Too many fees!

[mike777]

Flying to Chicago in about 12 hours no extra fees for carryon  but buying a ticket is a hassle, price changes  every ten minutes with online purchases. Checking in online was a hassle just now.

If you're buying your ticket from a service like orbitz or expedia, be sure to clear the temporary files and cookies stored on your computer before you visit the site. These services want you to buy tickets on your first visit, and subsequent visits result in higher prices. At least this is what I was told by a professional travel blogger, so it may not be entirely accurate.

That's interesting to know!

fwiw...I am told trying to buy a lowest price airline ticket thru expedia, orbit...etc basically is a red eye.

 

this often means you waste one or two days......so.....be careful.

[jjbrr]

i use a service called sidestep.com to book my tickets for whatever. just like expedia or hotwire search for the best available rates for whatever flight you want, sidestep searches all the services to figure out which one is offering the best deal. you might want to check it out.

[Fluffy]

The carry on luggage madness I guess is enforced because the airport charges the airline for each luggage delivered into the airplane, wich leads to airline charging the clients for checkin luggage, wich leads to everyone picking carry on luggage.

 

I think this is the thing that should be fixed. Stop charging the airlines for the check in lugagge but rather pay a fixed price for each flight.

[helene_t]

I think it's good if people who do not check in luggage get it cheaper than those who do, assuming that other things are equal, i.e. both passengers carry the same amount of cabin luggage.

 

Ideally they should charge an amount per piece and per kilogram of luggage and then it (probably) doesn't matter whether the luggage is checked in or carried in the cabin.

[jjbrr]

I think it's good if people who do not check in luggage get it cheaper than those who do, assuming that other things are equal, i.e. both passengers carry the same amount of cabin luggage.

 

Ideally they should charge an amount per piece and per kilogram of luggage and then it (probably) doesn't matter whether the luggage is checked in or carried in the cabin.

I think I disagree. I have a problem with travelers getting a discount to inconvenience everyone around them when the alternative is to check the luggage and not inconvenience anyone except themselves when the luggage doesn't arrive on time.

 

It seems to me that the privilege to handle your own luggage and therefore make a speedy escape from the airport while hassling all the other passengers on board should come at a price.

[jjbrr]

and furthermore I think charging more for unchecked luggage would be consistent with most airlines' pricing models that try to extract maximum value from businesspeople and last minute weekend travelers, who are more likely to carry a day bag on board and not wait for luggage.

[helene_t]

Charging for cabin luggage may impose some practical problems. People sometimes have a couple of plastic bags from the tax free shops which they bought after checking in. They may not have anticipated on that when checking in. Then they would have to pay at the gate. Sure, this is doable, but at the moment the gate staff is not prepared to receive payment.

 

Also I think airports are partly to blame as they charge for check-in luggage while the security does not charge for x-raying cabin luggage.

[jjbrr]

I thought airlines consider plastic bags and purses and such to be personal items, which I would hate to see people charge for. I was refering to big unchecked bags: those with wheels, big duffel bags, oversized backpacks.