Link to article

A post on Flyertalk.com is reporting the Delta Air Lines is about to implement a slew of fee increases or brand new fees for various items such as a new fee for curbside baggage check, and increases to existing fees such as the charge for carrying your pet in the cabin. Details can be found here.

I’ve posted in the past about my relative indifference to various efforts by the major airlines to unbundle their product. However, I am very opposed to fees that are charged under the guise of “expedite” or “close-in” ticketing fees for using your frequent flier miles. It doesn’t cost a penny more to ticket your reservation 24 hours in advance than it does 24 days in advance. A money-grab and nothing else.

I like to fly Delta when I have to. I find their people to be more consistently friendly or at least polite, and their customer-facing technology to be tops. But their mileage program, SkyMiles, is among the worst, and their latest moves make it more so.

Can’t say that I’m surprised. Not a sure thing yet, but AA may join UA, US, DL, and NW in charging for checking a second bag. See this article for details

I’m sorry I didn’t post this sooner as it’s old news by now. American Airlines will stop offering bonus miles for travel booked on AA.com from April 1st. Travel booked on or before March 31st will earn the bonus. Here’s a link to the announcement on AA.com.

Not a huge deal to me. Frankly, I’m surprised the booking bonus has lasted this long as many other airlines have already dropped the mileage bonuse for using their websites. I tend to book on the airline’s site anyway even though I think Orbitz.com is the best travel website in the business.

According to this article from Air Transport World, Delta will begin charging to check more than one bag from May 1.

You heard it here first: I was wrong. I really thought that Delta and Northwest would have announced a deal by now, but it appears that snags in getting their respective pilot groups to agree to a seniority merge in advance has backfired. Some may say that’s a good thing. As for me, I’m indifferent.

Having held a seniority number as an airline pilot, I feel like I’m pretty well in touch with what happened here. Seniority is everything to a pilot as it controls the planes you fly, the vacations you take and the days off you get. Merging seniority lists is tricky, and you’ve probably not gotten it right unless everyone is angry about how the list was merged!

Hard to say, but I wonder if Delta and Northwest management weren’t asking too much of their pilot groups?

Oil is $110 dollars per barrel, and the economy IS in recession. This, like all things, shall pass. But in the meantime, what does it all mean?

Expect airlines to start parking some aircraft in the very near future. Demand for air travel at the fares airlines are going to have to charge to get by is not there, and a rationalization of capacity is in order. I expect American to start parking some MD-80′s soon. Some will be replaced by more fuel efficient 737′s, but not all. Other airlines will be ratcheting down capacity in short order.

The reduction in flights MAY have a beneficial impact in that it could reduce the number of delays. Time will tell, but expect change in this constantly changing industry in fairly short order. And expect continued fare increases and efforts to unbundle services that were previously included in your ticket price.

American Airlines is offering 1,000 bonus miles to new enrollees in the AAdvantage program. Click this link to enroll and register for your bonus miles.

Yes, it’s true. And apparently, the airport was gridlocked yesterday (3/6/08) afternoon. Or at least that’s what my sources tell me. American Airlines was reportedly sending flights headed to DFW back to their origins rather than clogging DFW up anymore than it was or landing enroute.

I’ve been working through my feelings on the latest trend in air travel, generating ancillary revenue and the unbundling of services previously included in the price of the ticket. The most obvious of these charges include:

1. A charge of $15 to $20 dollars to buy a ticket from an agent at the airport or on the phone.
2. Buy on board food.
3. Paying for an advance seat assignment or the ability to buy yourself a better coach seat.
4. $25 dollars to check a second bag.

There are more examples, but I believe that these are the four most notable, and generate the most grumbling among travelers. The newest of these is the fee for checking a second bag. I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand, it’s easy to see this as “nickel and diming,” but on the other, airlines sell tickets to individuals in exchange for transportation between points on a map. That’s it. They sell cargo shipping services as well. I rarely travel with more than one bag, and for those few instances when I do, I am on vacation and won’t let a $25 dollar fee dissuade me from doing so as long as I am paying a reasonable fare. Although, I suppose if I had a choice of one airline not charging, and the other that did charge…I’d go with keeping my money. Furthermore, my elite status on United would exempt me from this fee when traveling on United. This isn’t an endorsement of the fee, it’s just me offering my opinion and that is that I don’t have a problem with it….for now. United also exempted travelers on refundable fares (read: expensive) from this fee unlike US Airways. US Airways exempted elite travelers (and some others, the complete policy is available at usairways.com), but not non-elites on expensive refundable tickets. I’m not sure why. I think it’s at least worth speculating that US Airways’ information technology systems make it more difficult to do so than United’s?

I don’t care about buy on board food either, as long as the purchased product is of reasonable quality. I wish more airlines would accept credit cards on board like American does. I believe Air Tran may as well. I don’t know about you, but I don’t walk around with a stash of five dollar bills just for on board spending.

I can even go along with a charge for a good seat such as the exit row or an aisle seat close to the front. Northwest was the first “legacy” airline to get involved with this in great detail with it’s “Coach Choice (sm)” program. This program was pretty poorly executed in the beginning, with even Northwest elite travelers subject to paying the charge. However, they wised up pretty quickly. Frankly, as long as elite and high fare travelers have access to these seats in advance without the fee, I don’t have a problem with such a program.

But this takes us to fee # 1, a charge for buying a ticket. This was the first and most widespread example of “unbundling.” And as far as I am concerned, it’s also the most tacky. I’m sorry, but the prospect of paying an airline (or any other entity) a service charge to sell me something that I’m buying from them is just not my idea of a good time. You can avoid this fee by purchasing directly from the airline website, but I’m still not loving this idea. Heck, American even charges this fee in instances where they force you to use an agent such as buying a ticket with a voucher you received for volunteering to give up your seat. Others may disagree, but this one gets a huge thumbs down from me, avoidable or not.

I know many disagree, but I don’t look at unbundling as the end of the earth in general. Times have changed, and I’ll change along with them. But I won’t pay for the privilege of being allowed to buy an airline’s product from a person, I just won’t and I think that is the best example of unbundling run amok. We’ll see if this trend towards unbundling continues. I bet that it will.

The dreaded day has arrived. After four years of some level of elite status in my favorite frequent flyer program, American AAdvantage, my lack of travel has caught up with me, and I no longer have any status. What a sad day. I suppose I will get over myself by Monday!