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Delta Continues to Adjust to Unprecedented Fuel Costs with Addition of Fuel Surcharge

Delta Continues to Adjust to Unprecedented Fuel Costs with Addition of Fuel Surcharge

 
Old Jun 26, 2008, 9:19 am
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by spleenstomper
I have been googling and all I see is:

Northwest's fuel charge one way went up to 165.00 on June 10.

All Nippon and Japan Airlines are going up on tickets purchased on/after July 1 to 253.00 each way.

Haven't found anything about Delta yet.
Would someone explain to me why the airlines charge a flat sur-charge fee rather than just increasing fares. It seems really unfair to have the same sur-charge applied to a $125 fare between JAX-ATL versus the same sur-charge for a $500 fare between JAX-SEA. That seems so unfair that I cannot understand why a single person in management would even think about that idea for more than 30 seconds.

Am I reading the previous post correctly? Does Northwest add $330 in fuel sur-charges to the price of every round-trip ticket?
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 9:33 am
  #17  
 
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Here, Fran, Read this: http://www.bestfares.com/news-newsID645-All_Major_Airlines_Including_Northwest_Match_$20_F uel_Surcharge_Increase.html

I think what it is saying is that you are paying 330.00 more for a ticket than in Dec. 07.

It must be the cumulation of the surcharges since last year.

but I readily admit I don't fly much and could be very wrong here.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 9:59 am
  #18  
 
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O.K. I found the original post, which is on disboards budget board.

That OP said she got an e-mail from DISNEY that stated this:
While this isn't totally budget related, it s for those planning a trip and looking to book.

I have received the following email from Disney:

Delta Airlines has implemented a fuel surcharge. The new surcharge is $50.00 one way $100.00 round trip on domestic fares.


They have been given until Monday to ticket without the surcharge, so if you are in a Delta market, you may want to move quickly

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news
So my guess is that Delta and Disney have some kind of travel-agency deal thing and Disney's prices are going up....

and

The prices mentioned are cumulative price increases from a specific date last year.

I'm declaring this "much ado about nothing"....

edited: I'm on the phone with Delta because Disney (I had to call anyway since we're going in December... has business to take care of... figured I'd ask while I was on the phone) insists this is true and not just for Disney. Unfortunately, I have an Indian agent who also seems to have a mush mouth in addition to a thick accent who seems to think this is a "promotion" and keeps wanting to transfer me to the "promotions" desk. LOL And I think I may have just signed up for something.......

Last edited by spleenstomper; Jun 26, 2008 at 10:16 am
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 10:17 am
  #19  
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Originally Posted by flyingfran
Would someone explain to me why the airlines charge a flat sur-charge fee rather than just increasing fares. It seems really unfair to have the same sur-charge applied to a $125 fare between JAX-ATL versus the same sur-charge for a $500 fare between JAX-SEA. That seems so unfair that I cannot understand why a single person in management would even think about that idea for more than 30 seconds.
Because if DL boosts fares and the other majors don't, all of the price-sensitive fliers like the folks posting in this thread are going to ditch DL for the cheapest seat from JAX-SEA (or wherever they're going), because hub flying allows multiple options for getting from A to B. And it's easy to see what airline offers the cheapest seat because of consolidator sites like Sidestep and Kayak.

Originally Posted by flyingfran
Am I reading the previous post correctly? Does Northwest add $330 in fuel sur-charges to the price of every round-trip ticket?
Nope, I bought a RIC-BOS roundtrip on NW for an even $200 a few weeks ago.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 10:18 am
  #20  
 
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The final response from Delta:

There is no fuel surcharge starting on Monday that they know of.

Consider the source....

As for the ticket prices, I had to pay about 600.00 each for 2 tickets on DL in August that "used to" cost me about 250. to 280.00 each. Also the article I quoted said fare surcharges for markets that *don't* have low cost carrier competitors (such as my market).
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 10:18 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by spleenstomper
O.K. I found the original post, which is on disboards budget board.

That OP said she got an e-mail from DISNEY that stated this:

So my guess is that Delta and Disney have some kind of travel-agency deal thing and Disney's prices are going up....
Not a credible source IMO.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 10:33 am
  #22  
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Originally Posted by flyingfran
Would someone explain to me why the airlines charge a flat sur-charge fee rather than just increasing fares. It seems really unfair to have the same sur-charge applied to a $125 fare between JAX-ATL versus the same sur-charge for a $500 fare between JAX-SEA. That seems so unfair that I cannot understand why a single person in management would even think about that idea for more than 30 seconds.

Am I reading the previous post correctly? Does Northwest add $330 in fuel sur-charges to the price of every round-trip ticket?
They do it because it's a better way to try and bolster the bottom line--it's more effective than unilaterally raising fares.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 10:41 am
  #23  
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Exclamation Please remain on topic.

A number of items have been posted to this thread that are off-topic and have nothing to do with Delta Air Lines or the SkyMiles program.

They have since been deleted.

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Regards,

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Co-Moderator, Delta forum
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 11:47 am
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by ContinentalFan
They do it because it's a better way to try and bolster the bottom line--it's more effective than unilaterally raising fares.
When they quote you a phony fare, this is nothing but dishonest, and the consumer protection agencies should jump down their throats on this fraud upon consumers. Fuel is an essential part of the basic product. Planes won't fly without it. Putting it on a seperate line down with the taxes is not an honest way to run a business. It belongs as part of the fare.

Maybe some class action lawyers would take note. I would not mind the $6.53 check for damages after hefty attorney fees are deducted or the coupon or whatever, just as long as this fraudulent fuel surcharge practice is shot down for good.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 12:04 pm
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by Carolinian
When they quote you a phony fare, this is nothing but dishonest, and the consumer protection agencies should jump down their throats on this fraud upon consumers. Fuel is an essential part of the basic product. Planes won't fly without it. Putting it on a seperate line down with the taxes is not an honest way to run a business. It belongs as part of the fare.

Maybe some class action lawyers would take note. I would not mind the $6.53 check for damages after hefty attorney fees are deducted or the coupon or whatever, just as long as this fraudulent fuel surcharge practice is shot down for good.
As long as they declare the Fuel fees prior to the final ticket purchase this is nothing worse than a frustrating business practice.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 12:14 pm
  #26  
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Originally Posted by Carolinian
When they quote you a phony fare, this is nothing but dishonest, and the consumer protection agencies should jump down their throats on this fraud upon consumers. Fuel is an essential part of the basic product. Planes won't fly without it. Putting it on a seperate line down with the taxes is not an honest way to run a business. It belongs as part of the fare.

Maybe some class action lawyers would take note. I would not mind the $6.53 check for damages after hefty attorney fees are deducted or the coupon or whatever, just as long as this fraudulent fuel surcharge practice is shot down for good.
Delta is perfectly above board. Their website shows the total price every step of the way. No need to call a lawyer.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 1:02 pm
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by Carolinian
When they quote you a phony fare, this is nothing but dishonest, and the consumer protection agencies should jump down their throats on this fraud upon consumers. Fuel is an essential part of the basic product. Planes won't fly without it. Putting it on a seperate line down with the taxes is not an honest way to run a business. It belongs as part of the fare.

Maybe some class action lawyers would take note. I would not mind the $6.53 check for damages after hefty attorney fees are deducted or the coupon or whatever, just as long as this fraudulent fuel surcharge practice is shot down for good.
I believe it was on USAToday that I saw a headline indicating that the European Union has passed a law requiring EU-based airfares to be quoted with all surcharges included. I'm guessing this was more a reaction to all the hidden fees of the deep discounters like RyanAir and their ilk, but it's not irrelevant to the issue of separate fuel surcharges.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 11:07 pm
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by pbarnette
Delta is perfectly above board. Their website shows the total price every step of the way. No need to call a lawyer.
The main scammers using this technique are indeed not US carriers, they are European legacies. But DL is the only US carrier I am aware of that DOES use this scam on passengers originating in Europe.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 11:09 pm
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by Helena Handbaskets
I believe it was on USAToday that I saw a headline indicating that the European Union has passed a law requiring EU-based airfares to be quoted with all surcharges included. I'm guessing this was more a reaction to all the hidden fees of the deep discounters like RyanAir and their ilk, but it's not irrelevant to the issue of separate fuel surcharges.
The tables have turned. It is some of the LCC's in Europe who are leading the way these days in quoting honest fares while the legacies are scamming passengers with their bait and switch ''fuel surcharge'' scam.
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Old Jun 26, 2008, 11:13 pm
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by majorwibi
As long as they declare the Fuel fees prior to the final ticket purchase this is nothing worse than a frustrating business practice.
Where they are committing the fraud on consumers is putting up phony fares that search engines bring up as being the lowest when they are really not. Savvy travellers know to wait to see the final ticket price, but the less sophisticated are being ripped off by these rotten airline ''fuel surcharge'' scams.
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