Tagged With "fees"
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Re: Just how much tax is in your ticket?
My recent, free Air France ticket - LA to Paris to Barcelona and then Venice to Paris to LA the tax was $577.97.
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Re: Just how much tax is in your ticket?
Originally Posted by Ron B.: My recent, free Air France ticket - LA to Paris to Barcelona and then Venice to Paris to LA the tax was $577.97. That's a lot of travel, Ron, but it certainly makes one relook at the definition of "free".
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Re: Now an airline charge for NOT flying!
Sadly it seems that the only thing limiting some airlines from charging another fee is their imagination. However, I have faith that they will think out of the box and try to suck more from their passengers.
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Re: Now an airline charge for NOT flying!
If you do call the airline to cancel your return ticket you get no refund. They will probably sell your seat for more than your two-way ticket cost. If you try to reschedule your return for another day they will charge full price with no discount for being polite and doing the right thing. So you just walk away and find another airline. The Philosophy of W.C. Fields. "Never give a sucker an even break"
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Re: Has the Revolution Started? Ryanair allows 2nd bag and reduces fee
Are you saying that the primary goal is not to sell a mere flight ticket but to sell the whole tamale ? $$$
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Re: Has the Revolution Started? Ryanair allows 2nd bag and reduces fee
The intention is to increase the profitability of Ryanair. For the first half of 2013-14, it announced revenue up 5% to €3.25bn and profit after tax rising 1% to €602m.
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Re: Has the Revolution Started? Ryanair allows 2nd bag and reduces fee
Ryanair are now selling complete vacation deals - so they've had to move on.
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Re: Has the Revolution Started? Ryanair allows 2nd bag and reduces fee
Ryanair just loves to get its name in the news, no matter what the context.
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Re: Has the Revolution Started? Ryanair allows 2nd bag and reduces fee
The thought of a kinder, friendlier Michael O’Leary makes me all warm and fuzzy. Not. I smell a rat.
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Re: Up, Up and Away: Airline miles cards with big bonuses
I LOVE my airline credit card, but it's great to have all this information in one place to see if I could do better. Probably not without some whopping fees, but whopping bonuses, too. Thank you sir, for showing us all these choices!
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Re: Up, Up and Away: Airline miles cards with big bonuses
I have a Delta American Express Platinum card that has served us well. The fee is higher than the gold card, but we can check two bags free, priority boarding, and a free companion pass yearly. We fly two or three times a year and the value of the waived baggage fee and the companion pass far exceed the $150 annual fee. The card also accrues one mile for each dollar spent and lately has offered cash back incentives. For example: spend $15 at Panera's using the card and receive $5 credit on...
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Re: New 'airline' charges more for carry-on than check-in
$92 for a carry-on bag is an excellent way to ensure you will never be more than a very small airline.
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Re: JetBlue makes its fans blue: Less space, more fees
This is very disappointing news. I was hoping JetBlue would stick to its "customers first" mode of business operation, but obviously management has sold us out. That leaves only Southwest in the USA that has a different business model, and hopefully they'll stick to their principles and not succumb to these pressures.
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Re: JetBlue makes its fans blue: Less space, more fees
The very slight bit of good news is that JetBlue still plans on keeping its basic wifi free. More on that story at this link .
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Re: Airports, Airlines battle over passenger fees
What I dislike are when fees are not used for what they're charged for. If airport improvement fees really are used to fix up and improve airports, I think most consumers are fine with that. But when they just get put into the general revenues of a city's cash pool, that bugs most of us. What a find far more unreasonable than this are the fees to change or cancel a flight. Often they approach or exceed the value of a ticket. That's really gouging the consumer.
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Re: Airports, Airlines battle over passenger fees
The other fees that especially bother me are the ones you never see in tickets, because they come out the back door. Compare airport car rental prices with off-airport of the same brand; compare the price of gum or candy at the airport or a neighborhood store. That’s airport revenue, too, either through a direct charge (car) or super-high-rents (newsstand)
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Re: Airports, Airlines battle over passenger fees
Good points, PHeymont. I have noticed the extremely high fees imposed by airport car rentals. Sometimes these exceed the cost of the car rental itself.
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Re: Airfares have remained flat for 20+ years
Another factor to keep in mind when considering why flying seems more expensive: while the base airfares are flat when you factor in inflation, earnings are not. Over the past 40 years, depending on measure, real wages (what you get when you factor in inflation) have actually eroded a bit, and at points a lot. Add to which the fact that "wages" as used in those figures includes benefits such as health care, which doesn't translate into spendable income. And add to which many other things...
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Re: Airfares have remained flat for 20+ years
I'm with 90% on that survey. Domestic Airline prices did rise steadily from 2009 to 2014 (even adjusting for inflation) according to the DOT. I do think we've had a price break this year because of the steep drop in oil prices. I'm not surprised most customers feel like they are paying more because of what they are getting now. Planes are packed, there's less seat space and a whole array of fees. http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/airfares/national/chart
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Re: U.S. taxes on flying among world's highest
Oh, darn. I thought this was about paying a fee to sit in a section with our fellow stoned passengers.
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Re: Spirit's New Plan: Higher 'Rush Hour' Bag Fees!
New Yorker cartoon, flight attendant announcing, "In case of a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop down in front of you for two dollars".
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Re: Spirit's New Plan: Higher 'Rush Hour' Bag Fees!
Thanks...that's definitely the "spirit!"
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Re: A visit to Saudi Arabia: Part I
Wow! Thanks for this fascinating contribution, Lestertheinvestor. I was exhausted just from reading the directions for applying for the visa. It is quite obvious that Saudi Arabia doesn't want infidels visiting them. A few questions you might know the answer to: 1) Is the process stream-lined for a Muslim wanting to go to Mecca, and what kind of proof do they need to have that they're a Muslim? 2) Do you have any rough idea how many hours you spent on this process? Ball-park guess would do.
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Re: A visit to Saudi Arabia: Part I
1) The process is easier for a Muslim who is going on a hajj. However, unless you are native born, you must present a document from the Imam of your mosque documenting your status as a Muslim in good standing. For a Caucasian woman who is a converted Muslim, you must still get permission from your husband or a male relative, along with the letter from the mosque to allow you to make the hajj. 2) Between my wife and I (she actually presented our documents each time to the consulate in Los...
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Re: A visit to Saudi Arabia: Part I
What a bureaucratic nightmare! I wonder if there are countries that make it harder to visit than this one?
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Re: A visit to Saudi Arabia: Part I
Originally Posted by Travel Luver: What a bureaucratic nightmare! I wonder if there are countries that make it harder to visit than this one? My wife and I have visited 119 countries, with China, Bhutan and Saudi Arabia the most challenging to enter.
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Re: A visit to Saudi Arabia: Part I
My husband and I were invited to live there for two years while he did a medical fellowship in genetics. The challenge for me was that I am a very independent traveler, and I could not imagine how I would deal with the restrictions on women. In the end, those restrictions influenced our decision to go to Germany for two years instead. However, after having seen your photos, I am curious to see more. I regret that I do not know this part of the world.
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Re: Will JetBlue Change Its Colors?
I can't see why they would change if their stock is up already 49% this year. Airlines are making record profits in the US now and that's mainly been because of higher fares and fees for the consumer. There's not too many true budget airlines left in the US.
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Re: $6 BILLION in bag and change fees!
I'm not sure if it's a great business model to make most of your profits by annoying your customers. I think many have gotten their heads around the baggage fee (note coincidentally the increase in the number and size of bags rolling onto a plane), but some of the airline change fees are obscene. I point to Southwest airlines as one that still does the right thing. You get to check one bag without a fee. And ff you can't make your flight, they give you a credit on the airfare good up to one...
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JetBlue makes its fans blue: Less space, more fees
JetBlue announced Wednesday that it would not only start charging baggage fees, but will also reduce legroom in its planes to add 15 more seats per plane. The airline, which made its reputation as being customer-friendly and heavily advertised its...
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Say it isn't so! Southwest to charge for bags???
There are only two domestic airlines in the US that don't charge for checked bags -- Southwest and JetBlue. Will Southwest start charging a baggage fee? Click on this link to read more
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Spirit's New Plan: Higher 'Rush Hour' Bag Fees!
Spirit Airlines--the one that sometimes makes Grinch seem like a good guy--is planning a new revenue-squeezer. It's planning to raise checked bag fees at high-travel times such as Christmas and other holidays. Spirit already has some of the...
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Airlines Cancelling Again, Waiving Fees: Check your carrier
Ahead of the new northeast storm expected to begin Sunday night, airlines are cancelling flights, over 2500 as of Sunday morning, to avoid stranding travelers, crews and planes. In general, they are waiving change fees for travelers who rebook from...
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Frontier's raising bag fees; will the other "low-costs" follow?
Frontier Airlines, which last year joined Spirit and Allegiant in the ULCC (ultra-low-cost-carrier) class that seems to mean ULC (ultra lots of charges) for most folks, is raising its fees for checked bags. The only checked bags that will not go up by...
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Will foreign transactions fees fade away?
Foreign transaction fees, that annoying 3% (usual rate) that your card issuer charges to translate your 100€ hotel room into dollars, seem to be fading...but slowly, according to a survey by creditcards.com. The fees, which can add up to a...
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Airports, Airlines battle over passenger fees
It's hard for a traveler to tell what's going on sometimes in the pot-calling-the-kettle-black wars of the air travel industry. We've covered elsewhere the dispute between the legacy airlines and the Gulf carriers over subsidies and "Open Skies."...
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Very successful and equally unpopular
US airlines collected a staggering US$6.4 billion in baggage and trip change fees in 2014. Baggage fees increased 5.3% in 2014 to $3.5 billion, with Delta leading the pack at $875 million dollars. Change fees increased 5.7% in 2014...
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Fee-free weekend kicks off National Park Week
U.S. National Parks will celebrate its annual National Park Week starting Saturday, April 18th, with two days of no entry fees (Saturday and Sunday) to kick off the celebration of America's more than 400 National Parks, big and small. Many...
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Free checked bags and paid overhead? Maybe...
Virgin America cabin...which space is up for sale next? Photo: Virgin America If you're wondering what comes next in the world of airline fees, check this interview with airline execs at the Phoenix International Aviation...
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Those darn airline fees just set a new record!
You see baggage, the airlines see even bigger profits. Photo: Jarcje / Wikimedia Those darn bag fees, change fees, fee fees and more just keep piling up at America's airlines. For the first quarter of 2015, they set a...
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An era ends: Jet Blue's new fares and fees
JetBlue check-in kiosks at JFK. Save $5 by checking bag here instead of counter Photo: JetBlue With JetBlue's announcement today that it is ending free checked bags, Southwest is the only remaining major carrier offering free...
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Fewer U.S. airports have real competition
Lots of planes, little competition. Scene at Newark Liberty, where United controls nearly 70% of the traffic As the U.S. airline industry has consolidated, competitive options at U.S. airports have shrunk. With 80% of U.S. domestic air traffic...
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Airfares have remained flat for 20+ years
It might not seem like it but base airfares have remained flat (and in some routes have even decreased) for over two decades when adjusted for inflation. That definitely goes against consumers perceptions that it's costing more to fly....
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Airline Price Gouging, Collusion, Undisclosed Fees
Is our federal government finally taking some action in favor of consumers where airline pricing and fees are concerned? According to Consumer Reports, the Department of Transportation has launched an investigation of 5 airlines over price...
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U.S. taxes on flying among world's highest
How much of your ticket is tax? Not all the expensive add-ons for your ticket are airline bag fees and fuel surcharges; according to a new report, another big factor is high government charges, among the world's highest. Each ticket starts out...
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Just how much tax is in your ticket?
How much of your fare goes for taxes and airport fees? Photo: Alexander Nieswandt / Wikimedia If you've been vexed by all the charges the airlines add on top of your ticket for baggage, changes, seat choices and just plain...
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'Fee Creep' continues in cruise industry
Norwegian Escape (above) arrives with new dining charges Photo: Arno Redenius / Wikimedia Perhaps taking a cue from the airlines, a number of cruise lines have recently added...
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$6 BILLION in bag and change fees!
U.S. air carriers last year racked up that total...$3.35 billion in bags and $2.61 in fees to change a reservation. It's hard to think of anything more to say, but what there is is in this REPORT from CNN.
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Has the Revolution Started? Ryanair allows 2nd bag and reduces fee
Ryanair, noted for low-cost tickets and strict rules and fees has now relented a bit. Passengers can now carry a second small bag free, and fee for getting your boarding pass reprinted has dropped from $95 to $20...MORE