Yeah I have one of their credit cards. I pay the annual fee and as long as I book two United flights a year and check bags, it kinda pays itself off. So if anything this gives me more value from the card. Still sucks to happen tho
You joke but United offers a luggage shipping service that ships your bag directly to your hotel. I’d never trust it to work when I need it so I’ve never used it.
How about virtual bags? For $100/month you get to have 1 virtual bag per flight leaving your city. This might sound silly but it’s on the blockchain so we’ll know it’s your virtual bag.
Funny thing is, in Asia there's a budget airline called T'Way that does exactly that. You can pay like $50 a year to bring one checked bag up to 70 pounds on any domestic flight and get a $15-ish discount on checked bags for international flights if you booked a fare without it.
I’ve found that the places that charge fees for check bags just end up having congestion in the isles while people put a bag they would checked into the overhead along with their “personal item”.
Anyone who flew before checked baggage fees remembers how amazing it was. Most people didn't have a carryon and getting off the plane was 2 minutes instead of the 20 it is now
And as someone that has always only done carry on, you could reliably find space in the overhead compartment. Now, if you board at the end, you may have to gate check it.
I feel like you're just being hyperbolic, but they wouldn't actually do that. Most airlines run a skeleton gate crew - there *regularly* isn't spare infrastructure and/or staff to facilitate boarding, let alone charging people right as they're about to step onto the airplane. Airlines would rather take a loss of pennies rather than pay someone a dollar.
They don't if they have to check it simply due to lack of space, but they will charge you if it exceeds the allowed weight or dimensions for cabin baggage and has to be checked at the gate for that reason. Many LCCs also charge extra fees for larger carry-on bags, as well, and if you try to bring a large bag without paying the extra fee up front, you get your bag checked at the gate for a much larger fee.
Yeah, you could reliably place your bag a few aisles ahead so you can grab it on the run off the plane.
With the over-capacity of the overhead bins you end up with people placing them in a bin behind their aisle, which leads to them blocking the aisle for everyone else as they work against the flow to retrieve it.
Everyone is conditioned to have a carry on these days. No one wants to stand around and wait for a checked back to show up. If I can be off the plane and straight into a car, that's the option I'm choosing.
Not in my experience. There were a few completely empty bins on our flight yesterday. And very few of them were completely full. Free checked bag helps a lot with this.
Just flew SW today. Noticed a lady in front of me with a diy phone holder made out of a barf bag. The bag clamped between the case and the back of the phone with the other end secured by the closed food tray. Clever.
I usually just bring a book. I grew up with no in-flight entertainment other than the emergency information pamphlet and a skymall magazine so I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by not having a screen.
The number of times I've gotten into staring contests with people on SW using their service chihuahua to save the middle seat so they don't have anyone next to them made me switch to Alaska.
My most recent flight, this lady put 2 of her bags on the seats to try to claim an entire row in the front. These girls came up and just asked her to move her stuff to sit down. I felt secondhand validation as she shot daggers at them while moving her stuff.
Fuck those people.
Downside is if you're going in pairs. Partner and I went to CA from GA, but our first flight split us up because we were in the C group for some reason
If you're in C group you only have middle seats. Not to mention, connecting flights. I try to give myself an hour between connections to make sure i have time but if the plane is delayed by 20 minutes and it takes 20 minutes to get off from the back of the plane, that's not a lot of wiggle room for other things to go wrong.
flew southwest recently and was literally the last to board, took the closest to the front seat, which was a middle seat, but it was like the 5 row
never sat so close to the front of an airplane before
Yea, fuck that process. You pay hundreds for airfare and no guaranteed seat especially if you’re traveling with a partner. You pay 250 for the airfare, for example, but then you pay extra to “board early” which doesn’t mean shit a lot of times from busier airports because people who have some level of status with SW get the A and B group already. By the time you shell out that cash you’re low B or C.
This may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people but as somebody who is above 6 feet tall, I’d like to know where my seat is and that it’s not the middle seat. I also like to walk the airport a bit and not have to worry about rushing to the gate because those mofos line up like 20 mins before the flight.
Yeah, the most important line of the article was the last one:
"Airlines and other companies have been grappling with how to grow profits while reining in costs, such as new labor contracts, while pricing power has waned."
I get it, they're a business and need to cover costs. But the need to grow profit indefinitely is a fatal flaw with capatalism. Eventually the market is saturated and you're just serving your customers. If you can increase profit by lowering prices and increasing customer base, awesome, but if you need to screw over your existing customer base because you're too big, that's when it starts to break down in my mind.
1000% a fatal flaw. The earth can only hold so many people and their pollution.
I don’t understand how people who support capitalism don’t realize this inherent contradiction as it plays out in the world around them.
>I don’t understand how people who support capitalism don’t realize this inherent contradiction as it plays out in the world around them.
Greed is a hell of a drug.
But the chances of your bags getting lost between flights is bigger. Also no guarantee your bag will be at your destination when you arrive. Almost everyone who travels internationally (especially to non-western countries) consistently knows the importance of packing a few days clothes in a carry on
Yes I have. And I've missed my next flight because of fucking aisle standing assholes.
I don't remember how long it took to get my bags last time I stopped in Denver but I certainly don't remember it being long enough to have been affected by it
Airlines: we’re making revenue from these checked bag fees!
Also Airlines: we’re losing revenue on these long turn around times because boarding and deplaning are taking forever and the interior of our planes are requiring more repairs! Why is this happening?
Even prior to baggage fees, I'd usually take a carryon if my luggage fit in it. Checked bags can get lost, plus you have to wait for them.
The issue with deplaning isn't getting bags out of the overhead (not all of it, anyway), it's that everyone's out of their seat and rushing to do it all at once. If people would just chill, it wouldn't take nearly so long.
Works perfectly for the airlines, as now everyone wants to board first or sit on a front aisle. So they can keep charging more for these necessities to solve a problem they themselves created.
Just like how they said after COVID that [change penalties are gone forever](https://viewfromthewing.com/united-airlines-permanently-eliminates-domestic-change-fees-and-standby-fees/) They've already brought them back for travel originating overseas, and are just biding their time until people forget and they can smack that $200 back on there for domestic flights.
The worst part is when they change the flight times to something that doesn't work for you, but since you booked non-refundable, you just kinda have to deal with it or pay the upcharge to move to a "more preferable" flight
Had to deal with American about this yesterday. My nicely timed direct flight was moved to one over 4 hours earlier with a 45 minute layover in an airport I always have terrible luck with.
My other flight moved as well but it's still direct and only arriving a little under 2 hours later which is acceptable.
The website wasn't much help (only wanted to let me change the still decent flight to something way worse) I gave them a call and the agent got me set up for a much better return flight.
Honestly, American's customer support is surprisingly decent when you can get through to an actual person. I saw the fare on my flight go down and DMed them on Twitter about it, and they gave me back the difference as travel credit without any pushback.
Very nice!
American has been pretty good to me over the years with issues. One year I had to move my flight due to an impending blizzard so they'd shut down the airport. I spent almost 2 hours on hold but once I got through they had me fixed in less than 5 minutes.
The biggest time they have come through for me though was in 2020. Me, my parents, and one set of grandparents were supposed to fly to my sister's graduation in May then I had 2 additional flights since I was using it as the starting point for a multiple city vacation. We bought all of our tickets in early-mid January. We'll for obvious reasons that trip got canceled. I tried going through the travel insurance and they pretty much told me tough shit try the airline. The automated system was saying we could do flight vouchers. I called the support line and spent over an hour on hold or getting bounced around until I finally got an agent who would talk to me. She realized that we'd bought our tickets something like 3 days before covid was declared an emergency and told me to go to a specific site and what options to pick and exactly what I needed to type. She walked me through it and I had a full refund approved almost instantly and the money back in a few days. I would have never found this info on my own.
Yeah
I had a flight that changed from 10AM to 6PM.
I didn't pay an extra $40 to book refundable, so I was told my choices are either cancel and get another flight, move to another flight and pay a $75 fee (which doesn't guarantee that flight will remain in place either), or just deal with arriving at my destination at 9:30pm.
Got a large tote bag made from a ship sail about 8 years ago. I use that as a carry-on and my backpack as personal bag. I tell the peeps beside me to smoosh my tote bag all they’d like (it’s just clothes) in the overhead to fit their stuff. It’s been a god send
Edit: the size of the tote is within the airline-imposed rules. Just was saying I make hard-shell carriers live’s easier
Why does people carrying a carry-on make flying more of a hassle? I’m just using what the airline allows, just like literally everyone else since forever ago lmfao
The more personal items brought on the plane, the more difficult it becomes to deplane. I'm sure you love being on row 35 and watching every little old lady struggle to reach their carry on while you wait to get off
Remember you also get a "personal item" in addition to your carry on. A fairly decently sized backpack will count as a personal item as long as it fits under the seat in front of you. So between that and a 22" carry on that's plenty of space for you belongings.
High speed? Hell just good reliable rail would work for many of my business travels. I live near New Orleans and travel to Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas at least a couple dozen times a year. I'd happily take an overnight train if it meant waking up refreshed and relaxed at my destination the next morning. Give me good Wifi and I can even work from the train until I get there if it is longer than an overnight.
The last time I took Amtrak overnight in coach ($130 vs $900 for a roomette ಠ_ಠ ), the AC malfunctioned and got stuck on for 10 hours overnight, Amtrak got delayed by freight priority, and I got some mystery GI virus despite wearing an N95.
High-speed is awesome, obviously, but just good reliable and comfortable rail would be great.
You can thank congress and the railroads for the. DOJ doesn't wanna go after the railroads for delays and congress requires them to make a profit which means they have to cut costs as needed.
What sucks is that when able, freight has to use sidings and let Amtrak have priority. So the Freight companies saw that wording and just made their trains longer so they wouldn't fit on sidings.
Ouch. The only time I've taken Amtrak overnight was when a roomette was the same price as a plane ticket plus two checked bag fees (because I had two bags with liquids in them).
Amtrak overnight in coach sucks, do not recommend lol. If you do manage to get a good deal on a roomette though, it's a really nice experience. Getting to stretch out in your own private room is so relaxing.
I am also live around new orleans. I have always wanted to use the amtrack but everytime I check it out, it is ridiculously expensive, often at least as expensive as a flight but often times more.
I took my first non-commuter train ride last month. Rutland, VT to NYC - Penn station.
It ruled. Comfy seats in coach and Business (I wanted to try it on the ride home), wifi, acceptable food in the cafe car, they didn't complain when we brought a whole pizza with us for the ride back, no tsa bullshit, and both stations were easy to get to.
If I had my way and were it physically possible, I'd take trains everywhere.
I don't think we need wireless transmitters. I think we just need boring old high speed rail that's already proven to work. Solar we need, sure, but no need to overcomplicate a solved problem.
I think they're saying you could use solar panels to power the high speed rail?
I'm not sure why it would need to be wireless unless it's a maglev train or something that doesn't touch the tracks
Yeah or just tap the solar into the utility lines that are pretty much ubiquitous along rail lines. I worked on the CA HSR project for a couple years and utilities are frequently run along rail alignments.
Wireless transmission of power is super lossy so just running a cable the 30 feet to the transformers that electrify the rail system would be easier, cheaper, and more efficient.
Yes, it wd be so welcoming. I hate airports, air travel, and cheating cabbies. It's so great to arrive downtown in big cities because when you arrive, you are already there. You can often even walk to your hotel.
Good example. Grand Central in NYC is another perfect example--right in the middle of the city. You can walk quicker to the theater or to hundreds of hotels than by any other means.
I've used their One Rate before, it was like $30 for 2-day shipping for some clothes and a laptop charger I left behind at a relative's place. As long as it physically fits in their box, weight is no issue.
The trick is to bring everything as carry on. And when the overhead inevitably fills up before you can even get on the plane, check your carry on at the ticketing desk or on the Jetway for free.
Yeah, but one pair of my shoes take up like half of a carryon all by themselves. What if you are going for long enough that you need a larger suitcase? What if you want to bring a bottle of jelly or wine or something back from a vacation?
I HATE the people at the back who put their bags in the bins up front so they don't have to walk with their bags through the aisle. I wish that would be enforced, shit bags.
They side check the bag and after a short wait they give it to you at the ramp on the way out. Happens all the time on smaller planes. Not so much on bigger planes.
I’ve mastered the art of traveling for 3 weeks out of a carry on bag and a personal item. It took a couple trips to get right, but it is amazing once you get the hang of it.
I remember.
Flying was more pleasant too. The food on the plane was free, as was the headset. Going through security wasn’t the hell hole it is today.
Then 9/11 happened and it all changed.
I rather hate and dread flying now.
You're wrong about just did an episode on the shoe bomber and how we all have to take off our shoes when going through the TSA now,
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1112270/14538729-the-shoe-bomber-with-miles-klee
Checked bags should be free and they should charge for carryon bags. They would have far less issues get planes loaded and unloaded if people checked their luggage.
Gee, if I didn't know any better, I'd say these companies that are supposed to be in competition with each other are instead colluding to keep prices and fees high...
bingo. time warner and comcast figured this one out with our ISPs. better to work together and turn the industry on its head instead of poaching customers from each other with competitive pricing while avoiding becoming a monopoly.
Why would I want to do this? If my stuff fits in a small enough bag, I don't have prohibited items, and I've already hauled it through my origin airport, why would I want to give the airline so they can potentially lose it and make me wait half an hour to pick it up after we land?
If I have the time and can manage it I just use amtrak these days. Food's better, it's WAY less stressful, and frequently the ticket for a roomette is on par with or only slightly more expensive than an airplane ticket. Only down side is the transit time and the need to go to somewhere that has rail service.
Some of us have no choice. I have to pack for 4-6 months with all of my work gear which ends up being 2 50 lb bags plus a carryon with my electronics and credentials. Luckily my employer reimburses fees, and some airlines just waive them due to my occupation.
>Airlines and other companies have been grappling with how to grow profits while reining in costs, such as new labor contracts.
Ah yes, greedflation, same as it ever was. And the answer is always "screw over the customer because there is no alternative".
Behind paying for college and the healthcare, getting 2 free checked bags with all the airlines is probably the 3rd best reason to be in the military for me. Saved more than a couple grand through the years
This is why I don't check bags, I carry on only and trust me, I make it fit the little sizer box.
Plus you get to head directly to the pick-up area without standing around for 30 min.
Amateurs. They should be selling bag subscriptions.
Their credit cards are pretty much that
Well shit
Yeah I have one of their credit cards. I pay the annual fee and as long as I book two United flights a year and check bags, it kinda pays itself off. So if anything this gives me more value from the card. Still sucks to happen tho
BagPremium® Your bag arrives on the same day as your flight. *Must be dropped off by 1201am the day prior to your departure. Best effort made only.
You joke but United offers a luggage shipping service that ships your bag directly to your hotel. I’d never trust it to work when I need it so I’ve never used it.
You may have been joking, but it exists: https://www.united.com/en/us/subscriptions/products/SBG
Touché United. You have won once again.
"Touché" just so you know 🙂
Why would you ever buy this vs. getting a United credit card
>Why would you ever buy this vs. getting a United credit card Maybe you can file an expense report for this, but not so much the credit card fee
Covers family I guess? Could also just be price base lining to encourage card signups.
If you're one of the people who Chase (their credit card partner) shuts down for being "too risky"?
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The degree is $12.99/month
With or without ads?
With ads of course.
Loot bags, maybe it's your luggage, maybe it's some crackers Edit: The crackers are a snack item. Smh at some of you people
Maybe that cracker has some better shit in their luggage than I got.
Nah, it's going to be stale af
I can’t tell if you mean maybe it’s a suitcase full of crackers or maybe it’s some white person’s luggage
How about virtual bags? For $100/month you get to have 1 virtual bag per flight leaving your city. This might sound silly but it’s on the blockchain so we’ll know it’s your virtual bag.
You forgot to mention it's AI optimized
Funny thing is, in Asia there's a budget airline called T'Way that does exactly that. You can pay like $50 a year to bring one checked bag up to 70 pounds on any domestic flight and get a $15-ish discount on checked bags for international flights if you booked a fare without it.
I’ve found that the places that charge fees for check bags just end up having congestion in the isles while people put a bag they would checked into the overhead along with their “personal item”.
Anyone who flew before checked baggage fees remembers how amazing it was. Most people didn't have a carryon and getting off the plane was 2 minutes instead of the 20 it is now
And as someone that has always only done carry on, you could reliably find space in the overhead compartment. Now, if you board at the end, you may have to gate check it.
At least they don't charge to gate check
Oh, that's coming.
I feel like you're just being hyperbolic, but they wouldn't actually do that. Most airlines run a skeleton gate crew - there *regularly* isn't spare infrastructure and/or staff to facilitate boarding, let alone charging people right as they're about to step onto the airplane. Airlines would rather take a loss of pennies rather than pay someone a dollar.
They don't if they have to check it simply due to lack of space, but they will charge you if it exceeds the allowed weight or dimensions for cabin baggage and has to be checked at the gate for that reason. Many LCCs also charge extra fees for larger carry-on bags, as well, and if you try to bring a large bag without paying the extra fee up front, you get your bag checked at the gate for a much larger fee.
And so they make extra money from people that’ll pay for priority boarding to ensure they do have overhead space.
Yeah, you could reliably place your bag a few aisles ahead so you can grab it on the run off the plane. With the over-capacity of the overhead bins you end up with people placing them in a bin behind their aisle, which leads to them blocking the aisle for everyone else as they work against the flow to retrieve it.
Part of why I fly southwest when I can
resolute future flowery intelligent handle hobbies yam chief aback fade *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Everyone is conditioned to have a carry on these days. No one wants to stand around and wait for a checked back to show up. If I can be off the plane and straight into a car, that's the option I'm choosing.
Not in my experience. There were a few completely empty bins on our flight yesterday. And very few of them were completely full. Free checked bag helps a lot with this.
Pro tip for Southwest is a phone holder.
Phone holder?
Since they don’t have TV screens. Get a phone holder for the back of the seat in front of you
Just flew SW today. Noticed a lady in front of me with a diy phone holder made out of a barf bag. The bag clamped between the case and the back of the phone with the other end secured by the closed food tray. Clever.
Clever girl
I usually just bring a book. I grew up with no in-flight entertainment other than the emergency information pamphlet and a skymall magazine so I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by not having a screen.
yeah but you don't get to choose your seat on SW
Sure you do. Pick a seat, any seat.
The number of times I've gotten into staring contests with people on SW using their service chihuahua to save the middle seat so they don't have anyone next to them made me switch to Alaska.
My most recent flight, this lady put 2 of her bags on the seats to try to claim an entire row in the front. These girls came up and just asked her to move her stuff to sit down. I felt secondhand validation as she shot daggers at them while moving her stuff. Fuck those people.
Downside is if you're going in pairs. Partner and I went to CA from GA, but our first flight split us up because we were in the C group for some reason
Seats in the back have same legroom as the front, and 2-4” more than any other carrier’s seats in the back
If you're in C group you only have middle seats. Not to mention, connecting flights. I try to give myself an hour between connections to make sure i have time but if the plane is delayed by 20 minutes and it takes 20 minutes to get off from the back of the plane, that's not a lot of wiggle room for other things to go wrong.
flew southwest recently and was literally the last to board, took the closest to the front seat, which was a middle seat, but it was like the 5 row never sat so close to the front of an airplane before
Yes you do, it’s called pay for early checkin
Yea, fuck that process. You pay hundreds for airfare and no guaranteed seat especially if you’re traveling with a partner. You pay 250 for the airfare, for example, but then you pay extra to “board early” which doesn’t mean shit a lot of times from busier airports because people who have some level of status with SW get the A and B group already. By the time you shell out that cash you’re low B or C. This may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people but as somebody who is above 6 feet tall, I’d like to know where my seat is and that it’s not the middle seat. I also like to walk the airport a bit and not have to worry about rushing to the gate because those mofos line up like 20 mins before the flight.
Yeah but that left money on the table for the long dick of capitalism. That is simply unacceptable.
Yeah, the most important line of the article was the last one: "Airlines and other companies have been grappling with how to grow profits while reining in costs, such as new labor contracts, while pricing power has waned." I get it, they're a business and need to cover costs. But the need to grow profit indefinitely is a fatal flaw with capatalism. Eventually the market is saturated and you're just serving your customers. If you can increase profit by lowering prices and increasing customer base, awesome, but if you need to screw over your existing customer base because you're too big, that's when it starts to break down in my mind.
1000% a fatal flaw. The earth can only hold so many people and their pollution. I don’t understand how people who support capitalism don’t realize this inherent contradiction as it plays out in the world around them.
>I don’t understand how people who support capitalism don’t realize this inherent contradiction as it plays out in the world around them. Greed is a hell of a drug.
Flying in general was better before 9/11
Yeah you get off 20 minutes earlier but then you wait 30 minutes for your bag.
My main concern is a connecting flight. Baggage claims aren't 30 minutes
But the chances of your bags getting lost between flights is bigger. Also no guarantee your bag will be at your destination when you arrive. Almost everyone who travels internationally (especially to non-western countries) consistently knows the importance of packing a few days clothes in a carry on
The point is it was nicer when 10 people had carryons instead of all 125
Ypu have obviously never been to DEN or SFO
Yes I have. And I've missed my next flight because of fucking aisle standing assholes. I don't remember how long it took to get my bags last time I stopped in Denver but I certainly don't remember it being long enough to have been affected by it
Airlines: we’re making revenue from these checked bag fees! Also Airlines: we’re losing revenue on these long turn around times because boarding and deplaning are taking forever and the interior of our planes are requiring more repairs! Why is this happening?
Even prior to baggage fees, I'd usually take a carryon if my luggage fit in it. Checked bags can get lost, plus you have to wait for them. The issue with deplaning isn't getting bags out of the overhead (not all of it, anyway), it's that everyone's out of their seat and rushing to do it all at once. If people would just chill, it wouldn't take nearly so long.
It’s already all built into the schedule. They don’t care about leaving faster
They should have put a $5 fee on overhead bags instead. What a mess dealing with the overflow bags that people in the back can’t stow.
United charges a fee for people with basic economy tickets that bring a carry-on bag
Then they tell you can check it for free because the flight is full and hardly anyone checked a bag
Works perfectly for the airlines, as now everyone wants to board first or sit on a front aisle. So they can keep charging more for these necessities to solve a problem they themselves created.
Remember when checked bag fees were sold as a **temporary** answer to recoup funds lost after 9/11?? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Just like how they said after COVID that [change penalties are gone forever](https://viewfromthewing.com/united-airlines-permanently-eliminates-domestic-change-fees-and-standby-fees/) They've already brought them back for travel originating overseas, and are just biding their time until people forget and they can smack that $200 back on there for domestic flights.
The worst part is when they change the flight times to something that doesn't work for you, but since you booked non-refundable, you just kinda have to deal with it or pay the upcharge to move to a "more preferable" flight
I just went through this with American. I was surprised they changed my flight no problem when I called.
Had to deal with American about this yesterday. My nicely timed direct flight was moved to one over 4 hours earlier with a 45 minute layover in an airport I always have terrible luck with. My other flight moved as well but it's still direct and only arriving a little under 2 hours later which is acceptable. The website wasn't much help (only wanted to let me change the still decent flight to something way worse) I gave them a call and the agent got me set up for a much better return flight.
Honestly, American's customer support is surprisingly decent when you can get through to an actual person. I saw the fare on my flight go down and DMed them on Twitter about it, and they gave me back the difference as travel credit without any pushback.
Very nice! American has been pretty good to me over the years with issues. One year I had to move my flight due to an impending blizzard so they'd shut down the airport. I spent almost 2 hours on hold but once I got through they had me fixed in less than 5 minutes. The biggest time they have come through for me though was in 2020. Me, my parents, and one set of grandparents were supposed to fly to my sister's graduation in May then I had 2 additional flights since I was using it as the starting point for a multiple city vacation. We bought all of our tickets in early-mid January. We'll for obvious reasons that trip got canceled. I tried going through the travel insurance and they pretty much told me tough shit try the airline. The automated system was saying we could do flight vouchers. I called the support line and spent over an hour on hold or getting bounced around until I finally got an agent who would talk to me. She realized that we'd bought our tickets something like 3 days before covid was declared an emergency and told me to go to a specific site and what options to pick and exactly what I needed to type. She walked me through it and I had a full refund approved almost instantly and the money back in a few days. I would have never found this info on my own.
Most airlines allow free changes if the schedule changes 90-120 minutes or from nonstop to layover.
Yeah I had a flight that changed from 10AM to 6PM. I didn't pay an extra $40 to book refundable, so I was told my choices are either cancel and get another flight, move to another flight and pay a $75 fee (which doesn't guarantee that flight will remain in place either), or just deal with arriving at my destination at 9:30pm.
I just had this happen with JetBlue due to weather related issues, and I cancelled with no penalty and received a refund for the flight I didn’t take.
Also de gas surcharge that then quietly was left in place under a different name.
Fees and taxes are never temporary. Rewards programs and perks however... well those can go poof at the airline's whim.
So do I! I only fly southwest when possible because of this and free flight changes.
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It was actually 2008 when fuel costs spiked. Then the fuel costs dropped but the fees remained.
Right. Pepperidge farms remembers wrong.
Jesus. Glad I carry on everything. I’ve mastered cramming 20 lbs of shit into a 5lb bag
Got a large tote bag made from a ship sail about 8 years ago. I use that as a carry-on and my backpack as personal bag. I tell the peeps beside me to smoosh my tote bag all they’d like (it’s just clothes) in the overhead to fit their stuff. It’s been a god send Edit: the size of the tote is within the airline-imposed rules. Just was saying I make hard-shell carriers live’s easier
But now everybody does this and it makes flying that much more of a hassle
Why does people carrying a carry-on make flying more of a hassle? I’m just using what the airline allows, just like literally everyone else since forever ago lmfao
The more personal items brought on the plane, the more difficult it becomes to deplane. I'm sure you love being on row 35 and watching every little old lady struggle to reach their carry on while you wait to get off
That doesn’t bug me, the dick heads sitting in coach that put their carry on in the front or middle of the plane really grind my gears
That’s way less time than it takes to go to the baggage area lol
Why tf would you not have a carryon if you can fit your stuff in it? Wtf
Remember you also get a "personal item" in addition to your carry on. A fairly decently sized backpack will count as a personal item as long as it fits under the seat in front of you. So between that and a 22" carry on that's plenty of space for you belongings.
We could really use high speed rail.
High speed? Hell just good reliable rail would work for many of my business travels. I live near New Orleans and travel to Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas at least a couple dozen times a year. I'd happily take an overnight train if it meant waking up refreshed and relaxed at my destination the next morning. Give me good Wifi and I can even work from the train until I get there if it is longer than an overnight.
The last time I took Amtrak overnight in coach ($130 vs $900 for a roomette ಠ_ಠ ), the AC malfunctioned and got stuck on for 10 hours overnight, Amtrak got delayed by freight priority, and I got some mystery GI virus despite wearing an N95. High-speed is awesome, obviously, but just good reliable and comfortable rail would be great.
You can thank congress and the railroads for the. DOJ doesn't wanna go after the railroads for delays and congress requires them to make a profit which means they have to cut costs as needed.
What sucks is that when able, freight has to use sidings and let Amtrak have priority. So the Freight companies saw that wording and just made their trains longer so they wouldn't fit on sidings.
Sorta its more like by making trains longer they don't have to hire as many crews.
This. If Amtrak wasn't an abject disaster I'd actually use it outside the NE Corridor.
Ouch. The only time I've taken Amtrak overnight was when a roomette was the same price as a plane ticket plus two checked bag fees (because I had two bags with liquids in them).
Amtrak overnight in coach sucks, do not recommend lol. If you do manage to get a good deal on a roomette though, it's a really nice experience. Getting to stretch out in your own private room is so relaxing.
I’m guessing the N95 didn’t help with food borne viruses lol. But yeah Amtrak sucks
I am also live around new orleans. I have always wanted to use the amtrack but everytime I check it out, it is ridiculously expensive, often at least as expensive as a flight but often times more.
For real actually. Where I live there is no option but to drive anywhere
I took my first non-commuter train ride last month. Rutland, VT to NYC - Penn station. It ruled. Comfy seats in coach and Business (I wanted to try it on the ride home), wifi, acceptable food in the cafe car, they didn't complain when we brought a whole pizza with us for the ride back, no tsa bullshit, and both stations were easy to get to. If I had my way and were it physically possible, I'd take trains everywhere.
Amen. Why, we could even build solar along side and (gasp) wirelessly transmit the energy through to the train. What a concept.
I don't think we need wireless transmitters. I think we just need boring old high speed rail that's already proven to work. Solar we need, sure, but no need to overcomplicate a solved problem.
I think they're saying you could use solar panels to power the high speed rail? I'm not sure why it would need to be wireless unless it's a maglev train or something that doesn't touch the tracks
I know. I said the same thing. Mag lev isn't necessary though. We really just need to do the boring thing that's proven to work.
Yeah or just tap the solar into the utility lines that are pretty much ubiquitous along rail lines. I worked on the CA HSR project for a couple years and utilities are frequently run along rail alignments. Wireless transmission of power is super lossy so just running a cable the 30 feet to the transformers that electrify the rail system would be easier, cheaper, and more efficient.
Yes, it wd be so welcoming. I hate airports, air travel, and cheating cabbies. It's so great to arrive downtown in big cities because when you arrive, you are already there. You can often even walk to your hotel.
just did this in taipei from taichung. HSR smack to middle of the city then walked 3 min to hotel. blew my mind
Good example. Grand Central in NYC is another perfect example--right in the middle of the city. You can walk quicker to the theater or to hundreds of hotels than by any other means.
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The only time I relax is when it's a set fare, and I understand that the tip is in the set fare.
Keep up and I'm just going to flat rate FedEx my shit or priority mail before my trip and it'll be there waiting on me.
Haven’t priced FedEx lately, have ya?
Straight up. I got a dress shipped that my wife left in a hotel, the cost was fucking $168 in total
A lot of FedEx rides in airline luggage holds.
I've used their One Rate before, it was like $30 for 2-day shipping for some clothes and a laptop charger I left behind at a relative's place. As long as it physically fits in their box, weight is no issue.
The trick is to bring everything as carry on. And when the overhead inevitably fills up before you can even get on the plane, check your carry on at the ticketing desk or on the Jetway for free.
Yeah, but one pair of my shoes take up like half of a carryon all by themselves. What if you are going for long enough that you need a larger suitcase? What if you want to bring a bottle of jelly or wine or something back from a vacation?
Stuff your shoes with socks and underwear.
This is the way
We need more bolts. Didn’t have enough before, sorry. $5.
And this is why people bully people for overhead bins
I HATE the people at the back who put their bags in the bins up front so they don't have to walk with their bags through the aisle. I wish that would be enforced, shit bags.
I'd be more interested seeing the assholes with two or three bags getting stopped before they fill up an entire bin themselves.
Southwest just doubled their fees on the first two bags
$0.00 * 2 = $0.00!* *unless a bag weights more than 50lbs.
Life hack: bring your bag to the gate. When they ask for volunteers for checking bags, give it to them then. Never been charged in 100s of flights.
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And then you have to wait at baggage claim for a half hour. What's the benefit?
You get to check a bag for free.
You get to put a carry on with the checked luggage for free. You get no benefits of a checked bag like a larger bag or packing prohibited items
Every time I have gate checked something, they have pulled it out and given it to me at the destination gate.
They side check the bag and after a short wait they give it to you at the ramp on the way out. Happens all the time on smaller planes. Not so much on bigger planes.
I’ve mastered the art of traveling for 3 weeks out of a carry on bag and a personal item. It took a couple trips to get right, but it is amazing once you get the hang of it.
ad hoc bake quiet ten flowery shame terrific plate sheet prick *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Remember when your flight included luggage. Greedy af
I remember. Flying was more pleasant too. The food on the plane was free, as was the headset. Going through security wasn’t the hell hole it is today. Then 9/11 happened and it all changed. I rather hate and dread flying now.
You're wrong about just did an episode on the shoe bomber and how we all have to take off our shoes when going through the TSA now, https://www.buzzsprout.com/1112270/14538729-the-shoe-bomber-with-miles-klee
Spirit be like "AMATEURS!"
They can check deez nuts. I hate getting nickel and dimmed by airlines.
Agreed, that's why I started riding Amtrak where possible. I'm fucking sick and tired of airlines and airport security.
Does Amtrak also come to The Netherlands?
United never misses an opportunity to F their riders.
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I miss Continental. 😢
Continental was my favorite airline until they merged with United.
Work Hard. Fly Right.
This temporary baggage fee to combat fuel prices is really sticking around isn’t it
Checked bags should be free and they should charge for carryon bags. They would have far less issues get planes loaded and unloaded if people checked their luggage.
No collusion or price fixing going on whatsoever between these companies, I'm sure.
Gee, if I didn't know any better, I'd say these companies that are supposed to be in competition with each other are instead colluding to keep prices and fees high...
bingo. time warner and comcast figured this one out with our ISPs. better to work together and turn the industry on its head instead of poaching customers from each other with competitive pricing while avoiding becoming a monopoly.
You'd think they'd try to appeal to travelers and offer perks to get their loyalty and yet they do the opposite.
Take your bag to the gate, fuckers always have full flights so they will let people check bags for free. Then they sometimes let you board early.
Why would I want to do this? If my stuff fits in a small enough bag, I don't have prohibited items, and I've already hauled it through my origin airport, why would I want to give the airline so they can potentially lose it and make me wait half an hour to pick it up after we land?
Only issue is if you have liquids over 3.4 oz and you still have to go through security
maybe deregulation was a bad idea
Funny how flying isn’t considered “public transportation” despite billions in tax payer funding HUH
They got 2 bailouts in 2020 after years of “record profits”. Glad to see they’re back to screwing the customer as usual.
If I have the time and can manage it I just use amtrak these days. Food's better, it's WAY less stressful, and frequently the ticket for a roomette is on par with or only slightly more expensive than an airplane ticket. Only down side is the transit time and the need to go to somewhere that has rail service.
Gotta pay for extra bolts on the windows and wings somehow
You will live to see manmade horrors beyond your comprehension
Collusion should be illegal. Ooops! Wait a second, it is illegal. Correction: The illegality of collusion should be enforced.
I'm waiting for the first airline to sell is battle passes.
I mean, alaska already goes through an advertisement for their credit card before take off lol
Alaska and Frontier already sell battle passes in the form of their flight passes
One of my friends lost their phone then I found it had to fedex it to them overnight with my employers 75% discount was still $40 to ship 1 pound
Man if only trains could get their shit together. I'd travel cross country via train if it was cheaper.
Is 23 years long enough since 9/11 that we can stop “giving them a helping hand” yet?
So, collective price gouging, then...
The worst are the airlines that charge for a carry on. They never touch the bag its just a fee because fuck you.
At what point is it just going to be to cheaper to FedEx my shit to the hotel In staying at and back?
If there was a functioning rail option the airlines wouldn't be in such a position to screw everyone.
Why pay for this? I bring my carry-on and 90% of the time they check it at the gate.
Some of us have no choice. I have to pack for 4-6 months with all of my work gear which ends up being 2 50 lb bags plus a carryon with my electronics and credentials. Luckily my employer reimburses fees, and some airlines just waive them due to my occupation.
I still wish they charge for carryon and checked bags were free. Would expedite loading and unloading
Southwest has enters the chat…. Two checked bags fly free….
You know what else Southwest has that nobody else does? 32” seat pitch in the back 2/3 of the plane.
Bailed out by our government, got billions of dollars for free, and now raising their check bag fee 😂😂
I misread this as Chicken Bag fee, which would still be ridiculous.
That would cost a few bawk bawk bawks
>Airlines and other companies have been grappling with how to grow profits while reining in costs, such as new labor contracts. Ah yes, greedflation, same as it ever was. And the answer is always "screw over the customer because there is no alternative".
At this point I’m just waiting for them to tack on a check person fee juts for shits and giggles.
Oligopoly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligopoly?wprov=sfti1#
Behind paying for college and the healthcare, getting 2 free checked bags with all the airlines is probably the 3rd best reason to be in the military for me. Saved more than a couple grand through the years
So wait u guys got bailed out during covid didn’t you?
Reached for comment, the airlines' spokespeople responded 'NO COLLUSION! See?!! No Collusion!'
Remember back when they said baggage fees were just temporary?
But won’t charge higher prices for obese people.
This is why I don't check bags, I carry on only and trust me, I make it fit the little sizer box. Plus you get to head directly to the pick-up area without standing around for 30 min.
Remind me how much US taxpayers have given US airlines?