How Much Is That Air Ticket Really Costing You ?
 

Good Article.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-34058954

gives lots of details but quick view is:

"You go to a travel website, plug in dates and locations, and up comes the lowest fare. Don’t click yet! With airlines practically charging you for the pressurized air, extra one-way fees* can really add to your round-trip total.

* All accurate as of April 2010 for most economy fares within the continental U.S. Baggage size and weight restrictions vary."



AirTran Airways
Typical Round-Trip Extras: Up to $40-plus*

American Airlines
Typical Round-Trip Extras: Up to $70-plus*

Continental Airlines
Typical Round-Trip Extras: Up to $62-plus*

Delta Airlines
Typical Round-Trip Extras: Up to $82-plus*

JetBlue
Typical Round-Trip Extras: Up to $12-plus*

Southwest Airlines
Typical Round-Trip Extras: $0-plus*

United Airlines
Typical Round-Trip Extras: Up to $68-plus*

US Air
Typical Round-Trip Extras: Up to $64-plus*

Pretty misleading to make such an apples-and-oranges comparison like that.

Stange comparsions since AirTran charges for both seats and luggage and Delta only charges for seats..

For a better tool...

http://www.farecompare.com/how-to-sh...fee-chart.html

Above should say "Delta only charges for luggage" (SORRY!)

I thought it was good.

It doesn't say extra just for luggage..

it says extra round trip costs that you'll be hit with.

A couple of thoughts:

1) All the airlines make their extra charges plain on their website. It would be much better to compile your own list of "typical" extras and price out your own bundle of services, for comparison purposes.

2) The list of "typical" extras is pretty much useless to begin with, as it doesn't differentiate between carriers that offer such amenities for a fee, and those that don't offer it at all. I mean, is it fair to include the cost of a meal as an added expense on American or a movie on Delta, but not on Southwest, simply because Southwest doesn't offer either?

The authors claim that most travelers expect one meal, on-board entertainment, one bag, and seat assignments, but then shows Southwest as charging nothing for extras. Yeah, I know that they put in the fine print, but that simply means that the chart itself is useless. Why not include an estimated cost for a sandwich or salad from the vendors at some baseline airport for those that don't offer meals? Perhaps they should include the typical cost of a movie rental from iTunes for those that have to BYO entertainment? As for the seat assignment thing... Well, if it is something that people truly value, then why not add the market price onto the Southwest price to reflect your disutility? I mean, if the authors are saying that people expect it and will pay for it, then shouldn't we assume that, in the absence of assigned seats, one should only fly Southwest if they offer a discount from the price of an airline that assigns seats?

FWIW, the cost of an iTunes movie rental + a meal + the disutility for no seat assignment would bring Southwest's "typical" extras to roughly $40. Not such a great deal now, is it?

3) My general problem with all the fee whining is that the alternative is far worse. The alternative is either reduced services (you think GoGo would be around if it wasn't a potential profit center) or increased fares. There will be times that I don't need every service, so why pay every time for it? I mean, isn't that exactly what has made Southwest successful? People have said: 'we don't value seat assignments', 'we don't value in-flight entertainment', and 'we don't value airplane meals' EVERY single time they purchase a ticket on Southwest. You'll forgive the airlines if they have simply taken people at their word and started charging for such things.

ttt