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The Cheap Seats: The Popularity of the Unpopular Ultra Low Fare Experience
Amanda Pleva December 20, 2016
My parents live on a hill in a quiet town in the foothills of the snowy Rocky Mountains. They enjoy their retirement by taking semi-annual trips to Las Vegas to try their luck at the slots and escape the bitter cold, but to most importantly take advantage of the complimentary meals and luxury hotel rooms – perks of their loyalty as frequent vacationers there. Just like many parents of airline employees, they are offered free or cheap standby flights as part of our benefits packages. But, also like many of our parents, they refuse to deal with the stress of flying standby and just pony up the money for full-fare tickets.
My mother and father often fly an ultra low-cost carrier for the unbelievably inexpensive fares. “You really can’t beat it,” she told me after her last visit to Vegas. “We only paid $25 each one way!” She soon after admitted to having left out the cost of their checked bags, which was about equal to the price of the ticket, but said it was still a better value than other airlines had offered with a bag included. And the in-flight experience? “Awful,” she said, “but for two hours, we can tolerate it.”
This is the new reality of air travel, and it’s what airline investors are banking on – cheap, restricting and without focus on the passenger experience.
Now, this isn’t anything too new. People have joked about air travel being miserable for decades. And really, these discussions were always more celebrated pastime than reality; it was always easy small talk, and still is. “How was your flight?” is always the first question lobbed at us from friends and family upon arrival for a visit. “It was terrible!” we cheerfully reply from the throes of a bear hug, and on the ride home from the airport weave an epic tale of the annoying seatmate, the painful torture chair we’d been strapped to for hours, the flight attendant whose glare was as deadly as her breath, and the turbulence that made it seem like we’d endured an experience that made the pilgrims sailing to the New World look like a bunch of pansies.
But it seems like the new ultra low-fare carriers are making what had once been our playful exaggerations into a reality, with some going to far as to literally not even offer an actual tray table or enough lap room to open a laptop. If we were animals, organizations would be protesting on our behalf for humane treatment. And you wonder why air rage is on the rise?
United brought this issue to light with its new Basic Economy fare, which has famously come with the stipulation that passengers may not use the overhead bin – and attempting to skirt the rule will result in a $25 “convenience” fee. Naturally, this has been quite unpopular PR move. All airlines have adopted policies and special seats that require policing, and we hate enforcing all these measures as much as the flying public hate them being enforced. But to not enforce these restrictions angers those who’ve followed them, so if we are going to take off with someone declaring it the “worst flight ever” (as will happen), you go with the one who doesn’t want to follow the rules. However, many flight attendants celebrate United’s move, which potentially offers the ability to minimize flight delays and aggravation onboard trying to accommodate last minute carry-ons, which often end up being checked at the end of boarding anyway – sometimes resulting in passengers with ruffled feathers staring daggers at us for the whole flight.
The ultra low-cost model is attracting impressive loyalty from a demographic that hates it. Understandably, people need to get from point A to point B, and any business is going to want to cater to the needs of its clients and shareholders. However, with these ultra-basic fares come fees that aren’t always easy to dodge, especially if you can’t bear to part with your luggage. In opening up this avenue to the budget traveler, however, it looks as if airlines are quietly eradicating the true economy class, which had already been tailored to those looking for the most affordable seats.
As carriers such as Spirit and EasyJet continue to thrive on both the lists of top earners as well as complaints, we will continue to see the major players continue to try and appeal to their potential clients. And as they attempt to win over all demographics, they will continue to alienate most of them. Ultra low-cost fares will come with suffocating restrictions, regular economy will be more expensive and smaller (to make room for the extra seats added in) and people will be on edge. We are starting to see it with a not-insignificant uptick in air rage, and when crews can offer no solace, tension will remain unresolved onboard.
No one wants to hear it, but perhaps airfare can’t always be dirt-cheap. When the true price of discount fares is the reduced comfort and sanity of all onboard, it’s a model that just doesn’t quite work. While my parents will likely disagree with me on this one, I’m sure that, should they go back to paying double the bargain basement ticket prices they’ve grown accustomed to, all would be forgotten as they stretch their legs in a roomier seat, complimentary drink in hand, watching the sun set in vivid pinks and purples over the Nevada desert without too much of a raise in blood pressure.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
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The Cheap Seats: The Popularity of the Unpopular Ultra Low Fare Experience
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My frank opinion is that all that cramping isn't safe. If the airplane needs to be evacuated in a pinch and you are in that really cheap economy seat where you have zero space for your knees and laptop, how fast do you think you can evacuate? I fully agree that air rage is the other dangee lurking. Put rats in a maze, restrict their space, take away food, and watch the carnage that follows. Reminds you of some planes? You bet! Unfortunately, people don't read the fine print and this strip tease will continue until there are real catastrophies that will force the govt to intervene and regulate minimum seat dimensions. It will be coming, unless the airlines find a way to put all of us to mandatory sleep just like in the Fifth Element.
I used to be one of those people who flew rarely, and tended to get the cheapest ticket. And just assumed flying had to be a miserable experience. Particularly on international flights. But I started travelling more for work. And finally one flight in economy was so bad I swore I had to figure out how to get into business class or quit flying. I spent some time learning more about how airlines do things, ways to look for flights, particularly how to get upgrades, and learned that flying does not have to be horrible. It can even be enjoyable, if you do it right. Most folks are miserable travelling because they just don't have a clue what they are doing.
I have already seen a sketch of a proposal of a passenger standing arrangement .It may be a while before that level of cruelty is reached . However , without regulation it may happen . If congress actually required a minimum then all airlines would have to comply and none would have an advantage by more cruelty to their passengers , at least in that manner.
My fear is that some airlines that offer an above average experience in Economy will have to prostitute themselves to match Spirit/EasyJet, United Basic, etc. I'm thinking of jetBlue which has been my saving grace with 34" seat pitch on the A320 (with EMS seats with 38"), free snacks, DirectTV, WIFI, free seat assignment. Now, they charge for bags (which I'm ok with), but now they are going greater density with 32" seat pitch (not terrible, but wrong direction). I understand why because you can't match low cost fares with services like those. I'm one of the few who would rather pay an extra $100 for some space to open a laptop/stretch my legs, some snack choices, a seat assignment, WIFI, etc. unless it's a flight less than 2 hours.
My problem related to this article is that when I've paid a bit more I've ended up with the same experience.