Airlines will make a record $118 billion in extra fees this year—their websites are designed to get you to pay

www.fastcompany.com Airlines will make a record $118 billion in extra fees this year—their websites are designed to get you to pay

Airlines are piling on fees for checked bags, assigned seats, and other extras. Here's how their websites pressure fliers into paying for them.

Airlines will make a record $118 billion in extra fees this year—their websites are designed to get you to pay::Airlines are piling on fees for checked bags, assigned seats, and other extras. Here's how their websites pressure fliers into paying for them.

41 comments

Recently booked some flights with United. Chose Economy (not Basic). Tried to book row 30 or something around there but they wanted an extra $140 per seat. Said fuck it and booked row 58. Two weeks later got an email letting me know my seats were changed to row 30 at no charge.

What a scam.
- Yeah, this is a pretty common thing for me as well. I prefer to sit by my wife on long flights (3+ hours) and will usually pay an enormous fee for a damned middle seat. Outside of that, pfft hell no. Then it's a toss-up whether I get what I want or not. The prices are pretty outrageous considering it costs nothing.
  
  On exception was flying Lot Airlines to and from Poland. We picked seats together on both flights, and neither selection was honored. That was pretty BS. They couldn't fix it at the gate because the flight was full and it would be too difficult. 🤦‍♂️
  
  Can't just ask the person to swap you? Most people don't want the middle seat.
I was charged a fee for checking-in with the person at the counter, instead of checking-in using their website or app. It's deliberately scummy
- I had to fly allegiant the other day and was checking a bag so I figured I would just check in at the counter. When I get there they inform me that it would be $5 to check in and get a boarding pass at the counter so I stood there, at the counter, on my phone, fighting their shitty website that kept trying to trick me into spending more money, to check in online so that I could check my bag.
  
  Allegiant, Spirit, and Frontier airlines in the USA all operate under the same business model of offering a VERY low priced ticket if you buy it under specific circumstances. If you deviate AT ALL from those very specific ways, you pay many fees for a level of service you would expect to come by default with the price of the base ticket. As long as you go in knowing this, you can get a really cheap ticket. If you're willing to play the game its possible to fly very inexpensively.
  
  If, when you fly, you like the basic amenities (such as a regular sized carry on and being able to pick your seat) then you're better off flying a traditional air carrier.
  
  I'll be the first to say that the rules of the game are crazy. For a Frontier ticket I bought recently the price for a single checked bag when you buy your airfare is $40 each way. If you wait even 5 seconds after you buy your ticket to buy the checked bag as a separate transaction that same bag now costs you $50 each way. Also, a checked bag with most airlines is 50 lbs limit (22.6kg), but a Frontier checked bag is limited to only 40 lbs (18.1kg). Buckle up now, it gets worse. If your checked back is 41 lbs instead of the allowed 40 lbs, the extra fee for 41 lbs to 50 lbs weight is an extra $65. So your checked bag could cost you $104 for the leg of the flight its the 40 lbs weight limit.
  
  "I'll just skip a checked bag and use a carry on" you think. A carry on costs more than a checked bag! If you pay for your carry on while purchasing your ticket its $50, 5 seconds after you buy your airfare $75, if you wait until the day you fly an buy it at the check in counter $80, if you wait until the gate $99!
  
  Other fun fees:
  
  ability to talk to a human on the phone instead of their chat/email support
  
  a printable boarding pass
  
  selecting a seat (of course), but ....any seat you select costs you (so you don't choose and let them put you in one for free, but they don't make that obvious)
  
  Ways to get non-obvious savings while within the rules:
  
  if you're traveling with two people, use a larger duffel and put both passengers items in there. Now you're just cut your checked bag costs in half!
  
  We all have clothing that is getting to the end of its life but we still wear for a bit longer before throwing it away. Save up those clothes. When you take a trip, pack mostly THOSE clothes, and after you wear them for the last time on the trip you don't bring them home. You now have lots of free space/weight in your checked bag for the things you're buying and bringing home from your trip saving you from having to buy more checked bags.
  
  buy your ticket AT THE COUNTER AT THE AIRPORT. You can save $18 to $25 per ticket each way. You can see how much you'd save when you look at the website for Frontier and see a "CIC charge". You pay that booking online or through a phone call. You don't pay that if you buy from the human standing at the counter at the airport. Its not quite a simple as it sounds because there isn't always staff at the check in counter. However you can check the Departures board online, arrive 1 hour before a departing flight (when the staff is checking bags) and buy your ticket from them at that time.
  
  In the screenshot above the price of this ticket from Chicago to Orlando drops from $77.96 for the non-stop round trip flights to $31.96! So you'd pay only $15.98 to fly one way from Chicago to Orlando! That's likely going to be cheaper than a single meal you'll have in Orlando.
  
  In short. Keep it simple and buy as little as possible and its a cheap flight, just be ready to play the game or pay more than you planned with these discount carriers.
- Well if everyone did that, they'd have to hire more personel to handle all these check-ins.
  
  It's a cost-saving measure that's passed on to you.
  
  It's more the fact that it wasn't an obvious fee. I can deal with checking-in with a phone, but it would've been nice if it had been more obvious that there was a fee if I didn't. Live and learn
  
  They should hire a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube Man
Their UX is also incredibly deceptive. I've personally seen old folks trying to book on low-cost airline websites and they often believe they have to pay extra to get a seat.
- Yeah they're using the hell out of dark patterns and then switch them up mid process i.e. clicking the big green "Ok" Button will first be the one that gets you to pay more later you need to hit "Ok" to proceed without additional fees.
  
  I recently went through the process with a friend. Both of us reasonably tech savvy and under 35 and we almost went mad. So it's not just old folks.
- Absolutely. And they push bundles that don't make financial sense but look attractive because we're conditioned to think bundles are good. $30 to check a bag OR $72 to check a bag and board in Group 2 lol.
The irony is that they all exist only because of bailouts. Privatize profits but always democratize the losses. Capitalism is the biggest scam.
Micro transactions extend beyond video games and airline companies are the biggest offenders. Flying in the US is a scam and a half. Want a seat? Pay. Want some water? Pay. Pretty soon, want oxygen? PAY!
- Nah, the biggest scam is medicine. Need surgery? Pay. Want it done in an operating room? Pay. Want anesthesia? Pay.
  
  I mean, I'm all for single-payer healthcare, but under that system all of the people involved in surgery and anesthesia would still get paid, and I think they should.
  
  People shouldn't work for free.
I booked flights a few months ago and got so mad at all the upselling they tried to do and how little they gave for the base price. My wife had to talk me down from throwing my computer. I'm normally a calm person.
- The idea that someone wouldn't break in the US with workplace expectations and cultures, that consumers shouldn't lose their shit (demanding corporate actions not taking it out on front liners) is the gaslighting, sorry to use the oft misattributed word.
  
  US workplaces grind out profits on insufficient staffing, poor procedures, dangerous consequences for employees and customers all so that the 1% can get quarterly stock grants and options worth more than the lifetime earnings of an employee.
You can buy tickets at the ticket counter and they can't charge all the convenience fees. We've gotten tickets for 50% of what they were listed for online. Just go when there isn't a flight departing and have all your info ready to go. They will not be happy you are there.
- Most airlines don't charge convenience fees. It looks like Spirit does, not surprisingly.
  
  I worked at an airport for a major airline over a decade ago. IIRC there was a $25 charge for booking at the airport (I can count on one hand how many times people actually showed up for that) and it didn't give any cheaper fares than online. All we'd do is book in full Y to get the itinerary started, then LA$R on that command line system (how do I still remember that?) to automatically change the fare class to whatever was cheapest available while still following all the fare rules.
  
  Bonus points for anyone who knows what system we used that LA$R is a thing.
- What fees do you find waived and for what airline? I haven't noticed TicketMaster-like convenience fees with the ones I fly
  
  Spirit, avelo... But the fucking smiles are free
  
  I've done it with frontier and spirit. I'm not sure what the specific fees are, but it's saved me tons of money for the few years I've been doing it.
- I got charged $25 per ticket to check-in at the counter when I lost my phone. If I had known ahead of time I'd have done something else but I didn't have any spare time at that point.
  
  This isnt checking in at the counter it's purchasing the tickets at the counter.
Are they extra fees or just the price of the ticket? Southwest charges to board first. Is that a fee or just a better ticket?
- It's a fee, boarding first isn't a privilege really, though I understand why it might feel that way to some
  
  boarding first isn't a privilege really
  
  It is on southwest, since there's no unassigned boarding. I'm a tall dude, and I always pay for early boarding so I can get myself an emergency row seat
  
  A fee for a better ticket
Flew AA recently and never again. Upcharge for me and my wife to sit together, upcharge for me and my wife to board at the same time (only one of us is in their "Advantage" program), and checked baggage rules were changed recently so our biggest suitcase is now twice as expensive (being 3in too big).
Does anyone know what is the most ethical airline?
- None of them are ethical.
- Define your terms? Pilot/staff pay, minimization of cost, carbon efficiency, something else? I'll look it up, based on order of your concern.
  
  Kind of curious my own self.
  
  Initially I thought I need an airline that help in boycotting Isreal. I figured South Africa, or Ireland might be good. But now, I wonder about the different aspects you mentioned.
  
  Maybe there is a website that have all these details?
- If we're not talking about US airlines exclusively, I have very good experiences with Austrian Airlines. Their booking is straightforward, no hidden fees, good service on the airplane. The only issue I can think of is that it can be difficult to get into contact with a person from that airline when flying from a non-Austrian airport, but that is rarely needed anyway. They're not low-cost though.

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