spirit airlines to begin charging for carryon bags

I think what Spirit is doing is a pretty shoddy thing. However, the giant bags I see people passing off as a carryon needs to be tempered. Some of these bags have no chance of fitting in the cage that staff can use to determine a carryon.

Maybe airlines need to start enforcing that. Have it right at the gate. As you get on, you have to put your carryon in the cage. If it fits, you're good to go. If it doesn't, too bad, it gets checked, and you have to pay if that airline charges. You can find those maximum sizes on airline websites ahead of time, so there should be no excuses.

If I'm going for a weekend trip I can usually fit what I need in a backpack or a carryon that falls under the maximum guidelines. At least as long as it's not the dead of winter and I don't need heavy clothes. Otherwise, I check a suitcase and take a change of clothes and couple pair of underwear/socks in a backpack as a carryon.

 

So if I pay $1,700 to fly to Saint-Petersburg, the airline should pay me $1,700 if my bag does not arrive?

On what planet does that make one ounce of sense? You would have thousands of passengers "mysteriously" losing their bags, blaming the airlines and demanding a refund for a trip they just made.

And good luck assigning blame among the three airlines that may handle your bag on a two-stop trip halfway around the world.

Realism, practicality and logic have officially left the building on this thread.


Nothing the airlines can do will satisfy a certain number of people on here.

They can whisk you through security, give you a first-class seat with DirecTV and free food and drinks, and someone would bitch that, "Cheap ass airline didn't even have March Madness On Demand! I had to miss Drake vs. Washington!"

 

Some airlines (read: U. S. Air) would be getting their just desserts if such
an edict became policy. I don't endorse the degree of the penalty, but
I've heard worse general ideas.

 

Fly Army.

 

A lot of bad information on this thread.

I understand BD's frustration as there is a segment of the population out there that expects first class service for a rock bottom price. It has been proven over and over that most people will simply not pay more for better service and price is king.

With price being the deciding factor the airline has to do everything it can reduce costs.

A la carte pricing is here to stay. If you want more perks and amenities be prepared to pay for them.

The comment about "airlines like Spirit and Air Tran" is woefully uninformed. Spirit has one of the youngest fleets in N America (*all Airbus) and Air Tran flies all B-717, a newer plane. You may be confusing these airlines with the smaller commuter airlines like the one that was involved in the Buffalo commuter crash.

As for lost luggage the stats do not bear out the perception that airlines are constantly losing baggage. It also looks like anecdotally on here that it is not a big problem but when all else fails look at the data. The lost baggage rate was less than .003%.

In addition, the U.S. carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 2.78 reports per 1,000 passengers in November, an improvement over both November 2008's rate of 3.75 and October 2009's 3.48 rate. The previous record low rate for mishandled baggage was September 2009's 3.01 mark.

http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2010/dot001_10/html/dot001_10.html

As for SWA getting special favors, that is BS. Anyone who works in the industry should no better than to believe anything a pilot says

The airline industry has challenges in that it involves a lot of capital expenditures and low margins while having a perishable commodity. I understand the shopping for price and have no problem with it. Just don't be surprised when you are asked to pay for extras to make up for the low price.

 

Ohhhhhkayyyyy.

Sportswriters' edict: Spell a person's name wrong, you forfeit a week's salary to that person,

All of them SportsJournalists.com members. Amazing!

 

Well of course they would miss Drake vs. Washington. Drake didn't make the tournament.

 

A no-carryons rule would never work. First of all you have people who travel with computers even when they aren't working. Second you have people who travel with items they simply cannot check.

For example, I have sleep apnia and have to use a CPAP machine when I sleep. I can't check it due to the fact it can be easily damaged. Plus, if you have one of those you can't run the risk of it not making it to your destination with you.

Then you have people traveling with infants (which is a whole other discussion). They have to carry a bag on for diapers, formula, etc. No carry-ons is a non-starter and any airline that tried it would be crucified.

 

A couple of additional points: no I don't act like this at work. I deal with thousands of people a day from Joe six pack to Hillary and McCain and Kerry. I try to help each of you make your destination on time but most importantly as safely as possible. It pains me to tell someone they're going to miss their cruise or Mickey or whatever because of something we did. A little less if mother nature isn't cooperating.

But the idea that a ticket should be fully refunded due to a mishandled bag? No way in hell this makes sense. But ok fine. You want to think that way ill make sure you're in a middle seat and your bag is never found.

Two: if you plan poorly don't expect miracles to make up for it. You booked it. You had a chance to review it. You paid for it. If you have a tight connection and don't want to fork over five bucks to get a seat up front, then you're digging your own hole. If you used a travel professional you wouldn't be in this situation.

In order to offer lower fares you typically buy NON REFUNDABLE NON CHANGABLE tickets. I don't really care if that seat on the early flight goes empty. Without 50 dollars your ass isn't going to be in it.

And air tran flys 717s and 737s though mainly 17s

 

You must work for United.

 

Airlines and Aiports suck. All of them. Everything about them sucks. Their customer service sucks, their baggage policies suck, their planes suck. They are hot and stuffy. They all suck.

 

NOPE