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NYT: "Avoiding Baggage Fees"

NYT: "Avoiding Baggage Fees"

Old Feb 6, 2012, 5:33 pm
  #1  
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NYT: "Avoiding Baggage Fees"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/bu...e-fees.html?hp

An interesting article on how travellers are changing their flying habits to save money on baggage fees.

The typical "Fly Southwest", signing up for credit cards with free bag perks, etc.

The most amusing comment? It comes from the director of a consumer group that represents airline passengers. "I can fit three times the amount of clothes in a carry-on than I used to be able to" because she uses vacuum-seal bags inside her carry-ons.

She doesn't say whether she has a vaccum-seal device at her destination waiting for her arrival or whether she has to carry that on the plane as well to be able to vaccum-seal her clothes back up for the return trip.
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Old Feb 7, 2012, 2:09 am
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Originally Posted by dgreen12
She doesn't say whether she has a vaccum-seal device at her destination waiting for her arrival or whether she has to carry that on the plane as well to be able to vaccum-seal her clothes back up for the return trip.
She'll use the roll up vacuum bags.
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Old Feb 7, 2012, 10:29 am
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“It’s not a question of money,” she said. “People are just fed up with being nickeled and dimed.”

This was one quote from the article. It can be argued, that people nickel and dime the airlines so they have to charge these fees. How is that - how can airlines be nickel and dimed. People's expectations. They expect low cost travel and have high expectations. Airlines are in business to make money.
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Old Feb 10, 2012, 9:43 pm
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Originally Posted by GRALISTAIR
“It’s not a question of money,” she said. “People are just fed up with being nickeled and dimed.”.....

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I wish people would lose this (nickel and dime) expression - it is so worn out.

It's common knowlege that the airlines charge for bags. Websites, blogs, media have been reporting it for over two years on a steady basis and everyone acts so surprised when they have to pay.

If you don't want to pay, then pack accordingly for a carryon. If you have to pack more than a carryon (i.e., cruisewear), then check a bag and consider it part of the cost of your trip; - just like the possibility of an extra hotel night or a restaurant meal you didn't necessarily plan on.

When I look at hotel websites, I'm not too fond of the room tax and other miscellaneous charges. I don't like departure taxes when I go to foreign countries but I make sure I have at least a general knowlege of what to expect before I go. I don't have any sympathy for people who don't do their homework.

Last edited by cblaisd; Feb 10, 2012 at 11:11 pm Reason: Fixed quote-coding
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Old Feb 17, 2012, 11:59 am
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Originally Posted by GRALISTAIR
Its not a question of money, she said. People are just fed up with being nickeled and dimed.
Whenever someone says "it's not the money, it's the the principle," it's the money.
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Old Feb 17, 2012, 1:24 pm
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Originally Posted by FlyingNone
It's common knowlege that the airlines charge for bags. Websites, blogs, media have been reporting it for over two years on a steady basis and everyone acts so surprised when they have to pay.
Maybe it is common knowlege in your circle, but to assume that everyone, everywhere, shares that knowledge is both silly and arrogant. Your sig line indicates you work for an airline so it isn't surprising you know of the fees; but do you read blogs on subjects unconnected to your life, your work or your general interests? How about newspaper articles on topics you are unfamiliar with, do you read those on a regular basis?

Just recently I was helping a friend plan a trip for her teenage daughter. Even though the mom is a college educated professional, she's never traveled by air. Hasn't needed to, hasn't wanted to, so she asked me for help figuring out how to send her teen to visit relatives 3,000 miles away. Because she isn't generally interested in air travel, she had no knowledge of TSA rules, baggage fees or a dozen other little quirks of air travel. While FT'ers might label her a "kettle" because she isn't a frequent flyer, it certainly doesn't make her stupid, it just means that air travel is outside her areas of interest, and I would venture to guess she is not the only person unfamiliar with baggage fees, despite the regular mention of such fees in the media.
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Old Feb 18, 2012, 3:35 pm
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Originally Posted by CDTraveler
Maybe it is common knowlege in your circle, but to assume that everyone, everywhere, shares that knowledge is both silly and arrogant. Your sig line indicates you work for an airline so it isn't surprising you know of the fees; but do you read blogs on subjects unconnected to your life, your work or your general interests? How about newspaper articles on topics you are unfamiliar with, do you read those on a regular basis?

Just recently I was helping a friend plan a trip for her teenage daughter. Even though the mom is a college educated professional, she's never traveled by air. Hasn't needed to, hasn't wanted to, so she asked me for help figuring out how to send her teen to visit relatives 3,000 miles away. Because she isn't generally interested in air travel, she had no knowledge of TSA rules, baggage fees or a dozen other little quirks of air travel. While FT'ers might label her a "kettle" because she isn't a frequent flyer, it certainly doesn't make her stupid, it just means that air travel is outside her areas of interest, and I would venture to guess she is not the only person unfamiliar with baggage fees, despite the regular mention of such fees in the media.
^^ Well said, and a point that should be made more often about infrequent travellers. They are not stupid or ill-informed, they simply aren't well-versed in a subject which is of no practical interest to them.
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