not the government.
WhiteKnight77
That is all and good if you are only going somewhere for a couple of days. Try going somewhere where you will be at for an indeterminate amount of time and need to have work clothes as well as equipment. Dirty and well worn steel toed boots is not footwear to wear through the airport without having attracting undue attention as well as a hard hat. This does not include any extra equipment needed for work the next day. That all needs to go into checked baggage and the airline is not of your choosing, but of your company's travel office and any deals they may have with an airline.
MemnochtheDevil
I feel complete reregulation is called for here. The airlines are out of control, in complete "rape, loot and pillage" mode. Anybody else here notice that things skyrocketed when the price of oil was so high, but now that oil prices have tanked, the cost of tickets hasn't fallen, and there's still these idiotic fees? Time to yank these folks' chains!
krellisii
The airlines have finally gotten the point where they can provide their shareholders are reasonable return, pay their employees a fair wage, pay off years of increasing debt, invest in infrastructure and upgrade/replace their aging fleet.

After 9/11 when airlines were forced to layoff thousands of employees, slashing pay and benefits and declaring bankruptcy, were you offering to pay higher fares or calling for re-regulation to prevent this? I doubt it.

If you are unhappy with baggage and other fees, I suggest one or more of the following. Buy a full fare, first class ticket. Apply for an airline-branded credit card. Buy an unrestricted, full-fare economy comfort ticket. Take Amtrak or Greyhound. Drive instead, since gas is so cheap.
monstrok
A return to regulation will drive increases to the base cost of tickets and reduce availability as airlines fail or merge. The flying public has benefited from airline ticket prices that have dropped steadily and significantly since airline deregulation when adjusted for inflation. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/how-airline-ticket-prices-fell-50-in-30-years-and-why-nobody-noticed/273506/ As stated in another post, be careful what you wish for.
Bernie20910
Now if only service quality and comfort hadn't declined at the same rate...
williamlex
Couldn't agree more.
geroldn
geroldn 2
Airline tickets are taxed and help pay for ATC, airport infrastructure, etc. Fees go straight to the bottom line and short the FAA budget. Everyone loves to bash government and is against taxes, but there is no free lunch. Somebody has to pay for ATC, why not the ticket buyers and not the general Federal budget, i.e. all taxpayers?
upchucked
Right, and the Republicans are all going to support this and give up the $$ they get from the airlines. Oh, Paleez.
ChadAnderson
Interesting that these regulation proposals were created by Democrats:
FAIR: Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
SEAT: Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
And I think FAIR is included in the 36,361 page FAA DOT-OST-2014-0056 regulation approaching final rule.
SBI1
No Name 1
Yup, Democrats don't get $$ from the airlines, it's only Republicans.
monstrok
Competition is great. Southwest already offers no change fees and free baggage (2 bags). In the end, this is a case of "Be careful what you wish for. It might come true." There is only one way for ticket prices to go if the fees that generate their profit margins are eliminated. All of the costs in the linked chart will be added to your ticket. http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/3801089/airline-baggage-fees-chart/
AlanBDahl
On the other hand if you have a two-leg flight and the second leg gets cancelled they won't do squat to help you out. So you save on fees but get no service when things go sideways.
cnyflyboy
This is a step in the right direction. In addition, air fares on noncompetitive routes are astronomical and should be investigated by the appropriate federal agency.
AlanBDahl
I think it's important to examine why these fees exist in the first place. The real reason is that the variable part of the airline ticket tax only applies to the bad fare, not the extras. So the more an airline unbundles the more of this tax they capture for themselves. To me the solution is simple, extend the tax to the extras too. This removes "tax capture" as a motivation for airlines to unbundle so hopefully they'd go back to competing on service, not base fare.
monstrok
A key tactic of US airline business models is to pass taxes and other government-imposed operating costs onto the customer. These taxes are added to every ticket now and as such, any extended taxes will only increase the total cost to the passenger and not the airline.
MrTommy
MrTommy 2
Isn't this what almost all businesses do when taxed to death? They simply raise the price of whatever, and we the purchasing public end up paying it.
AlanBDahl
There is still a ceiling as to what the customer will pay for add-ons so
I'm not convinced that airlines will be able to pass on the cost. Also as I stated this should make it less likely that airlines will unbundle further fees since capturing the tax won't be a motivation any more. However one way or the other a lid needs to be put on these fees or we might as well go back to 1960s regulation again.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
How about an end to the ridiculous security theater?
1hotflyer
I don't see a problem with "ridiculous fees." Southwest is the most profitable airline in the country. They don't jerk passengers around. Instead of more regulation, we need more choice.
AlanBDahl
See if you still have that positive opinion of SWA when they strand you in Milwaukee and don't offer to help you out.
KennyFlys
Ken Lane -1
I expected nothing short of this to be backed by a couple more nanny-state Democraps.
dsorrell
Congers needs to repeal chapter 13 bankruptcy . Then the strong will survive and consumer will be treated fairly
joelwiley
I thought congers were large slimy marine eels. Come to think of it, the allusion may be apt. Lampreys might be a better fit.
Just saying....
RRKen
This has nothing to do with the price of rice in China (much less airline fees and surcharges) . Chapter 13 allows for repayment of debt, which serves both the consumer (companies do not have to raise prices to compensate for lost revenue), and the debtor (who can become a functional part of society once debt has been paid).

As others have said, Congress (I checked to make sure it was spelled correctly) has more important matters before it.
raleedy
One of the few aspects of middle class life that people in Congressmactually experience, except that the airlines put flights in theirmschedules justmfor them.
jmilazzo
I find it appalling that the US government keeps handicapping it's carriers by over regulation while EU goverments subsidies their carriers. This is total bullshit. Let them run their airlines anyway they want. If the traveling public doesn't like having to pay they don't have to fly.......no one is pointing a gun to their heads! Let them take Grayhound!!

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