Even seasoned travelers can get caught out

Back in late April, 2008 something strange started to happen in US airports. At first, regular travelers thought it was just a mistake, one of those SNAFU moments we all know will just go away so long as we wait for sanity to return. Unfortunately, as April became May, consistency confirmed that American Airlines was charging to check in a single bag. Everyone was outraged. Not only was it unreasonable to charge people for a routine airport service, but doing it without telling anyone made it twice as bad. News of this egregious behavior soon reached the ears of government and, after a brief investigation by the Transportation Department, its enforcement department issued a formal warning that this lack of transparency was a breach of federal guidelines. It was a condition of retaining a license to fly that airlines gave proper notice of any significant change in the contract of carriage. Almost without exception, the other legacy airlines have followed suit. It is now routine to pay for all bags to be checked in. The Transportation Department has recently applauded the airlines’ greater willingness to give timely warnings of any change to the existing charges. But this story should give everyone pause for thought. When the world economy was booming, US airlines were into and out of bankruptcy protection. Now passenger numbers are falling, their troubles are getting worse.

The major airlines are responding to this new crisis by going down a rather devious road. To stay attractive, they have to drop their prices. When people have less money to spend, they have to be tempted out. But dropping prices hits the bottom line, so the airlines have to recover the money by the backdoor. Let’s look at the published numbers from the latest accounts published through the stock exchange. US Airways has reported a 45% increase in its “ancillary revenue”. United Airlines reports a 17.6% increase in its “other operating revenue”. Every airline is now playing the unbundling game. When the going was good, passengers paid a single price for carriage and all the trimmings. Now, in effect, the ticket represents no more than a license to sit in a seat. Everything else is chargeable. If you want to reserve a specific seat, there’s a charge. If you want something to eat and drink, pay as you go. Some charge for access to entertainment facilities on board. All now charge for the use of a blanket and pillow.

So now the hard work falls on your shoulders. You have to find out whether anything is included in the fare. Gone are the days when cheap plane tickets are the only price you pay. Now you need to leave home with cash or a credit card to cover all the extras that punctuate your journey. The problem is most acute among the low-cost and budget carriers, but at least they are more honest about it. So never see cheap plane tickets at face value. Read the small print and find out how much it will actually cost you to fly that airline before you buy.