A modest proposal: Let’s ban large carry-ons altogether

A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate last week would ban airlines from charging for carry-on luggage, according to Reuters. Two senators rightly point out that carry-ons often contain items that are “important for the safety and health” of travelers, including medication and eyewear.

But can we please keep in mind that Spirit Airlines’ now infamous decision to charge for carry-on luggage only applies to items too large to fit in the seat in front of the passenger? You can still carry on personal items for free, and that would include a large purse, brief case, or backpack into which you can stuff whatever essentials or valuables you desire. Coats, strollers, cameras, and certain other items are also carried in-cabin for free.

Let’s get real here. To avoid looking disingenuous, Spirit should simply ban carry on bags altogether rather than making them a profit center. And the US Congress should let airlines conduct business as they see fit, and if it really cares about airline passengers, instead legislate a solution to the real safety risks of carry-on luggage.

Spirit’s CEO, Ben Baldanza, with some justification, claims that the overhead bin fee will discourage carry-on overcrowding and lead to safer air travel, both for flight attendants and passengers, who are sometimes injured when lifting heavy bags into the bins and by bags falling out of the bins, despite the airlines’ constant “bags do tend to shift in flight” PA announcements.

But most likely, safety isn’t the real issue here, at least not for an airline CEO. Baldanza also suggests that the airline will be able to board and deplane their aircraft faster, which implies that Spirit will profit by faster airport turnarounds, and thus be able to complete more flights per day and earn more revenue per plane (or fly more passengers with fewer multi-million dollar jets).

Is safety the real issue here?But if safety is really the issue, then the airline should ban large carry-ons altogether, rather than charging for them. Is a carry-on that is charged $45 any safer than one riding for free? Of course not. Indeed, in the infancy of commercial aviation, there were no overhead bins at all, just hat racks into which it was forbidden to place even the smallest flight bag or other hard object. Everything else went under the seat. (OK, OK, the seats were spaced farther apart, granted.)

In any case, the US Congress should back off. If Spirit or any other airline decides to ban larger-sized carry-ons for safety reasons or to charge for them for revenue-enhanhcement reasons or to discourage passengers from using the overhead bins altogether, then that’s their business. If the government were really consumer focused, they should recognize the health hazards of large carry-on luggage and encourage airlines to ban the practice altogether, following Spirit’s model of only permitting smaller carry-ons that fit under the seat.

And there are about a thousand other things Congress should focus on when it comes to air travel, such as fixing the air traffic control system.

Then we could go back to the old model of free checked baggage, or not. But that should be the airlines’ decision. Or maybe passengers will finally “get it” that the airlines don’t want to be carrying their luggage in the first place, and they’d learn the pleasures of 5-day FedEx Ground delivery service, at least on domestic flights.

Airlines could save millions, and offer free checked baggage once again.

Although putting an end to large carry-on bags, whether free or paid, would require the airlines to hire more baggage handlers and check in staff, who are paid relatively modest wages, most likely the carriers would come out ahead by boarding and deplaning planes far faster than currently possible. It doesn’t take an airline CEO with an MBA to figure out that if every one of the thousands of flights flown in the US each day could shave 30 or 45 minutes off of their schedules by turning around quicker at the airport, then the airlines would save millions in equipment, fuel and the more expensive salaries paid to pilots, who often sit around doing nothing while passengers attempt to stuff bags in the overhead bins, blocking other passengers from reaching their seats.

With the money they save, airlines could once again offer free checked bags, just like in the good old days, when flying was fun.

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George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog™, the most inclusive source of airfare deals that have been researched and verified by experts. Airfarewatchdog compares fares from all airlines and includes the increasing number of airline-site-only and promo code fares.

Where did all the bargain fares to Europe go?

Will this be the summer of our discontent when we search for cheap airfares to Europe? Is the party over?

In January 2009, US Air kicked off the summer selling season with tax-included fares for peak summer travel to Europe in the $500’s and $600’s but that was nothing compared to the $200 and $300 fares that appeared later in the spring and summer.

But that was last year. The winter just ending is the first time in memory that we didn’t see dead-of-winter deals to Europe. In winters past, the airlines went into panic mode, selling fares for February travel for as low as $250 or $300 round-trip including taxes, even on nonstops from New York to Paris. This winter, however, fares remained stubbornly stuck in the $600’s, $700’s and even $800’s to most destinations, although there were a few fleeting $500 bargains to such places as Dublin, Barcelona and Madrid.

Even Frankfurt, typically the cheapest gateway to the Continent, saw no amazing deals as in past winters.

So what’s going on here, and how does this bode for travel this spring and summer?

Of course, only fools dare to predict how an irrational airline industry will react, so we’ll steer clear of hard and fast prognostication. However, the bargain-less winter does not give us much hope.
But we will say this: many European governments have increased airport taxes, as outlined in this New York Times article on the subject, which reports that a $458 fare from New York to London recently came saddled with $162 in taxes and government fees.

And it may only get worse. The British government, for example, currently adds an Air Passenger Duty of £45 in economy class, but this will rise to £60 on Nov. 1, and £90 on business and first class fares, scheduled to increase to £120 on the same day.

In addition, many airlines have cut capacity and grounded jets for the duration, which will put pressure on fares. Last July, British Airways announced it would slash winter capacity by 4-5%, grounding over a dozen planes.

Adding to our misery, the weak dollar has enticed bargain-hunting Europeans to visit the U.S. Those shopping bag-toting hordes are driving up demand and fares along with it, taking seats that we were hoping to get for next to nothing.

Currently, spring and summer fares to most European destinations are running in the $900 to $1500 range, including tax. That’s still less than what we saw in summer 2008, when it wasn’t unusual to cough up $1900 and $2000 on economy class fares for peak July and August dates. Even so, we would be very surprised if at some point there isn’t a brief, hit-and-run sale on some routes. So our only advice is to sign up for fare alerts (http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/fare-alerts/) and jump if such a sale does come to pass.

George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog™, the most inclusive source of airfare deals that have been researched and verified by experts. Airfarewatchdog compares fares from all airlines and includes the increasing number of airline-site-only and promo code fares.

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Everything you need to know about buying airfares as cheaply as possible, in 500 words or less.

If I could tell you just one thing, it would be this: sign up for free fare alerts. Time and again, I see articles whose main point is to crown one search engine-Kayak, or Travelocity, or Momondo or whatever-as the best bet to find a low fare. But usually, the price differences in these “bake off” comparisons are small potatoes, if they exist at all, because all airfare sites pretty much use the same fare data provided by the airlines. That said, meta search engines such as Kayak and Tripadvisor will do a better job at finding the relatively few fares that the airlines sell only on their own sites.

There is no one “magic bullet” airfare search site! The only sites that perform better on international fares are those selling “consolidator” fares, but these often come with caveats and extra restrictions, such as “miss your flight and you have to buy a whole new ticket” (you get what you pay for).

The big savings come from realizing that airfares can have wild and sudden swings, like stocks on the S&P 500. You may not have time to check them hour-by-hour or day-by-day, but airfare-tracking sites do, and will alert you when a fare goes down, sometimes by hundreds of dollars, either to a level you specify or by a percentage amount.

So sign up, it’s free! Some alert systems require that you first search for a fare before they’ll offer free email alerts; others let you sign up before searching. Here are some sites that offer alerts:TripAdvisor.com
Kayak.com
Yapta.com
Bing.com
Travelocity.com
Orbitz.com
Airfarewatchdog.com

Don’t just sign up for one, because they all work a bit differently. Be aware that most don’t include Southwest Airlines fares or promo code fares (airfarewatchdog.com does, although it tracks far fewer routes than the others listed above).

And do sign up for the airlines’ frequent flyer programs and email alerts. They’ll often send out promo code and airline-site-only fare deals.

Also, if you’re searching on your own, do not forsake online travel agencies! Way too often I hear people exclaim, “I only buy directly from the airline sites.” But what if you can save $100 by flying out on Delta and back on United? Who’s going to tell you this? Delta? United? Not a chance. Travelocity, Orbitz, Cheap Tickets, Expedia and other online travel agencies are going to tell you this.

You already know that being flexible in your travel dates saves money. Problem is, most people are not flexible in their travel dates. Even so, Travelocity, Cheaptickets, and Orbitz have the best flexible date search functions (check out this helpful chart).

Is there a magic day to buy? A lot of sales pop up on Monday night and Tuesday, but the fare you’re looking for could go down at any moment, so if you just search once a week on Tuesday, you’re missing out.

Traveling at the last minute? You usually have two options: pay through the nose, or use Priceline.com or Hotwire.com. Priceline’s name your own price feature is a super way to snag a good last minute fare.

Oops, that was more than 500 words, but just by a bit. One more tip: keep your seatbelt fastened whenever you’re in your seat and you’ll enjoy your fare savings even more.

George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog™, the most inclusive source of airfare deals that have been researched and verified by experts. Airfarewatchdog compares fares from all airlines and includes the increasing number of airline-site-only and promo code fares.


Want more travel news? Be sure to check out Episode 2 of Gadling’s Travel Talk TV!

Sometimes, collecting frequent flyer miles with a credit card pays off

Are frequent flyer miles worth collecting anymore? I’ve asked that question elsewhere, and have been advocating the use of credit cards paying up to 5% cash back as a better alternative for many travelers who rack up most of their miles using airline-affiliated credit cards. For many people, now that there are new fees associated with cashing in miles, the answer is no.

Most of us travel domestic economy, and $25,000 spent on a frequent flyer credit card only gets you a domestic coach ticket, assuming you can even find available seats and aren’t paying a fee to cash in the miles at short notice or to redeposit them if you change your mind. That same $25,000 spent on a 5% cash back card gets you $750 which you can spend anyway you wish. You might even be able to find a seat to Hawaii. Try that with your frequent flyer miles.

So do I personally collect miles with a frequent flyer credit card? You bet I do. Recently, I applied for a British Airways Chase Visa card ($75 annual fee), but only because they were awarding 100,000 miles after you charged a paltry $2000 to the card (caveat: sadly, this offer is no longer available). My BA Executive Club account had something like 300 miles in it, so it was time to top it up. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere in particular, but just a few days ago I learned that my Oxford college was having a reunion, and I thought, fun, might as well go.

So I went to spend some miles. What I found at ba.com was pretty shocking. On the day in April that I wanted to fly from New York to London, I had exactly one option: a first class seat for 75,000 miles. And the return didn’t look much better, although there were several business class seats on BA’s new London City Airport to JFK all-business-class flight for 50,000 points. Award seats in economy (not that I was devastated) were sold out in both directions.

Needless to say, I didn’t have enough points, but BA kindly suggested that I buy the outward-bound first class flight with miles plus $285 in cash and $163 in fees and surcharges. Not that my return flight was free either. I got hit with a fuel surcharge plus taxes and fees of $358.

So my “free” flight, including the BA Chase card’s $75 fee, ended up costing me $881. Still, not bad considering that when I checked on Expedia.com, these same flights would have cost over $14,000 had I bought them with cash. Lesson learned: if you play your credit cards right, collecting frequent flyer miles with them can indeed pay off. Just don’t expect to have a lot of seat choice or to get something for nothing.

George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog™, the most inclusive source of airfare deals that have been researched and verified by experts. Airfarewatchdog compares fares from all airlines and includes the increasing number of airline-site-only and promo code fares.

Lies, damned lies, and airfare statistics

Recently, I was asked by a news service if Airfarewatchdog would be interested in providing airfare statistics on various routes to compare average airfares from month to month and year to year.

I don’t think this was the answer they were hoping for, but this is what I told them:

It’s really, really hard to get accurate, meaningful airfare statistics. In fact, it’s pretty much impossible. There are so many different types of fares sold, such as consolidator (bucket), corporate, and negotiated fares, in addition to published airfares. And airlines do not divulge, for competitive reasons, how many seats they actually sell at what fares on what routes. The airlines’ published fares are public record, and they do report overall revenue figures for the airline as whole, but ticketed fares route by route, or airport by airport? My friends who are airline insiders tell me it’d never happen.

As Singapore Airlines spokesperson James Boyd explains, “When an airline launches a sale, it’s an attempt to grab market share. An airline would never publicize how many seats were sold at what price on what routes, because it would give competitors too much information.”

The best one can do is to compile sales data from large ticket sellers, such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz, route by route, and figure out what consumers actually paid for their tickets over various time periods. Still, this data will not include all fares sold to the public (in addition to the fare types mentioned above, airlines are increasingly selling special promo code fares on their own web sites in order to drive web traffic and undercut the third party online agencies). And none of the online travel agencies sell Southwest Airlines’ or Allegiant Airlines’ fares, so that’s another missing piece of the puzzle.Most importantly, beware of anyone offering fare statistics if they do not sell seats. There is a huge difference between published fares and ticketed fares.

“Sold versus published does provide a better window into the real world,” confirms airline industry consultant Bob Harrell of New York City-based Harrell Associates. “It’s just harder to get [the] data.”

For example, in January American published fares from Delta’s US hubs to Lima, Peru for $330 return, including all taxes. These routes are normally twice that or even higher. A source that merely tracks the ups and downs in published airfares might report that fares on that route came down over 50% in January 2009. But is that accurate? How many seats were sold at $330 during this unadvertised sale? How many at $500? How many at $600? How many were sold through consolidators on that route in January? Just because the published fare went down to $330 for a brief period, doesn’t mean that the average fare on that route paid by consumers was $330. There’s simply no way of really telling, unless you can aggregate data from each airline serving the route, and the airlines are not going to share this information, because it will give competitors too much information.

As a journalist, it makes me cringe when I see a news report stating that “Airfares went down 15% year over year,” without revealing the methodology for determining that statistic and all sources providing data. Was that published fares or ticketed fares? If ticketed, what was the source? If published, how was the statistic calculated? And did this include taxes and all ancillary fees paid by passengers on that route, from that airport, or during that time frame? Unless a source or journalist shares all this background information, airfare statistics are, if not exactly lies, meaningless and misleading.

George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog™, the most inclusive source of airfare deals that have been researched and verified by experts. Airfarewatchdog compares fares from all airlines and includes the increasing number of airline-site-only and promo code fares.