Jun 23, 2008
Some reflections on the rise in airfares, and our own responses to those increasingly heavy costs
We are now ending the first week of à la carte pricing for air transportation in the U.S. -- the imposition of all sorts of extra fees and charges for services that used to be included in the cost of the ticket. Nearly every airline now charges $15 to check aboard the first suitcase per person and $25 to check a second suitcase. Some of the carriers now charge $2 for a small plastic bottle of water or a soft drink. I haven't yet learned how costly the peanuts will be.
These fees are part of a frantic effort by the airlines to raise money. One analyst predicted last week that if oil remained above $130 a barrel, several major carriers would be forced into bankruptcy by the end of the year. So they are panic-stricken and we probably haven't seen an end to additional charges.
In fact, you can gain a glimpse of America's airline future by noting the tactics of the low-cost airlines that fly within Europe. The biggest of them, Ryanair, goes well beyond charging the equivalent of $15 and $25 for the first and second suitcase checked aboard. They now also charge the Euro equivalent of $7.50 for simply checking in at the airport rather than online. But because you have to check in at the airport if you want to check aboard luggage, people with luggage to check always have to pay the extra $7.50.
Ryanair also charges $6 for using a credit card to pay for your ticket. And it imposes unusually harsh charges for overly heavy luggage, which it defines as more than 33 pounds. It charges $22 -- think about that -- for each two pounds above the weight limit. And that's each way. In some instances, passengers have paid more than €98 ($150) in total extra charges, which in some cases is higher than the cost of the Ryanair ticket itself. (Another European airline, the Hungarian/Polish carrier called Wizzair, is charging €1 ($1.54) per minute simply to phone them).
Because, here in the U.S., the extra charges haven't been imposed on persons who bought their tickets some time ago, and will only go fully into effect for new purchases in the days ahead, we haven't yet experienced the congestion, delays, and fist-fights that these penalties will bring about. But because so many people will attempt to limit their luggage to carry-ons stowed in the racks above their seats, it's obvious that rack space will soon be at a premium, that passengers will battle for that space, and that carry-ons will be strictly limited to small sizes. It's been reported that airlines are preparing to hire personnel to hang around the luggage belts, and at the gates leading into planes, spying on the carry-ons taken aboard, to insure that persons do not attempt to smuggle on overly large suitcases.
And because many persons will limit themselves to carry-ons, they will also have to insure that their liquid, gel or aerosol containers are no greater in size than 3 ounces apiece, all enclosed in a medium-size, transparent zip-loc bag. What a mess is about to result!
To worsen matters, scarcely a week goes by that the airlines don't increase their ticket prices, independent of these fees, by sums as great as $90 each way. Those increases will gain momentum as many airlines exhaust their earlier decisions to "hedge" the cost of aviation fuel -- and indeed, most hedge contracts expire near the end of this year. Already, the cost of fuel surcharges across the Atlantic is approaching $250 round-trip, on top of increased security charges, government taxes, and baggage charges. The days when you could cross the Atlantic, or the U.S., for $299 each way, are soon about to end. I'm expecting many one-way fares (and additional charges) to total (including fuel surcharge, taxes, fees, baggage and other added charges) $600 to $700 each way, at least $1,200 round-trip. A couple going to Europe, or from New York to California, will often need to budget $2,400 for round-trip transportation.
Unless you are among a small group of high earners, the only way you will travel in the future is by becoming increasingly cost-conscious with respect to lodgings and other land costs. I used to be looked upon as an eccentric for constantly stressing the need to consider alternative low-cost accommodations: hostels and hostales, pensiones and B&Bs, apartments and vacation homes, convents and monasteries, private homes and houseboats. May I suggest that these will now become necessities? May I advise that the glossy pages and upscale recommendations of Condé Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure will now become crushingly irrelevant? Most American travelers, if they are to continue to travel extensively, will have to seek out economical approaches that offset the high cost of getting there.
Write and read comments about this post.
These fees are part of a frantic effort by the airlines to raise money. One analyst predicted last week that if oil remained above $130 a barrel, several major carriers would be forced into bankruptcy by the end of the year. So they are panic-stricken and we probably haven't seen an end to additional charges.
In fact, you can gain a glimpse of America's airline future by noting the tactics of the low-cost airlines that fly within Europe. The biggest of them, Ryanair, goes well beyond charging the equivalent of $15 and $25 for the first and second suitcase checked aboard. They now also charge the Euro equivalent of $7.50 for simply checking in at the airport rather than online. But because you have to check in at the airport if you want to check aboard luggage, people with luggage to check always have to pay the extra $7.50.
Ryanair also charges $6 for using a credit card to pay for your ticket. And it imposes unusually harsh charges for overly heavy luggage, which it defines as more than 33 pounds. It charges $22 -- think about that -- for each two pounds above the weight limit. And that's each way. In some instances, passengers have paid more than €98 ($150) in total extra charges, which in some cases is higher than the cost of the Ryanair ticket itself. (Another European airline, the Hungarian/Polish carrier called Wizzair, is charging €1 ($1.54) per minute simply to phone them).
Because, here in the U.S., the extra charges haven't been imposed on persons who bought their tickets some time ago, and will only go fully into effect for new purchases in the days ahead, we haven't yet experienced the congestion, delays, and fist-fights that these penalties will bring about. But because so many people will attempt to limit their luggage to carry-ons stowed in the racks above their seats, it's obvious that rack space will soon be at a premium, that passengers will battle for that space, and that carry-ons will be strictly limited to small sizes. It's been reported that airlines are preparing to hire personnel to hang around the luggage belts, and at the gates leading into planes, spying on the carry-ons taken aboard, to insure that persons do not attempt to smuggle on overly large suitcases.
And because many persons will limit themselves to carry-ons, they will also have to insure that their liquid, gel or aerosol containers are no greater in size than 3 ounces apiece, all enclosed in a medium-size, transparent zip-loc bag. What a mess is about to result!
To worsen matters, scarcely a week goes by that the airlines don't increase their ticket prices, independent of these fees, by sums as great as $90 each way. Those increases will gain momentum as many airlines exhaust their earlier decisions to "hedge" the cost of aviation fuel -- and indeed, most hedge contracts expire near the end of this year. Already, the cost of fuel surcharges across the Atlantic is approaching $250 round-trip, on top of increased security charges, government taxes, and baggage charges. The days when you could cross the Atlantic, or the U.S., for $299 each way, are soon about to end. I'm expecting many one-way fares (and additional charges) to total (including fuel surcharge, taxes, fees, baggage and other added charges) $600 to $700 each way, at least $1,200 round-trip. A couple going to Europe, or from New York to California, will often need to budget $2,400 for round-trip transportation.
Unless you are among a small group of high earners, the only way you will travel in the future is by becoming increasingly cost-conscious with respect to lodgings and other land costs. I used to be looked upon as an eccentric for constantly stressing the need to consider alternative low-cost accommodations: hostels and hostales, pensiones and B&Bs, apartments and vacation homes, convents and monasteries, private homes and houseboats. May I suggest that these will now become necessities? May I advise that the glossy pages and upscale recommendations of Condé Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure will now become crushingly irrelevant? Most American travelers, if they are to continue to travel extensively, will have to seek out economical approaches that offset the high cost of getting there.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: money
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
