I am still looking for the punch line…
Cliff’s Notes Version: $45 for a CARRY-ON.
$30 if paid online. $20 if you’re a member of the $9 fare club.
Really what this does is get the incentives back where they should be. People should want to check their bags and now that the checked bag fee is less, I think they will.
still yet another reason to fly Southwest.
The new charge is $45 if paid at the gate, and $30 if paid in advance, and begins Aug. 1. Spirit said on Tuesday that it reduced its lowest fares by $40 on average, so most customers won’t really pay more to fly.
Lower fares $40 on average The new ripoff charge is $45 or $5 more. How many people will know whether their carry one will fit under the seat before going to the airport? I say the most passenger WILL pay more because they won’t know about the rip off until they get to the gate.
Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza said having fewer carry-on bags will help empty the plane faster. He said the idea is to get customers to pay for individual things they want, while keeping the base fare low.
“The beauty of it is they will do what they think is best for them and will now have the choice,” he said.
The beauty of this is that it is pure bullshit! There’s going to come a point where people, even the sheeple of this nation, are just going to say enough is enough.
So what you are saying is charging people for just bringing the clothes, etc. they need while taking a trip is a good thing?
It’s a free country. People can choose to fly them or not to fly them. They can choose how much to bring on their trip. It’s entirely within Spirit’s rights to do this and it’s entirely within your rights not to fly them if you don’t think it’s fair. However, to express “outrage” and call it a “ripoff” is misguided, wrong, and pointless.
Businesses have a responsibility to turn a profit, and if this is a path that they want to follow they are entirely within their rights to do so. However, the internet talking heads seem to act like it’s still the 70’s when everything was nice and cheap, the “stewardesses” wore short skirts and were cute, and fuel was $0.60 per gallon.
Wake up call: It’s not the 70’s anymore. In order to give people the flexibility they want, airlines have to do creative and different things. Space onboard the airplane is worth more than space in the cargo hold, so they’re charging more for it.
Spirit actually does a good job explaining the fees and their costs at their website: spiritair.com/Policiesbags.aspx#CarryOnBag
Fantastic idea, I’d like to see more airlines implement this. Overhead bin space is pretty limited; there’s not enough room for everyone to bring a large carryon. Let those who want it pay for it.
But they leave one thing out: Do they really expect to make a profit by nickel-and-diming people and just generally irritating them.
I read the section on delayed luggage. I noticed not a thing was mentioned about refunding the BS baggage fee in case the baggage is delayed or lost.
Unfortunately, I have the feeling this is going to catch on with the other airlines and people are just going to put up with it. As long as Southwest doesn’t charge for baggage (checked or carry-on), they will get my business. if my trip is such that baggage is required I will fly Southwest even if it means a 2 or 3 hour drive to my destination.
Yes, I know the fares are lower than they should be for an airline to make a profit. However, I don’t think they should be charging for a person to have a reasonable amount of luggage. I don’t care if food is charged for - I can always buy a 3 Musketeers Bar to eat on the plane. I don’t care if they charge for inflight entertainment - I can always bring my MP3 player or a book. I do care if they charge for luggage because I can’t just by new clothes when I get to my destination in order to avoid the outrageous fees.
If they are going to charge for baggage then they should be charging on a per-pound basis. The whole idea behind baggage fees is that the baggage costs the airline to move it. Therefore, the person with 20 pounds of luggage should be charged less than the person with 30 pounds.
A lot easier, and getting to be a lot cheaper, to just Fedex your luggage to your destination. Sure makes traveling easier not carrying bags as well.
Not all of their costs are variable and there’s no reason their revenue structure needs to exactly match their cost structure. The difference in cost between handling and transporting a 30 pound bag and a 20 pound bag may not be enough to make variable pricing worthwhile (complexity, confusion, etc).
Bernie?
Just a thought, BUT, one could be cynical enough to throw this back onto the airlines as being a problem they created in the first place. More people bringing on carry-ons was a direct result of the fees they instituted in the first place. Now that Spirit is planning this new charge, and while some may say that the desire to fly versus drive or use another form of travel may not show a net negative effect from this new fee for Spirit, people eventually will say “enough is enough”. While there will still be those that do fly, there could be a growing possibility that the “enough is enough” crowd could be big enough to hurt the airlines for once and you might see this go away as a failed experiment.
The TSA *has *been trying to get everyone to fly naked to expedite security checks. Also saves money for the new body scanners. Brilliant if you ask me! 8)
Sure…until you find out the sweaty lady in front of you who looks like she’s had too many Twinkies sits next to you on the plane…
Amen.
This also will help improve on-time performance. Less waiting for clowns to jam their monster suitcase in the overhead and pull them out on the way off the plane.
This makes much more sense to me than charging for checked bags.
Give one checked bag for free. Then charge for a second.
Give one small carry on for free (laptop type bag / purse). Charge for the second.
[quote=“QuickBurn”]
Wait…you mean not everyone on the nude beach is hot? Darn, I hate it when my dreams are shattered. There’s goes the vacation to the French Rivera…
And now, NKS has pissed off Congress.
What next, a reclining seat fee? Senator blasts airline
April 8, 2010 - 11:12AM
Low-cost US airline Spirit’s “absurd” move to charge for some carry-on luggage shows the need for legislation to force full disclosure of all such fees and charges, a US Senator said yesterday.
“This is getting absurd. What will the airlines think up next, a fee for reclining your seat?” said Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, lead author of a measure to require airline and travel websites to provide such information to travelers before they book their tickets.
The Senate included the requirements in a Federal Aviation Administration budget blueprint that is now the subject of compromise talks with the House of Representatives, which did not approve a companion piece in its FAA bill.
“If airlines insist on hitting consumers with these fees, then they should disclose all of them up front,” said Menendez, who vowed to make sure the final legislation includes his new rules.
Spirit announced on Tuesday that it would charge up to $US45 ($A48.50) each way for hand luggage that does not fit under a passenger’s seat.
Passengers wanting to place bags in the overhead bins will pay the $45 fee, with discounts for online bookers and paid-up “club” members, the Florida-based company said in a statement.
Spirit said the decision means less-encumbered customers would no longer have to subsidize fellow travelers.
New measuring devices will be deployed at gates to police the new rules.
It is the latest in a series of charges to hit airline passengers, as carriers try to maintain profitability amid the economic downturn.
BL.
If this pompous ass and his pompous “honorable colleagues” would actually do some research they will see there are regulations already regarding disclosure of fees. There isn’t a need for more regulations regarding something that is already regulated.
In any case, Spirit made a business case for charging this absurd fee. It is not up to the jackals of Congress to further regulate it. If the airline falls on its face because of this fee then so be it.
As someone who flies on the airlines 2-3 times per week, sometimes with just a backpack, and sometimes with a small carry on that won’t fit under the seat, I say I won’t fly on Spirit out of ACY. I have in the past, when it fit my schedule, but the drive to EWR is about the same, and I can fly on a real airline without playing these games (BTW, the leg room on Spirit is criminal for a 3 hour flight). I am a pilot who travels for work, and I can’t stand these games, it’s all last minute, and I usually am only going to pick up an airplane somewhere, but I don’t have the time nor the desire to screw around with phony fees and requirements.
The airlines are all broken, and are a shell of a shell. They need to be re-regulated, and charge a fair price, and make a fair profit. Most airline pilots agree.
Thank God for Southwest, yes thank God. I know what I am getting, and I know I won’t be ripped off or nickel and dimed. I can change my plans without getting screwed, and even if I do get screwed, it’s at least with a smile.
Spirit Airlines, YOU STINK!