Whats Next with Airline Fees?
Making certain that cheap travel, be it cheap airplane tickets, or cheap vacation packages that you initially purchased stays cheap is becoming increasingly challenging. Airlines have proven to be so creative in coming up with new fees, you have to wonder if there is any limit to what they might try next.
First they started charging for the right to check bags. Then they began charging for coach seats that offered more leg room. Recently one airline announced that it would be charging for carry-on bags.
Last fall, Ryanair announced that it was looking into converting its toilets to pay toilets. At the time a lot of travelers got a good laugh out of this rumor, thinking that this was strictly a publicity stunt. No more. Recently Ryanair announced that it would be installing pay toilets in over 180 of its planes that fly short haul trips whose scheduled flight times are under one hour.
The next creative airline fee could have something to do with charging passengers by the pound, depending on each passengers individual weight. Fitting into most U.S airlines existing 17 inch wide seats is becoming more difficult for the average American. The average American in 2007 weighed 13 more pounds than in 1990.
Dealing with travelers increasing weight began with Southwest asking oversized passengers to purchase an additional seat, then the Canadian government issued a one person, one fare rule, which provides disabled and obese travelers a free extra seat on domestic flights.
Dont kid yourselves that airlines have not started thinking about charging overweight passengers in the same manner that the post office charges for a heavier parcel to be shipped. When fuel prices exploded two years ago, airlines admitted that nothing was beyond their imagination when it came to getting more money from passengers (so long as it did not entail raising the base price of a ticket) and saving fuel.
Many details need to be worked out:
Would every passenger get weighed?
Would anyone over X pounds, say 200, have to pay an extra charge?
Would your ticket price be based on the weight you claim?
Should lighter passengers be eligible for a reduce price?
The only safe bet here is that the airlines will continually come up with creative ways of charging new fees that will help their bottom lines.
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