Air Travelers Face New Fees, Including Baggage Checking
By Randolph Heaster, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Jun. 8–Your family is primed and pumped for the annual weeklong summer vacation. Ticketless confirmation in hand from reservations made months ago to get the best deal, you’re at the airport with time to spare.
But if you think the travel costs are pretty much behind you once inside the terminal, think again.
In fact, you’re more likely this summer than ever to be ponying up before the landing gear tickles the tarmac in Florida, California or any other domestic vacation destination.
Second bags to check for you and your daughter? That’ll be 25 bucks for each bag — each way. If you’re flying American Airlines with tickets bought after next Saturday, you’ll pay $15 for each first bag checked for each passenger.
Snacks onboard? If they’re available, expect to fork over $3 to $10, depending on the carrier. Want a window or aisle seat? Some airlines will charge premiums for that, ranging from $5 to $109.
And keep your fingers crossed you don’t encounter delays. Because of rising fuel prices, airlines have taken many planes out of the air, meaning fewer flights, fewer seats and less slack in the system to get you out of town when problems occur.
What a difference a year makes, thanks to oil prices that have doubled since last summer’s vacation season.
After two years of profits, the airline industry is again deep in the red. Most airlines have cut flights and seats going into the summer travel season and raised fares, especially on nonstops. That’s evident at Kansas City International Airport.
But that’s not all. Summer leisure travelers who don’t fly regularly may be in for eyeopeners from the additional fees that will be waiting for them.
“A lot of people who fly once a year will only find out about these extra fees when they get to the airport,” said Rick Seaney, chief executive officer of FareCompare.com, a consumer airline ticket research Web site. “They’re not going to be happy about it. But then again, nobody’s happy with $130 oil.”
Some consumers, however, have had it with air travel. Take Annette Connor, an area resident who said she has not flown in years. After reading reports about some airlines contemplating charging passengers by weight like a freight company, she will continue to avoid airports.
“Combine (the baggage fees) with cutting flights, reducing weight in the airplanes and extra fuel, and no food served, limited fluids and hours on the tarmac leave me not wanting to fly until the airlines start caring about their customers again,” she said in an e-mail response. “In the meantime, until that happens, I will drive.”
This time last year, KCI was in the midst of a rebirth. With the number of KCI passengers on the rise after years of decline, the airport was drawing more flights into the local market in summer 2007, including the entry of a new airline. Cities that rarely or never had much-desired nonstop service from KCI were being added to the daily flight schedule.
It’s a different story now.
KCI will average 240 flights a day this month, a drop from 254 daily in June 2007.
Airlines have already begun to cut back, including discount carrier ExpressJet. Last year, the carrier operating with 50-seat jets was the first new entry in this market since 2002. The airline flew to as many seven cities last year and had 14 flights daily. By the end of the summer, ExpressJet will be down to three flights daily to two cities, said Justin Meyer, the Kansas City Aviation Department’s air service development manager.
Midwest Airlines, number two in terms of passengers out of KCI, behind Southwest Airlines, also has scaled back after ambitious growth last year.
Midwest, including its regional service, last September was up to 41 flights daily from Kansas City. The Milwaukee-based carrier currently is operating 31 flights daily, and Meyer said the airline would eliminate nonstop service to Pittsburgh and Austin, Texas, at the end of June.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of the current trend? The total number of passenger seats available to fly out of KCI is dropping. KCI has 6 percent fewer seats this month than in June 2007, Meyer said. That percentage will rise through the summer months and reach 16 percent by September, he said.
Passenger traffic in April fell slightly at KCI, but remains up for the year. Still, the number of passengers at KCI is expected to keep declining through the summer months. An airline trade group forecast that 1.3 percent fewer passengers would be flying this summer compared with last year.
Translation: Even more crowded flights and potentially more hassles if flights are canceled because there will be fewer flights and seats available for later travel.
“We’ll see higher load factors and higher average fares,” Meyer said. “Airlines no longer want to carry the passenger who has the $59 fare. You can’t do cheap and pay for gas at the same time at these prices.”
Fares on average are up about 7 percent nationally from last year, although the prices have jumped more dramatically in certain regions of the country, said Seaney of FareCompare.com.
Still, ticket prices are not going up fast enough, industry experts say.
The analysts say that under airlines’ business model, they need to draw a certain number of customers to create economies of scale and operational density.
“The problem is that if airlines raise fares across the board too much, that could change the balance and affect people’s flying habits,” Seaney said. “But with fees, especially on an a la carte basis, people are willing to pay a little more if it’s reasonable.”
Hence, virtually every carrier, with the exception of Southwest, has instituted a $20 or $25 fee for checking a second bag, which is charged both ways on a round trip.
Midwest on June 16 will begin its $20 fee on the second bag for tickets bought May 24 and after.
Midwest has no plans to add other fees at this point, but all airlines are examining options, said Michael Brophy, a Midwest spokesman.
“It’s not happening strategically, but of necessity,” said Brophy, who responded with a firm “no” when asked whether the airline might consider charging for its trademark chocolate-chip cookie.
For now, Midwest will be accepting payment for the second bag at the time it is checked in.
“We’re working on a Web site component to it, which will become available if this becomes a permanent fee,” Brophy said.
The fee for a second checked bag is already in place at American and the other major carriers. However, American has taken the next step by charging $15 to check the first bag for tickets bought starting June 15.
Some analysts wonder whether American will be able to make the charge for the first bag stick.
“Most reasonable people understand with the price of oil, airlines have to charge for more things,” Seaney said. “But this fee (for the initial bag) is the first one to cross the line in terms of whether it’s reasonable or not.”
Seaney said the other major airlines may eventually follow American’s lead but would wait at least a few weeks and allow American to take the brunt of the early media coverage of outraged customers and delays created by people trying to take bigger carry-ons into the cabin.
Despite all the handwringing over the first-bag fee, American anticipates that fewer than 20 percent of its customers will have to pay it. The carrier said Thursday that it also was taking steps, which it did not specify, to avoid disruptions at ticket counters and boarding gates.
About half of American’s domestic customers don’t check a bag now, mainly because they are business travelers, said Tim Smith, an airline spokesman. After that, customers also not hit by fees are elite frequent fliers and their guests, international customers, military and government personnel, and full-fare payers.
One analyst said that if 20 percent of American’s passengers pay the $15 fee, it will generate about $320 million annually. Compare that with American’s fuel costs, which have gone up by $8 billion so far this year, according to a recent report.
Northwest Airlines has said it’s considering a charge for the first bag. But how will American respond if other major carriers don’t follow suit?
“I think it’s safe to say we’ll monitor everything we can about it after its implementation,” Smith said. “We’re looking at everything right now to try and offset the fuel costs.”
For more information on air travel, as selected by the Johnson County Library, go to KansasCity.com and click on Business.
Airfares are soaring, but bargain hunters can find some extraordinary deals if they do some homework.
“Almost all of these fees are avoidable,” said Rick Seaney, chief executive officer of FareCompare.com. “You can pack lightly, not checking a second bag. And there are always fare sales. You just have to find them early and don’t procrastinate.”
Follow these tips:
–Be flexible. Flying Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday — typically the airlines’ slowest days — can save you a bundle.
–Avoid crowds. Consider taking a trip to a destination that might not be so popular during the times you want to travel.
–Check your inbox. Subscribe to e-mail alerts from airlines and travel Web sites for last-minute deals.
–Go small. Consider smaller airlines with lower fares that don’t always show up on travel Web sites.
Another option is to look at the industry’s perennial low-cost carrier, Southwest. It is the busiest airline at Kansas City International Airport. Southwest has not completely avoided the additional charges. The airline last fall introduced a higher fare under its Business Select program that gives travelers first-boarding privileges, among other perks. Southwest also charges $3 for energy drinks onboard.
But for the most part, that’s it. Southwest allows customers to still check two bags at no charge, and snacks are still provided as part of the fare.
–Look out for fuel surcharges. Check whether an airfare includes fuel surcharges that can be as high as $400 on some international flights.
–Travel light. A swimsuit, flip-flops, T-shirts and shorts may be about all you need for a beach vacation.
Packing-challenged? There are resources that can help travelers pack so they don’t have to check even one bag.
Doug Dyment used his engineering background to figure out ways to pack so that everything he needed fit in a suitcase kept under the seat, even for trips of two weeks or more. He provides those tips on OneBag.com.
–Ship the bags ahead. More air travelers may want to run the numbers on whether it’s cost effective to send bags to their destination by package services such as FedEx, UPS or other specialty transporters.
“Just because you pay $15 or $25, it doesn’t mean your suitcase will arrive at the same place you do,” Seaney noted.
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
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