Originally Posted by
newsmanhoss
Then AirTran's biz class upgrades and elite program really are superior. If you purchase a biz class seat on airtran, your baggage fees are waived. If you're checking two bags on a short-haul flight, the net cost of the biz class seat is much lower than a signature seat on midwest.
But that's only if you're checking two bags. I look at it from the other direction where the upgrade fee on AirTran has the bag fees built in, and so I have to pay it no matter if I check bags or not.
MKE-FLL is a $50 upgrade on Midwest and a $99 upgrade on AirTran.
The effective cost to upgrade on MKE-FLL:
$50 on Midwest no matter how many bags are checked
$99 on AirTran if no bags are checked
$84 on AirTran if one bag is checked (save $15 on bag fees)
$59 on AirTran if two bags are checked (save $40 on bag fees)
Business class on AirTran includes a few extras like free drinks, so it's not a perfect apples-to-apples comparison. But the BASE upgrade fees are close to double on FL over YX.
One final note on the upgrade costs...checked bag fees are fully acceptable on an expense report. Upgrade fees are not. If I pay the AirTran upgrade fee out of my own pocket, the amount I'm saving in bag fees doesn't wind up in my pocket...it saves
my client a negligible amount of his total bill from my company. Saving money on a waived baggage fees does me zero good. If I pay the Midwest upgrade fee out of my own pocket, the bag fees are still expensed to the client just like any other normal travel cost. So it's a no brainer in that regard depending on how the expense reports work.
It's very similar to having a bad experience at a hotel, complaining, and having them deduct the cost of one night. If you're traveling on an expense report, the benefit to you the traveler is zippo. Saving bag fees by paying for an upgrade is similarly a losing game for people on an expense report.