 | 20 Aug 08 |
As some of you know, it took me a while to get back on a plane after 9-11. In fact, my hiatus from flying actually began two weeks before that terrorist attack. Just a funny but strong feeling in my gut that said I should stay on the ground for a while. That feeling hung around for almost four years. When I finally started testing the waters again and boarding those metal birds, most of the angst was gone. Now all I get when I fly are leg cramps from sitting in one place too long. No, wait . . . that’s not true. I do get something else when I fly now . . .furious.
I don’t know if the aging process has anything to do with it, but I find myself getting much more verbal as of late and willing to put up with far less than I used to. For example, a couple of flights ago I’m checking a couple of bags at the Continental counter, and the woman behind that counter promptly tells me I have to pay $25 to check the second bag. I’d heard rumors that the airlines were going to take that route to try and manage the rising cost of fuel, but I wasn’t expecting to get hit with that fee on this trip.
“Say what?” The ticket alone had cost me well over $500, and now they wanted an extra $25?
“New rule,” she says. “The extra weight means we have to burn more fuel, and with the price of fuel going up—”
“Wait a second. You’re saying that I have to pay $25 for the fuel it will take to carry the weight of my second bag?”
She nods. “Afraid so.”
“That’s discriminatory.”
She looked taken aback. “No . . . no, ma’am. Everybody’s got to pay the fee for a second bag.”
“Because of the weight?”
“Yes.”
“More weight, more fuel, right.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I leaned closer to her and lowered my voice. “Then what about that 450lb man standing over there? Are you going to charge him more because of the extra weight he’s bringing onto the plane?”
She blushed. “Uh . . . well, we’d charge him the same amount if he checked a second bag.”
“Suppose he doesn’t have a second bag to check?”
“Then we wouldn’t charge him.”
“I see. So what you’re saying is you’re going to charge me $25 for an extra 10 pound bag, but that guy who’s carrying almost four times my body weight gets to bring all that weight onto the plane for free?”
She glared at me. “Do you want to check the bag or not?”
What I wanted to do was shove that bag up her a**. Yeah, I wound up having to pay the fee because I couldn’t do without the stuff in that second bag, but I’ve been making noise about it ever since. To date, I’ve written fourteen letters to different powers that be in Continental Airlines and will keep writing them until somebody coughs up a damn good explanation about the weight discrepancy. Until then, I’m driving more again. As far as I know, most, if not all, of the airlines are charging extra for bags now.
Oh, and the crème de la crème—news has it that U.S. Airways started charging $2 for a cup of water or soda that only one month ago they were giving passengers for free. Two dollars for a cup of water?? I sure as hell don’t think so!
When is the madness going to stop?
© 2008 – 2009 Deborah LeBlanc. All rights reserved.
Deborah LeBlanc is an award-winning author and business owner from Lafayette, Louisiana. She's also a licensed death scene investigator and an active member of two national paranormal investigation teams.
She is the president of the Horror Writers Association, president of the Writers' Guild of Acadiana, president of Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter, and an active member of Sisters in Crime, Novelists Inc, and International Thriller Writers Inc. In 2004, she created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual national campaign designed to encourage more people to read, and founded Literacy Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens. She also takes her passion for literacy and a powerful ability to motivate to high schools around the country.
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I’m so glad I don’t fly anymore.
Ugh.
$2 for a cup of water? That should be banned.
by Nadia August 20th, 2008 at 6:13 amWe had a similar experience on a recent trip to Colorado. We flew out of Memphis to Denver and had 2 bags–one really heavy one that had both our stuff in it, and one lighter one for the spillover. Being married and flying together, they just counted the weight of the two together and let us go. Coming BACK from Denver to Memphis we got charged a HUGE (I don’t remember how much but like $50) fee for the first bag being over the weight limit even though the two together were well under and we were traveling together. It’s all highway robbery.
by Kathleen August 20th, 2008 at 6:53 amI realize the airline industry is in emergency disaster mode, but it is getting ridiculous. The price of airline tickets has skyrocketed, double, even tripled and now they want to charge for luggage. Excuse me doesn’t my ticket cover the price of a bag? No, some airlines are charging for anything not carried on. Can you imagine what people are going to try to stuff in the over heads now?
And excuse me, isn’t the escalating price of airline passage rising because of the price of fuel? So why a double duty charge for the luggage? What do you mean you can’t afford to give me a bottle of water when I just paid $500 for a 45 minute flight? First is was the oil companies making billions in profits from gouging consumers, now it’s going to be the airline industry.
I quit. I’ll moped to California next time if I have to.
by Cele August 20th, 2008 at 7:44 amWhen is the madness going to stop?
When people stop flying and let the airlines know that the reason they aren’t flying is that they’re being charged too freaking much for everything and are being treated badly besides.
by Elaine August 20th, 2008 at 7:54 amDon’t forget, they started charging for pillows and blankets as well now. LOL Next they’ll be installing a coin slot on the restroom door.
by Amanda August 20th, 2008 at 9:43 amCoin slots on the toilet doors! What a great idea. I can’t believe no one has instituted that yet!
I posted the story of my last plane ride at my blog. I haven’t flown since I had a total knee replacement (last fall). I’m thinking I’ll be setting off all the alarms at the TSA check-point.
I’ll be traveling in my RV, thank you.
by ArkansasCyndi August 20th, 2008 at 10:20 amWe lucked out with our RWA/Oregon trip. We’d bought our tickets well in advance of the added fee, and Delta promised a rebate for the $25 if you filled out some form. But when we went to check in on line and clicked the number of bags, we were each allowed to check THREE for FREE. Something to do with our FF status. I wasn’t going to question it. Made it very nice, because while in Oregon, we bought 10 bottles of wine and merely borrowed a suitcase that my s-i-l uses exclusively for that function–they bought a hard-sided Samsonite case, lined it with foam and cut out wine-bottle shaped places.
But we also noticed that Delta is going to be charging $50 for the second bag, and I don’t know what our Medallion status will grant us on our next trip in October for the Emerald City conference. I know we can’t afford to drive there from Orlando.
Somewhere down the line, there have to be compromises. The poor workers, after all, don’t get raises every time gas prices go up, or food costs more, or the electric company needs more money. No, we just pay. And pay. And pay.
(Cyndi-my mom had a knee replacement and she carries some kind of card that she shows to the TSA people, I think. Then again, I wore a long skirt on a recent trip and I had to wait to be patted down. Crazy, because my normal travel outfit is a dress that’s almost the same length, but nobody’s ever gotten up close and personal about it.)
by Terry Odell August 20th, 2008 at 11:46 amThe airlines are hurting and they are making sure the customers feel their pain. I have no idea how it’s all going to shake out…
by Jen August 20th, 2008 at 1:51 pmYou’re right, Nadia, banned, outlawed, tossed out the window at 40,000 ft! grrr
Wow, Kathleen, I would still be pitching seven kinds of hell for them letting it go on the outbound, then charging for the inbound! If they’re gonna screw ya, you’d think they’d at least be consistent about it.
YAY, Cele, I’m all for the moped!
Elaine, I agree that until the airlines really feel the pinch from consumers nothing will be done about the price gouging. And, unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to happen. All the companies that send their sales reps from city to city would more than likely keep sending them no matter the price for fear they’d lose too much business if they didn’t.
Good for you, Harvey!
Lawd, who’s charging for blankets and pillows, Amanda? Wow, these airline guys are really asking for a revolution, aren’t they?
Oh, Cyndi, don’t even get me started about TSA! From power-hungry jerks to people who couldn’t care less if you were carrying a ten pound bomb strapped to your back….
Terry, it sure sounds like you did luck out. Fingers crossed that your Medallion status keeps you lucky! My status is nothing more than ‘frustrated broad with a ticket,’ so I’ll be lucky if they don’t wind up charging me just to carry on my purse. arggg
by deborah August 20th, 2008 at 2:01 pmHopefully soon, Jen…
by deborah August 20th, 2008 at 2:21 pmWell . . . the airlines are on the verge of bankruptcy and they’re trying to stay afloat. I’m not justifying charging for sodas or water and not giving out the little bags of peanuts, but considering not only the cost of fuel but the cost of added security and lower overall demand for flight while increased demand for better times, location, etc. . . . and the industry is ripe to implode. The last thing I want is government run airlines. So if I need a second bag, I’ll grudgingly cough up the $25-$50.
A writer friend on the Levy tour with me in 2006 overnighted her make-up and other essentials to the hotel and only had one small carry-on that she packed incredibly well. It may be a solution for those items we must have. Not that Fed Ex is any cheaper. I cringed last time I had to overnight page proofs to NY. It was over $60. But paper is a bit heavier than Lancome . . .
by Allison August 20th, 2008 at 8:23 pmSee, that’s the thing, Allison. I’m in the fuel business and know first hand that the price of oil, and its refined products, including av-gas, have been going down in price for a while now. I can understand a fuel surcharge tacked onto the price of a ticket when fuel prices are in flux, but the airlines keeping those add on expenses PLUS raising the price of their tickets is just highway robbery in my opinion. Ya know, if all the airline executives would just cut their salaries for a year, we’d be amazed, or not, at how quickly their financial situations would turn around. Grrr
by deborah August 21st, 2008 at 3:52 am