my biggest beny out of the spg program is the 5th night free award. if you play the game right you can save a ton of points

That's the problem - when the Kettles shop for a ticket, they only see the fare, not the fees. If they see US is $300 and CO is $330, they will buy the US ticket for 300 and end up paying the baggage fees (and more) because it wasn't part of their initial pricing decision.

If CO says 'no fees here', but then increases their fares to bury the fee revenue, they will lose sales to a lower priced competitor - even if that competitor is a higher cost option when the total expenses (bag fees, cabin soft drinks, etc etc) are accounted for.

If the Kettles actually thought things through, they would probably prefer to pay one fixed cost up front than be nickel and dimed for every service they used, and likely end up spending more on the pay-per-use option than they would have paid on the fixed-cost ticket.

Of course the problem is, most Kettles don't think.

This isn't a "kettles" issue, unless by kettles you mean everyone not on FlyerTalk (and even plenty of folks on here). And while I agree that most folks would prefer to pay less than more, I also think that most people would prefer a la carte offerings, assuming that there isn't a bundle discount somewhere along the way. If I can choose between X+Y+Z for seat, meal and checked bag or just X+Y because I don't check a bag, I'll pay X+Y until i realize that I need the service of checking a bag for Z. Of course, if checking that bag is actually Z++ then it is a harder comparison.

On the phantom bookings, yes I believe this is still a problem - which costs CO some number of $1M per year in lost revenue. The increased copays helps recover some of that lost revenue.

I suspect there are phantom domestic FC bookings on line that are held for 24 hours, then continually rebooked and held to keep FC open until upgrade time. I suspect this is the reason for requiring instant bookings. Again this is just speculation on my part.

CO's change fee is even worse than UA's. Unless this has very recently changed--UA allows date changes on reward tickets for free as long as the routing...including any connections...stays exactly the same. For example you book iah-iad-cdg and want to change the date...assuming appropriate availability in the FF reward classes...you can change to another date as long as your routing remains iah-iad-cdg. Change it to iah-ord-cdg and you pay.

CO gouges for the slightest change :td:

I'm sure they're studying this and what other carriers are doing/have done...they haven't done so YET.

However, most Kettles do check bags - and often more than one. For the average traveler, their true cost is X+Y+Z - for more frequent or knowledgeable travelers, they can restrict their expenditure to X-only.

Agreed. Now CO has the highest change/redeposit fee and the most restrictive change fee application policy. Not to mention that the Saturday stay requirement for Series 0 SaverPass awards is still the most restrictive.

The CO fee increase is a 300% increase compared to 50% increases at AA and UA.

Indeed. While UA and AA are also at $150, they both allow free date/time changes.

The change fees and $75 charge for reward tickets are absurd. You're defeating the purpose of accruing miles. Using FF miles is supposed to be a reward for loyalty, not a nickel and diming hassle. I don't even see the purpose of sticking with CO if all my miles amount just end up hitting me in the pocket.

I mean $150 to change an award flight ? That is completely and utterly disgusting.

You didn't read what I wrote. AA has contract employees sending passengers back to check-in with oversized bags.

The purchase date isn't relevant as long as AA rigidly enforces its check baggage policy. SFO is a great example where they've come down hard (too hard in fact) on oversized bags. I spoke to the duty manager there last week. They will continue to come down hard on non-elite passengers; they're trying to exercise leniency for elite passengers.

I haven't seen a problem with overhead space.

The airlines know what they are doing and are seeking out short-term returns regardless of the longer-term impact. Basically the airlines' idea is to increasingly move from "free travel" using miles to "somewhat discounted travel" using miles -- it's just that some airlines give greater discounts on paid travel when using miles for award tickets and others are giving smaller discounts on paid travel when using miles for award tickets. These are just some more factors to keep in mind when deciding how to play the FFP game now and going forward.

Your first comment is completely uninformed.

Where a passenger sits has nothing to do with baggage issues on American. I have seen no evidence, none, that the new policy is creating an increase in the number of carry-on bags. It's just hasn't happened.

Oh, I read what you wrote. The facts are that the impact of the first checked bag fee is not as apparent now as it will be a few months from now because ticket purchase date most certainly is relevant (as is market segment and mix).

Of course you haven't seen a problem with overhead space yet; and you may well not see it "as long as ____" [fill in the blank with your choice of hypothetical item A, B, and/or C] happens.

You are jumping to a conclusion about future outcomes even as past/recent history on "enforcement" on this has been both spotty and very short -- even at SFO ;) -- and depending on the hypothetical of seeing the same thing going forward that you've seen and heard about happening during a very limited time (i.e., a little over month) when only a small minority of passengers are subject to a checked bag fee even for a first bag.

The comment that where a passenger sits has nothing to do with baggage issues on American seems to be the uninformed commentary: the first class cabin has more storage space available per passenger than is the situation for those in the coach cabin; and also the percentage of first class cabin passengers subjected to a charge for checking a bag is certainly not rising as fast as the percentage of coach cabin passengers subjected to a charge to check a bag.