brunos

Airlines are free to set prices. they can raise or lower them and face competition.
They don't need to introduce a HBO fare to raise prices or vice-versa.
But I don't think that one can disagree that airfares have gone down on average in the past few years. Of course, it depends on routes, competition and fuel prices.
And I am old enough to factor in my overall price taking into account the various services I use (extra bag, seat assignment and the like). Paying for services that I don't use is where I feel frustrated.

A significant number of people, even if a minority, travel hand luggage on TATL, Admittedly this is a larger percentage in J, but young people do spend a long week end in NY or Paris.

Wunk

That's nonsense, I never travel with checked bags when going to the US for business trips and the only SSSS I've ever gotten was because I departed from Dublin rather then Amsterdam with my dad and brother because it saved 3x€600 when travelling J

Keter

With some LH and BA fares this is not even the case. Could have been worse on the way to the bottom... Or faster..

irishguy28

I've *never* had an SSSS when travelling from Dublin.

The only times I've ever got SSSS were when I was flying without checked luggage.

Sjondorn

I think caliform meant that many people are still willing to lower their comfort on the flights to get lower prices (i.e. there's room for even more narrower Y seats etc.).

johan rebel

I've never had SSSS, period. I've only checked a bag twice so far this century.

Johan

irishguy28

Is it possible for someone who "always gets TSA Pre✓" to get SSSS? You are clearly on a TSA clear list!

irishguy28

Agreed. I'm not aware of any other TATL "light" fare for which status gets a free bag.

brunos

Let me detail my point.
In their effort to lower price, airlines do reduce comfort in Y such as reduced seat pitch, narrower seats.This is quite different from what I was addressing.
On the other hand, having a light fare with a charge for checking a bag does not reduce comfort; it just introduces differential pricing.

I must confess that I have not traveled longhaul in Y for decades, so my reaction was knee jerk. But I am a big fan of Easyjet compared to AF for French and European flights. I like to have the comfort to select my seat at booking like front row or extra legroom which also buys me priority boarding. I like to be able to purchase/select food onboard rather than the very limited choice of drinks and sucré/salé. I don't consider having to pay for a checked bag as a reduction in comfort. All the extras are known and paid at time of booking, so it is easy to compare airlines and make an educated choice.

It could be that some infrequent pax do not see through the price and fare conditions and get "cheated' when comparing options. But airlines tend to be very explicit nowadays about those; at least they should be.

PS: I believe that the new light/standard/standard+ system is consistent with the light/standard/flex mediumhaul system introduced a year ago. A significant number of pax are from/to another European country. It was strange that the lowest TATL fares allowed them a free bag on the European portion.

Sjondorn

Yes, I understand what you mean with the luggage and agree with it as well (although I haven't flown in long-haul Y for a looong time too). Though it's still a part of race to the bottom and that usually comes with crappier seating.

NickB

Generalising on the basis of one's own anecdotal experience is bound to be fraught with error. I also barely ever check luggage and I have been SSSS'd twice in hundreds and hundreds of US flights and on both occasions it was on domestic flights. Not once have I been SSSS'd on tatl flights. One's won experience is simply not a sufficient basis to generalise on this as on so many other things.

Fabo.sk

That seems to be the point. One of the less nice lessons learned from the likes of Ryanair, but on the other hand if I am going somewhere for 2 days, I appreciate 100eur HBO fare over, say, 150 base fare with bags.
At least AFKL gives a free bag to elites even on light fares, unlike others (LH as an example.)

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The problem is, it's only easy if you do the legwork, and compare on airline websites. Bag is a relatively simple thing, but it falls apart when you start talking about extra space seats and so on. You can't put that as a search option at, say, Kayak...

I don't find it strange at all. If I travel, say, PRG-ATL, I travel PRG-ATL and not PRG-AMS, buy baggage there, and carry on with AMS-ATL. 99% of people buy a ticket to travel out and then back, as 2 units.

Akira7

Lucky that I booked my OSL-CDG-ATL-AMS-OSL in november for travel in april. If I were to book now, I've had to pay for check-in luggages.

brunos

I agree on your first point that it does take time to compare fares on different airlines (say for European or domestic travel). But that is unavoidable. Fares conditions differ a lot. If you don't want seat assignment and a checked bag, the comparison is a bit easier, but you still need to consider what "free" services you get. I often compare fares on AF and EZY and it takes very little time to figure out the relative cost/benefits. The time when all airlines provided rather similar services (one checked bag, meal served, similar fare conditions) is gone. Indeed, kayak is much less relevant today.

The other point was about "consistency". As you are probably aware, internal costing is very important when you sell a PRG-CDG-ATL. At AF, the European management tribe and the longhaul management tribe fight about internal pricing as it affects the bottom line of both tribes. Now that European fares include an HBO fare, this development for longhaul is logical. And it is easy for a pax to add a checked bag if needed..

Fabo.sk

Yes, though it could have been until recently basically grouped into two basic dividers, free service yes/no and free bag yes/no. Further than that, it's more digging.

If you meant that "it was strange that cheapest TATL allowed a free bag", then I don't entirely agree, but see your point. But the concept of "European portion" is not reasonable as a differentiator between bag being available or not. Bag is such a basic service it should always be the same throughout the ticket.