Summer Surcharge Fees from Major Domestic Carriers

[Full of LUV]

I encourage you to enjoy one of those on your next trip to Mexico City. :laugh:

The bag rip-off will end just as soon as someone sells Expedia, et.al on the software necessary to calculate the total fee-inclusive price as soon as you select a city-pair. Right now they can get away with it, but technology always fills the ignorace gap. Sometimes with more ignorance, but that's another issue.

Two points:
1. On SWA, when you "shop" for your flights, it never includes (or even shows) your total till the end, apparently their "fares" don't include taxes and fees. That used to p me off, but I still flew on them. They have gotten better over the years as they now include a statement on the search page saying "fares do not include fees and taxes". But back in the day as an infrequent traveler it surely felt as a bait and switch when you went to pay and there were suddenly hundreds of fees. Guess that's the power you get when you only sell your tickets on your own web site disallowing any direct price competition.

2. The Bag Fee is only paid by the random, ill informed, non-regular traveler without an affinity CC. In a funny way, it actually builds brand loyalty as once you even have a basic level of frequent travel benefits, you qualify for free bags, so the regular traveler feels "more special" in that they aren't charged all the fees the infrequent traveler has to pay.

But heh, to each his own. The SWA flying experience is as close to Greyhound as you can legally get in the skies. I applaud thier "no frills" attitude, but you confuse "no frills promised, no frills given" with great customer service. Lastly, the majors switching to RJ's for domestic service has also allowed SW to make some great strides, right up to the point that they begin to run into other LCC's (not US Air) product lineups, IE Airtran.

Best of luck to both!

 

[redflyer65]

Seriously, why do you care about so and so campaign? You and I fly airplanes. We should care about things that affect us, not what marketing does.

Bye Bye--General Lee

General,

This is the major "Grand Canyon" rif between your vision of Delta, and the SW employee view of their company.

We care about every aspect of our company because when Southwest make money.... we get a cut of it. We have skin in the game. We care, you could care less..

When you lose money quarter after quarter, all you can say is it looks good for next quarter yada, yada, yada. And the loses continue to pill up. Good for you.

 

[redflyer65]

Guess what? These people can afford it, or bill it to their clients. Even the coach passengers are happy, with free booze and a meal.


Bye Bye---General Lee

General, your pretty entertaining with this stuff, but the reality is that Delta got their butt handed to them by over extending the long hauls. Its a fact.

No one was paying for anything during this down turn, yet SW flying to LBB and ISP was still making money. Delta, not so much.

 

[chase]

GL
DAL has a great product. Good luck. SWA will never pose a threat to DAL or any overseas carrier. Foolish to even think it. My bad. cheers

 

[chase]

GL
DAL has a great product. Good luck. SWA will never pose a threat to DAL or any overseas carrier. Foolish to even think it. My bad. cheers

 

[General Lee]

General,

This is the major "Grand Canyon" rif between your vision of Delta, and the SW employee view of their company.

We care about every aspect of our company because when Southwest make money.... we get a cut of it. We have skin in the game. We care, you could care less..

When you lose money quarter after quarter, all you can say is it looks good for next quarter yada, yada, yada. And the loses continue to pill up. Good for you.

First of all, we do have profit sharing, and you are right, the last couple years we haven't seen any. If this revenue boost helps achieve that, then GREAT. WIth the Global economy getting back into shape (even slowly), the backbone of legacy flying (INTL business travel) will help add to profits, and thence profit sharing. We all want a bonus, and even though I think Copenhagen and Dublin layovers are a bonus themselves, I also want to see some extra cash. And, I don't know many of our employees who could "care less" as you say. I think most are refreshed and want DL to succeed. Every airline (even yours) has a few bad apples.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[General Lee]

General, your pretty entertaining with this stuff, but the reality is that Delta got their butt handed to them by over extending the long hauls. Its a fact.

No one was paying for anything during this down turn, yet SW flying to LBB and ISP was still making money. Delta, not so much.

I don't think DL lost money due to over extending long hauls---DL parked 22 757s and 6 767s, along with some 744s and even A330s. The problem was a hedge problem, with a lot at over $100 a barrel. (it was going up past $130 at the time, though) Fleet wise, DL did a good job with a pull down at the right time, but when you are paying a lot more for fuel than the rest, that doesn't help. DL's current hedging program is a lot better at a lower price. And, those 22 757s, 6 767s, A330s, and 744s are coming back, and hiring will be starting soon also. Do you have an app in yet with DL? I know those 5 leg days are getting to you, or will. Good luck.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[General Lee]

GL
DAL has a great product. Good luck. SWA will never pose a threat to DAL or any overseas carrier. Foolish to even think it. My bad. cheers

I am proud of you Chase, finally you have figured it out. Cheers and doing ISP and HRL flights the rest of your life won't be too bad. Just think, you can still jump with DL over to Europe. You might even get a free ice cream sundae on the jumpseat too (if they didn't run out in back!). It really tastes great.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Whataburger]

Seriously, why do you care about so and so campaign? You and I fly airplanes. We should care about things that affect us, not what marketing does.

Bye Bye--General Lee

You not being able to comprehend why we do care is what makes our airlines different. Everything our company does affects us. Fleet planning, marketing, advertising, customer service, baggage handling, how much we pay for peanuts, how much we pay for gates in LBB, etc, etc, etc. EVERYTHING my company does affects me. That's why we care. If this ship goes down, we go down with it. If it is profitable and people keep comming back, every employee wins. If every employee group and division of this 33,000 person operation gives all they can, we will have a paycheck every 5th and 20th of the month until we choose or have to retire. In addition, it's a nice feeling to be a part of a operation this is by no means flawless, but runs pretty nicely. The loads prove it.

By all means please enjoy Copenhagen, as I will enjoy spitting Copenhagen into a napkin filled cup in Lubbock-by-God-Texas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK2WEPdbmUc

 

[General Lee]

You not being able to comprehend why we do care is what makes our airlines different. Everything our company does affects us. Fleet planning, marketing, advertising, customer service, baggage handling, how much we pay for peanuts, how much we pay for gates in LBB, etc, etc, etc. EVERYTHING my company does affects me. That's why we care. If this ship goes down, we go down with it. If it is profitable and people keep comming back, every employee wins. If every employee group and division of this 33,000 person operation gives all they can, we will have a paycheck every 5th and 20th of the month until we choose or have to retire. In addition, it's a nice feeling to be a part of a operation this is by no means flawless, but runs pretty nicely. The loads prove it.

By all means please enjoy Copenhagen, as I will enjoy spitting Copenhagen into a napkin filled cup in Lubbock-by-God-Texas.

And WE don't care???? Come on. I am sure there are employees at every airline that are bored and couldn't care any more about their job. A well run hub is a great thing to watch, and most of the time things work that way. Throw in bad wx anywhere and things get messed up. Have you been up to LGA yet during ground stops due to wx? If you haven't, you will understand it eventually. Not fun. Sometimes you can't help unforseen circumstances.

And, I like how you used my "Copenhagen" reference into your own story. I can't wait to hear how you "Stuttgarted" in your pants one day during a walk around in MAF, and when you were alone one night in BOI and "Rio'd all over yourself"........ Clever!


Bye Bye--General Lee