Fees, Fees, Fees.......Will They Ever Stop??

The title, of course, is referring to the incessant airline fees. In my opinion, they will never stop and the airlines will continue to find ways to keep adding them in some form or fashion.

The reason they will never stop is because the airlines are making a killing on the extra charges that are available. The total income from airline fees this year is over $57 Billion. Add to that the $31 Billion from selling frequent flyer miles to 3^rd parties such as the credit card companies, and you have a nice little subtle income. An additional perk causing the airlines to love the fees is that they don't have to pay the 7.5% federal excise tax on the fees. Think about that for a minute!!!

One of the more recent fees that they have added is an option, and there are a good number of people opting to pay the additional fee. The option is what some call the “Premium Economy”. It is an area of the airplane between First/Business Class and Coach or Economy Class. They have widened the seats in this class an inch or two and increased the pitch which helps with the leg room. They also have so-called premium drinks and more preferred snacks. So, depending on the distance of the flight, the charge could be from $49-$179 for the aisle and window seat and a small reduction for a middle seat.

In the Coach or Economy section, when they open the schedule for sale, have started blocking off the window and aisle seats all the way back to about the last 3-4 rows of the airplane. If you wanted one of those “preferred seats”, then it would cost you a little more. As a travel agent, eager to serve our clients who are wanting to fly from A to B in a comfortable environment, it is very difficult to make them happy for booking early to save their airfare. As a result, of course, the airlines are making travel agents sell or promote their “preferred seats”, and our bottom line is NO bottom line. They don't pay commissions on any sale we make, not even when we promote the sale of a “preferred seat”. How cavalier of them!!!!

Recently I had the opportunity to try this Premium Economy on what Delta Airlines refers to as “Delta Comfort”. The airplane was not one of the newest ones in the fleet, but we were traveling internationally from Atlanta to Amsterdam and from Zurich to JFK. I paid nearly $400 for the “up-grade” for two seats, but in my opinion, it was not worth it. We used the same bathrooms as the coach class, had the same dining menu as those in coach class, we did not get the priority boarding that we expected, and we shared the above luggage racks with those in coach class. There was a little more leg room, but as I observed on my way back to the bathroom, I tried out an empty seat back in coach and for that amount of savings, I believe I can take the less leg room.

They did give us a nice blanket to use, noise-canceling headphones, an little amenity kit that included a toothbrush and toothpaste, a eye patch, and supposedly a larger entertainment screen (I couldn't tell the difference). I did notice that the folks back in the economy section had the same blanket and ear buds as we did. But, I'll have to think long and hard before I consider “buying up” again.

The good folks at The Travel Factory will tell you the truth, won't pull any punches, but will certainly give you the travel options you want to purchase, so give us a call for any travel arrangement and we'll do our best to satisfy. We can be reached at 325-698-1421 or 800-760-4040. Or stop by our office at 4150 Southwest Drive at the Plaza at Park Central between Rosa's and Chick-Fil-A.