Travel resources start exposing airline fees

by Scott Carmichael on

We’ve covered sneaky airlines fees in the past, and as airlines learn the tricks to adding more and more fees to your trip, some online resources are starting to fight back.

In the past, your ticket would consist of a base price, with some airport taxes, and a 9/11 security fee. Then airlines started whining about rising gas prices, so they added fuel surcharges. Then when gas prices went down again, they conveniently forgot to remove the fuel surcharge.

What we are left with nowadays is ticket prices where up to 65% of the fare is actually for fees, taxes, surcharges and other additional stuff.

The worst part of all these fees is that it is often impossible to get a clear picture what you are paying for. Your e-ticket will usually only show some cryptic codes, and most third party booking sites don’t let you view a price breakdown at all.

Then, to make matters worse, some airlines have started adding fees for things that used to be free – checked baggage, snacks, drinks and even preferred seating.

The tide is turning though – and several online services are helping you battle fee creep. The first of these services is FlyingFees.com, where you can find the add-on fees for most major US airlines, and several foreign carriers.

The site is pretty smart, and even lets you find the cheapest carrier sorted by additional fees. In addition to the basic fees, you’ll also find an overview of virtually every other fee airlines have come up with, including “telephone booking fees”, “ticket change fees” and even the price of a snack or headset once on board. It isn’t the prettiest site, but it is an extremely comprehensive resource.

The next new resource is TripAdvisor – they have been around for several years, but recently added airline price searches. In addition to showing the cheapest airline, they also claim to be the first to show exactly what your flight will cost, but I did not really find any fee information I couldn’t find on any of the other booking resources.

Bottom line is to do your homework before booking your ticket. It makes no sense to save $50 on your ticket, only to be charged $100 for checking a couple of bags.

The next hidden fee – Spirit Airlines to charge a fee for buying a ticket?

by Scott Carmichael on

Nope – this is not an April fools post. Spirit Airlines, one of the cheapest of the US low cost carriers is working behind the scenes to introduce a “passenger usage fee” which is just a snazzy way of describing a fee to cover the costs of you buying a ticket.

That’s right – Spirit Airlines is going to charge you, in order to charge you. The fee is rumored to be $5 or $10, and will apply to any booking made anywhere other than the Spirit Airlines ticket desk at your airport.

The whole thing sounds like a joke gone bad, but it is actually the result of negotiations with the Department of Transportation.

Spirit had initially launched a whole lineup of ridiculous fees last year, including what they called a “natural occurrence interruption fee”; a $2.50 fee to help recover the costs involved with storms and other weather related incidents. The DOT was not amused, and Spirit was handed a $40,000 fine.

Spirit clearly learned their lesson, because this time they are negotiating with the DOT how to implement these new fees. One area of concern is whether Spirit will be forced to include the fee in all their advertising, or whether they can keep it hidden until the last moment, usually when you and I pull out our credit cards. The end result may be that they need to advertise it on their own site, but that third party booking sites won’t be forced to mention it until the last page of your booking process.

In my opinion, the whole fee process is just becoming silly – yes, we consumers are always looking for nice cheap tickets, but we are not entirely stupid. When a $100 ticket becomes $200 after all the fees and taxes, we know we are not getting a good deal. Fingers crossed that the DOT keeps us in mind when they finally approve this new fee racket.

Check out these stories from the airport checkpoint!

Hotel pays your baggage fees

by Annie Scott on

Kimpton Group, a company with hotels and restaurants all over the United States and in British Columbia, is totally paying your baggage fees through December 31st, 2008.

The promotion, called “We Got Your Bag,” is simple: Due to airlines now charging you to check a second bag (which is totally ludicrous), people are unable to bring all the things they need to make themselves comfortable without paying an irritating little fee. Kimpton has the calamine for your woes. Show a receipt for your fee at the hotel desk when you check in, and they will match it with a room credit (up to $25.00), no questions asked.

So go ahead and pack that dead body in a second suitcase.

No really, this will definitely help out for holiday travelers with suitcases full of gifts. Says Michael Depatie, CEO and president of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants: “Giving our guests relief from these new fees is how we hope to make the holidays a little happier.”

Thanks, Kimpton!

If oil drops shouldn’t fuel surchages drop too?

by Grant Martin on

Ever since oil went through the roof this summer, airlines have been instituting extra fees left and right to recoup the costs. Now, in addition to initial ticket price, passengers are being asked to pay for everything from bottled water to selecting seats to checking luggage.

Once oil returns from the stratosphere, shouldn’t the airlines rescind those fees? Don’t count on it. Many carriers claim that the changes recently made are long overdue corrections to a market that has too long been underweight. Whether or not that’s actually true, you might be hard pressed to find an airline willing to return to the “no fees” days.

Needless to say, I’m proud to report that at least the Canadian airlines are taking steps to right the ship after oil dropped.Air Canada, WestJet and Porter Airlines just announced that they were erasing the fuel surcharges that they, instituted earlier this year — just as long as oil stays beneath $100 a barrel.

It’s nice to know that they’re not using the recent oil spike to take advantage of the everyday consumer. Now if they could just teach the American carriers the same less we’d all be in business.

Consumer rally keeps meals on United flights — what about other fees?

by Grant Martin on

Nice work team. Late last week we reported that United Airlines was going to charge for meals on overseas flights departing from Washington Dulles. Thanks to a great deal of outcry from United’s passengers, bloggers and you readers, the embattled airline has now decided to rescind their decision.

A small victory in the face of many negative changes that have recently plagued the airline industry.

So with the price of oil sinking back to outrageous prices (down from take-a-second-mortgage-on-your-condo prices), are we going to start to see fewer ridiculous fees? Will fuel surcharges drop back down after taking a leap through the roof?

Don’t count on it. In some ways, oil prices were an excuse for the airline industry to make back some of the inflationary ground that they haven’t been pursuing over the last twenty years. At least this way some of our favorite carriers might be able to start operating consistently in the black rather than the cyclical merger-bankruptcy model that isn’t working.

I’m dedicating my next soggy chicken and spinach airplane meal to you, Gadling readers. Keep up the good work.