Baggage Fees - Don't Gripe Here, Let The Airline Know That You Don't Like It

[SargassoPirate]

Griping about baggage fee here does little good, BUT if you will make alternative arrangements whenever possible and then let the airline know that they lost your business, it may have an effect if enough people do it too.

 

For example, this past week I needed to book two coast-to-coast roundtrip flights. I have frequent flier memberships with Delta and American. I checked both of them, compared prices and baggage fees, and went with Southwest. THEN I sent both airlines a letter to complain about their baggage fees, let them know that I was tired of being nickel and dimed to death, and that I had booked my most recent flights with Southwest.

 

If enough people complain and complain loudly, the airlines may stop charging a fee for everything they can.

 

If not, you may as well just keep on grabbing your ankles and be quiet about it.:eek:

[CruiserBruce]

Don't go around spreading so much common sense:D. It will get you flamed here!

[SargassoPirate]

Don't go around spreading so much common sense:D. It will get you flamed here!

 

LMAO, you're so right.

[FlyerTalker]

I have frequent flier memberships with Delta and American. I checked both of them, compared prices and baggage fees, and went with Southwest. THEN I sent both airlines a letter to complain about their baggage fees, let them know that I was tired of being nickel and dimed to death, and that I had booked my most recent flights with Southwest

My wager....unless you have either some elite status with DL or AA, or are an "influencer" of corporate travel spending, your letter went to either a) a clerk who will spit out a canned form response and discard your complaint or b) directly to the circular file. Maybe it will get added to some internal totals.

 

In fact, your letter would merely confirm that your air travel purchases are driven by price, not value. Which would make for more incentive for airlines to compete on price, most likely accompanied by a) cutting service inflight and on the ground, b) increasing the number of seats on a flight to compensate for price competition (thus a more uncomfortable experience) and/or c) moving to more and more ala carte fees and charges. You should hope that they aren't reading those letters.

 

BTW, did you buy the cheapest hotel you could find? Or does a value proposition come into play there? (Desk clerk: "Well, yes sir. You did rent the room for $40 per night. Oh, you say you want a bed....well, that will be an extra charge. You want water in the shower....")

[Sargent_Schultz]

Don't go around spreading so much common sense:D. It will get you flamed here!

 

 

That didn't take long. ;)

[FlyerTalker]

Not flamed....just an analysis of the business economics that price-driven purchasing creates.

 

Note the lack of analytic rebuttal. Continuing to "know nothing, Colonel...".

[Sargent_Schultz]

There is nothing to debate - SW is GREAT! As the legacy airlines continue to cater to a select few, going bankrupt in the process, SW satisfies the needs of much of the mass market. They do, after all, carry the most domestic passengers - by a huge margin over number 2.

 

The facts speak for themselves. SW carries the most passengers, only one class, free luggage, and makes a profit doing so.

 

Do the legacy airlines listen? Of course they do. Obviously they listen more when I send emails from a Fortune 50 corporation than when I send from my personal email. Not that they change their egregious "gouge the majority policy", but they do shower me with credits and extra FF miles. :)