The last several weeks I have had the extreme pleasure of booking lots or airline travel for myself and my husband… Now some may not know me and you aren’t quite sure what I mean but the rest of you realize that I am being sarcastic, and you would be correct!
What an ordeal – the countless searches of all the “cheap flight” websites only to discover the “hidden cos
ts” which has become my favorite term when it comes to booking flights.
For instance, I could book a round trip flight from Ft Lauderdale Florida to Philadelphia PA. The initial flight will cost me $98 per person, now add on airport taxes, convention taxes and fuel charges and my $98 flight now costs $135. Then comes the wonderful “hidden fees” – did I mention that if you want a seat on the plane its $6 each way, want extra leg room for an exit room make that an extra $20 each way. Check luggage? That will cost a cool $15 per bag each way.
Let’s recap – my 98 flight with all the additions in now will cost me at whopping $177
That’s if I only check one bag!
Here is my favorite part – several airline companies do not subscribe to mass airline and discount sites. They figure their fares are low enough people will find them – They are right! I spent the next hour finding a more reasonable flight that only cost me a total of $120 with up to 2 checked bags.
For my money, airline companies who have wonderful “hidden charges” need to spend some money trying to impress upon me why I should use their services and also desensitize me to the “extra charges” sticker shock because right I suffer from the pain in the backside opinion.
What an ordeal – the countless searches of all the “cheap flight” websites only to discover the “hidden cos
ts” which has become my favorite term when it comes to booking flights.For instance, I could book a round trip flight from Ft Lauderdale Florida to Philadelphia PA. The initial flight will cost me $98 per person, now add on airport taxes, convention taxes and fuel charges and my $98 flight now costs $135. Then comes the wonderful “hidden fees” – did I mention that if you want a seat on the plane its $6 each way, want extra leg room for an exit room make that an extra $20 each way. Check luggage? That will cost a cool $15 per bag each way.
Let’s recap – my 98 flight with all the additions in now will cost me at whopping $177
That’s if I only check one bag!
Here is my favorite part – several airline companies do not subscribe to mass airline and discount sites. They figure their fares are low enough people will find them – They are right! I spent the next hour finding a more reasonable flight that only cost me a total of $120 with up to 2 checked bags.
For my money, airline companies who have wonderful “hidden charges” need to spend some money trying to impress upon me why I should use their services and also desensitize me to the “extra charges” sticker shock because right I suffer from the pain in the backside opinion.
“Hidden fees” has become a most popular phrase recently, hasn’t it?! The same thing happened to me recently while trying to book flights so our board members could attend their National Convention in San Diego: a $470 ticket quickly become a $540 ticket.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, if airlines are confident that the services they provide are worth the extra money, then it is time to spend some extra money in their advertising department. Get some commercials out there that extol the virtues of additional fees (sounds like an oxymoron, but stranger things have been advertised). Do some market research and figure out how best to package your flights and all the additional items so you appear as one of the best when compared with top chains.