Over the past three years I have been working together with the Consumer Travel Alliance aloha airlines reservations (CTA) to have airlines disclose ancillary fees so that consumers can compare the full cost of travel. Many have questioned why I have been like a dog on a pant leg about this issue. It is simply because consumers are being deceived by the airlines with unrealistic airfares.
Let s face it. Airlines have artificially lowered their airfares by unbundling them or stripping everything out of the airfare except aloha airlines reservations transportation — getting from Point A to Point B. For many airlines, airfare aloha airlines reservations does not include baggage, seat reservations, speaking with a telephone agent, interacting with a gate agent, food on the plane, a pillow or blanket and other amenities that were once considered part of airline travel.
The entire reason for the legacy network carriers to embrace this kind of pricing is to make their airfares appear to be as inexpensive as Southwest Airlines, JetBlue aloha airlines reservations and some other low-cost carriers. They are misleading passengers into believing that their flights cost the same or about the same as competitors when that is not the case should a passenger aloha airlines reservations want to check a bag or reserve a seat.
If the airlines decided to change the definition aloha airlines reservations of airfare and then disclose to passengers the costs of baggage and seat-reservation fees when applicable so that the real cost of travel aloha airlines reservations could be compared across airlines, CTA would have no problem with the airline actions. But, when the airlines unbundle their airfares with the express purpose of making them appear to be the same as Southwest and JetBlue service, that is deceptive.
When the airlines refuse to disclose these ancillary fees and their prices so that passengers (and even major corporations) cannot easily assess the impact of these fees on their travel prices, aloha airlines reservations that shows a corporate culture of deception.
Why should one passenger with only carry-on aloha airlines reservations luggage subsidize another passenger who carries more luggage that needs to be checked? Why should a passenger who could care less if they are stuck in a middle seat be forced to subsidize passengers who only want a window or aisle seat?
That is all well and good. But when the airlines aloha airlines reservations took the next step of not disclosing these ancillary fees to any ticket agent other than the airline itself, aloha airlines reservations they crossed the line when it comes to deception.
Sixty percent of passengers who purchase airline tickets through travel agents cannot aloha airlines reservations easily compare the full price of travel including the most basic baggage aloha airlines reservations and seat-reservation fees. By only providing airfare without the ancillary charges, airlines are being deceptive.
If there was some consistency with these fees across airlines, the airlines non-disclosure of fees might be explained away. However, each airline sets its own fees, exempts some of its elite frequent flier members aloha airlines reservations and has different rules for those who purchase travel using their credit cards. The differentiation becomes even more difficult when exemptions extend to family members and/or other travelers on the same reservation.
This is blatant drip pricing, a pricing technique in which firms advertise only part of a product's price and reveal other charges later as the customer goes through the buying process, or worse, long after the initial buying process.
Delta Air Lines, for example, according to the airline representative on the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections, doesn t charge for baggage until passengers check in for their flight, sometimes months after the initial purchase. Then, passengers are hit up again for another charge on their return flight.
• The DOT-required link is the only link on the home page that does not work with a click anywhere on the description. aloha airlines reservations Users have to specifically click on the individual words baggage and service aloha airlines reservations fees.
• Logical aloha airlines reservations places aloha airlines reservations where passengers might search for baggage and other additional fees, such as drop-down menus at the Planning Tools and Travel Information links at the top right of Delta s home page, do not provide a direct line to extra fees.
The only explanation for these kinds of actions on the part of one of America s largest airlines is that Delta does not want consumers to clearly see the costs of ancillary fees and see clearly what the final cost of travel will be. It is simply price deception.
aloha airlines reservations What is so disheartening about Delta s actions — making it difficult to find even a static aloha airlines reservations page with price ranges of ancillary fees — is the disdain it shows for their customers and a corporate pricing culture designed to deceive rather than be honest with passengers.
aloha airlines reservations This culture aloha airlines reservations of deception spans the entire spectrum of airline passengers and the distribution network. Corporate travel managers (some of the top airline clients) cannot get ancillary aloha airlines reservations fees disclosed so that they can budget properly and more easily reimburse aloha airlines reservations employees. Travel agents cannot easily compare prices across airlines inclusive of ancillary fees for their clients. And, the individual traveler who travels infrequently is faced with a near impossible situation should that traveler want to find the best deal.
Thanks for trying to slow down the airlines, yet, I believe maybe the culture of deception, is enabled by the Internet. aloha airlines reservations Maybe 15 years ago, I could complain directly to a person, there is nobody aloha airlines reservations to be found. Yet, the American aloha airlines reservations public loves to, the world loves to continually peck away on a cell phone when even a real human is sitting next to them.
The real solution is to have an intelligent and well informed public. Unfortunately, aloha airlines reservations I do not think the general public knows where to go to get valuable information. Or, they are so confused, so they just go with the flow and whip our their credit cards.
I bought 9 tickets online instead of in my GDS. All the information I needed aloha airlines reservations was onsite where I bought the tickets. What Charlies wants is a chart that comes up for every carrier with all the options before he buys from one for comparison. Tell me please, Charlie, where is that online for any other purchase you might make? Do your feel the same entitlement to this type of comparison aloha airlines reservations chart when you need to buy a water heater?
Even if such a chart exists, very few will have the tool to add up all the different ancillary fees and make a comparison. I would prefer the DOT more vigorously enforce the rules they already have in the books than spend an enormous amount of time and resources debating online comparison shopping experiences.
Even if such a chart exists, very few will have the tool to add up all the different aloha airlines reservations ancillary fees and make a comparison. I would prefer the DOT more vigorously aloha airlines reservations enforce the rules they already have in the books than spend an enormous amount of time and resources debating online comparison aloha airlines reservations shopping experiences.
I am also offended each time he says that travel agents can t handle this, that the informaiton doesn t exist for us. FALSE. This is our business, we have the information accessible. I don t know who he talks with, but they obviously don t know what they are doing and since he doesn t either, he needs to use someone who does.
I am sure you and other TAs have noticed the new detailed baggage aloha airlines reservations allowance information displayed when you autoprice a PNR and send a passenger ETR (where it displays the same thing per passenger again and again). There has to be a point were additional information is an overkill.
Also frankly, since my clients don t care for the ultra-low cost carriers (i.e. Spirit Air, Ryanair, etc.), baggage aloha airlines reservations fees are not an issue to them. They know it exists so be it. What they really care about is an affordable price, comfort, timeliness, and an overall great flying experience.
I am glad when I see airfares on the screen that I know they include everything but bag fees, I still don t like how they screw around with the prices of tickets to other places and how most flights seem supplemented. Why is it that I can fly from Philadelphia to LA almost any time of the year for less then I can fly to Florida, Texas, Ohio and just about anywhere else. Airlines complain about not making money but keep flying half empty plains all over because of high prices of flights going to so many places. Then when the flights are close to the departing date what do they do raise the price of the tickets to the point where no one in there right mind would pay for a ticket. I haven t flown many times because the jacked up the price of the flight a week out from departing. It was always a last minute for me and sure the normal price was $250 dollars round trip and they jacked it up to 600 but they could have gotten $500 dollars more for that flight aloha airlines reservations from both of us instead they made nothing. Just so stupid.
This is where the internet is a dangerous thing for people aloha airlines reservations who don t know what they are doing or looking at. The airlines don t raise the prices, they have different fares based on an advance purchase, day of the week travel, length of stay, city pairs, connecing city and possibility the hour of the flight. There is also the availability issue that you don t fully see when you book online. You are making an assumption based on not knowing how pricing is handled. Competition also plays into the pricing.
you can say they don t raise prices but I have checked prices months out and checked weeks out and even days out and have seen the prices start out low then skyrocket then go back down days before the flight even though this doesn t happen often.
I have another explanation. Some travelers prefer it this way. I want to see the base fare, which is what I normally plan to pay. I do not want to jump through lots of hoops, turning down this and that, or opting in or out of one thing or another, or be faced with multiple charts before I can see the base fare. This same article has been written dozens of times over the past few years, and I have yet to see Charlie Leocha come up with his own proposal of how to implement his ideas without driving up the costs and inconvenience for the base f
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