As Jessica alluded to the other day, American Airlines (AA) is now going to start charging $15 to their passengers for checking a bag.... (Head shaking). I saw this last week and thought to myself, Well, I'll never travel with them again. That was until today when I decided to change my stance to be: Not only am I not going to travel with AA again, but I'm going to tell others not to, and make fun of them as much as possible. This all came about today as AA released the following idiotic statement of the year: American Airlines says its new $15 fee for a first checked bag will affect fewer than one in four customers and won't lengthen lines at boarding gates..
I actually re-read the statement to see if there was a footnote that stated the PR rep. for AA was actually a small child, or an otherwise ignorant human being who had never been to an airport. Unfortunately there was not, and I was left to break this insane statement down for you. This just in: Not only will AA charge you $15 to check one piece of luggage, their incredibly intelligent analysts actually think only one in four people check luggage, and this move won't lengthen lines..... Have they actually ever been to an airport? Don't they realize that those desk clerks lengthen lines two-fold already when they don't have an extra procedure to perform? Between security and decreasing flights, lines are out of control as is. I'm pretty sure AA's next brilliant announcement will be that their "analysts" are positive that by adding this fee, people won't attempt to bring larger bags on the plane. Uh, right....
My other favorite component of this AA release is that their PR people must have been sitting around saying, "I know! Let's compare what it would cost to ship a piece of luggage as a way to justify the charge." Right.... I guess that would make sense if people didn't already know that you have plenty of room to take it on the plane at no extra cost to the airline. I think their PR folks are doing a great job over there. I hope they gave them a discount on the charge to at least $10 per bag.....
10 comments:
"Between security and decreasing flights, lines are out of control as is."
Great comment, you really thought about this one. With decreasing flights, less people will be traveling as there are only so many seats available, so technically, the line will probably be the same length as it is today. Hopefully this was a misprint.
My other favorite component of this AA release is that their PR people must have been sitting around saying, "I know! Let's compare what it would cost to ship a piece of luggage as a way to justify the charge."
No, what they are saying is flying is a luxury, and not everybody in the world should be able to fly. You don't want to pay the fee, I hear the 24 hour Greyhound ride from DFW to LGA is nice, with 102 stops along the way.
Realize that you are paying the same fares as you did in 2000. Has the cost of your eggs and bread increased year over year? How about filling up your gas tank? Your base fare doesn't even put a dent into the cost of fuel and operations. You don't like the fees? Drive your Tahoe to your destination. $15.00 now sounds like a steal doesn't it?
"Anonymous" AA employees are fun.
Chris Tharp, this is Chris Berger! I don't know if the previous poster works for AA or not, but I'm always upfront/honest - I do work for them (in a non-management flight crew role). First, I understand your frustration with the charge, everything costs more these days and it truly sucks. Second, I understand why you might make the assumptions you've made. Third, you've made some assumptions that are incorrect. I hope you are ok with my pointing them out.
- the "analyst" doesn't think only 1 in 4 people check bags. AA will only charge those people on discounted domestic fares. All AAdvantage Frequent Flier members are exempt from the fee, as are all first class and full fare coach passengers and all international passengers.
- systems are being put into place to prevent folks from taking extra luggage through security. Those that somhow slip through will still be required to check excess bags at the gate before they board. So lines and the boarding process won't be affected.
- you said,"I guess that would make sense if people didn't already know that you have plenty of room to take it on the plane at no extra cost to the airline". Unfortunately, it costs the larger airlines billions annually (that's billions with a "B") to carry luggage in the cargo hold. The weight substatially adds to the aircraft fuel burn and therefore the costs to operate the flight.
The thing I think some folks are missing here that's really good is this: Tacking $15 to all tickets (ie just an overall fare increase of $15), which obviously would include the tickets of those not checking bags, would be easier but unfair. Smart travelers who pack light and just take a small rollaboard and a personal item as carry-on's shouldn't have to pay for the extra cost the airline is incurring carrying the 5 bags of someone bringing everything they own with them! So if you don't want to pay the fee you don't have to. I think that is fair and a very cool way to deal with the fuel cost problem.
Please also remember, 12 airlines have gone into bankruptcy or out of business in the past 5 months mostly due to skyrocketing fuel prices. Even with the extra bag charge, American (and almost all other airlines) are lossing massive amounts of money everyday (American is losing about 3 million a day right now!!!). With the fees they are just losing less, struggling to stay alive.
Thank, Chris. I hope this helps!
Chris Berger
Chris Berger- First of all, I do appreciate your candor in admitting you work for AA and I really applaud your loyalty to your company.
Here is the problem I see with this 'anonymous' post and with the press release by AA yesterday, basically I think consumers are looking for some up-front honesty. I would have preferred AA to come out and say, 'look, we are losing money and we are doing everything in our power to not raise ticket prices." But to make statements like, "nothing will change, lines will all be the same".....no I can't believe that.
Also....anonymous, kudos to your passion, but it is not a question of taking AA or the bus. It is about taking United, Southwest or the myriad of other airlines who don't charge me for my bags.
I always appreciate the comments, and good points had by all. Here is my beef though: I don't have a problem with airlines raising rates. It happens all of the time. All airlines do so on a regular basis to keep up with fuel costs and all of the other macro-economic factors affecting rates. I'm not even sure I have the biggest problem with the $15 charge as you'll notice I didn't post this blog when the charge was announced. What I do find funny still, and the reason I posted, is AA's PR announcement yesterday and subsequent assumptions. AA is nuts if they don't think this will affect clients, behavior and efficiency.
Contrary to Anonymous poster #1's random theories, a consumers other option is not a Greyhound bus.... It's flying another airline - which I for one and others will do for like fares. In addition, they didn't announce this as a rate hike so you can't give me the fuel/economy speech; they announced it as a single charge for one piece of luggage. Third, and this is directed at Chris, as much as we'd all like to think fellow travelers will just pack light, do you really think that will happen? Again, AA's PR and strategy team has got this one wrong.
Lastly, of course the weight of the plane affects fuel and the consumption rate thereof. But again, I'll just fly with an airline that doesn't charge for the service. That's the beauty of non-monopolized industries: You have a choice to switch when airlines tack on random fees.
American Airllines has to be on their way out. My family and I were stranded at Ohare b/c American cancelled our flight on Mother's Day last month. I am sure I am one of many people that now absolutely hates American Airlines for MANY, MANY reasons. I will go to my grave hating AA.
Wow, I love the passion from everyone about American Airlines. I find it funny that anonymous #1 didn't have the balls to come out and admit they are an AA employee. Anyway, I am currently trying to find tickets to fly to Oregon next month and since I don't have a lot of money, I am trying to cut down costs anywhere I can. With that in mind, I am staying clear of AA since they started this $15 charge...even if it only saves me $30, it's $30. Thanks for the entertaining post Chris T.!
I am so glad AZChelsea is wise NOT to fly AA! Just wish I could warn the entire world!
my my seems to be quite a bit of controversy surrounding this issue. wonder why? could it be that anyone who was traveled on a plane in the last 10 years watches 3 out of 4 (just guessing here) passengers try to carry their entire closet on board with them. You know who I'm talking about! It's the woman with a purse, a carry on bag, and the largest roller bag you've ever seen. I always wonder how they got those damn things through security. No one wants to check a bag because airlines are notorious for losing them or, this is great, stuff being stolen out of your bags. That last bit was from an airline employee who told me never to check anything valuable because things get stolen "all the time" and the airline doesn't do jack to reimburse. Yay for the airlines!
I'd like to note that I flew a Mexican airline last week. The flight was not full. The flight was roughly 1 1/2 hours. The list of in flight amenities, in couch, included in flight entertainment with personal headsets and a hot meal. That's right people a hot meal. I flew Alaska down south and got a meal for free (not hot but still good) and United back north in which I paid $7 for a "fruit and cheese plate".
I swear the airlines are digging themselves a bigger and bigger hole and are clueless about it. I was stuck last summer on one of those Jet Blue flights that was grounded for 6+ hours. They brought pizza on board but they didn't order enough. They wouldn't let us off the plane and even the flight attendants were pissed. Why do you keep doing the same stupid things over and over expecting different results. As Chris said, we expect higher fares but we do NOT expect to be nickel and dimed once we book our tickets and that is exactly what you are doing by charging to check bags, and eat anything on 5+ hour flights.
I just want to add - I have a toddler . I have to bring an extra bag with entertainment for her. Do you want to share a plane with a hungry, bored toddler with nothing to do? I think AA might want to help families out a bit on that one.
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