Highway robbery in the skies

[Trip]

I booked Spirit for the 1st Epic cruise, in 2010....at that time, even with all the fees, it priced out less then Southwest with their free baggage. I betcha things would be different now....$100 for a carryon..!!!!! I would never choose to fly with them again......let's hope others don't follow suit.,..ya right.

A Carry-On Will Cost as Much as $100 on Spirit - ABC News

[green_rd]

If I know the fees before I book I can make a TCF (Total Cost of Flying) decision.

I just wish airlines would enforce size restrictions on carry on bags.

[Donna]

Gosh, that is so outragious....It is bad enough with all the security that we deal with at all the airports, now this?? Will it ever end?

[Trackypup]

That's ridiculous! On a good flying note though, I just booked Hawaii this morning for $370 return with all taxes included. Thought that was a pretty decent deal

[Mike M]

Originally Posted by green_rd

If I know the fees before I book I can make a TCF (Total Cost of Flying) decision.

I just wish airlines would enforce size restrictions on carry on bags.

Green,

You've hit the nail on the head. It's the total cost of flying that you should use to make your decision not just the "fare".

A lot of people bad mouth RyanAir in Europe. Granted they charge for just about everything except using the bathroom. (There are plans for that also)
However, I flew RyanAir from Wroclaw (Vorswav) Poland to Nottingham, England. The total cost of the flight was $320 for two people. Half of that cost was the cost of our luggage. It sort of irritated me, BUT if I had flown KLM, SwissAir or Lufthansa the cost would have been almost $600 per person. There would be no extra charge for luggage. I wouldn't have had to pay for my drink (even water) and I would not have had to check my C-PAP.

It was not the most comfortable seating but for 1.5 hours I could tolerate it and for 1/2 the cost that one person could fly if we went with another airline. So, the nickle and diming can be a pain in the rear but sometimes it pays off.

Take care,
Mike

[Trip]

When I looked for air for the Epic cruise this past March, flights to FLL, were for the most part, were over $1000.00 for two! Granted this cruise was during spring break, but, were also finding prices at $900.00 for the 2010 Epic cruise. It's insane, but, with constant monitoring of the fares,we were able to finally get it under $700.00,and live with it...I agree, you do have to get the most comfortable price, and, live with it, becoming part of your overall cruise cost.

Airports are not going to be happy places

[Aerogirl]

Originally Posted by Trackypup

That's ridiculous! On a good flying note though, I just booked Hawaii this morning for $370 return with all taxes included. Thought that was a pretty decent deal

That's really a good price. I have been shopping for our march trip and it's really high as well as the car rental.

[Trackypup]

Originally Posted by Aerogirl

That's really a good price. I have been shopping for our march trip and it's really high as well as the car rental.

I booked for April on Alaska Air.

[aerospace]

They offer you a chance to book luggage when you buy the ticket, send reminder emails before you leave that it's cheaper to buy before arriving at the airport, and let you save money by booking at the counter. If you seriously wait until getting to the gate I can see that being an inconvenience for them. Charge $500 is ok with me, makes my trip cheaper

[snorklr45]

Would you believe that when Spirit first started out back in 2005, I managed to get a $29 flight from Dallas/Ft Worth to Grand Cayman???!! Yeah, $29 bucks!! No charge for the baggage at all as i recall. If so, it was nominal..Long gone are the days of that kind of a steal!

[Cruznut2]

Mike, I can not understand why you had to check your c-pap. I thought since it is medical epquiment it is allowed in the cabin with you and does not count as an extra carry on. They would have to pry mine out of my cold dead hands before I would allow them to take it from me. The way they handle things I would be terrified it would be broken.

Laura

[Mike M]

Originally Posted by Cruznut2

Mike, I can not understand why you had to check your c-pap. I thought since it is medical equipment it is allowed in the cabin with you and does not count as an extra carry on. They would have to pry mine out of my cold dead hands before I would allow them to take it from me. The way they handle things I would be terrified it would be broken.

Laura

Laura,

Necessary medical equipment is a United States, FAA regulation. The rules aren't the same when you leave the United States.

That is something all travelers should learn. Don't assume things are the same in a foreign country as they are here in the U.S..

Take care,
Mike

[mehawk]

I am fortunate that I live within an hour's drive of a cruise terminal. I simply refuse to fly now because of all of the restrictions involved. Last time I flew, I had to because I had no other way to get from D.C. to Houston within a day.

[ToddDH]

I have to admit, I've been lucky.

For years I didn't fly then last year, about a year after Fran died, the family told me that I needed to get away and I had always wanted to go to the Cruisemates Central Fl. dinner hosted by Ray and Helen.

Turned out the air-fare, round trip from Knoxville to Orlando on Allegiant was actually quite cheap so I went.

Then, Ray wanted me to go with them on the Epic Cruise so I checked Allegiant and it was still very inexpensive (I believe around $350 round trip) or thereabouts.

BTW, each flight then ws with one checked bag and one carry-on.

My Niece, who flys all over the world told me that in actuality, the seats on Allegiant (I call them DC-9's but I think they've changed the name to something like MD 80's, while being all the same size are actually wider than a coach seat on one of the big boys going to Europe. Let's be honest, the planes aren't new (around 18 years I think it averaged out) but the flight is only an hour and a half and I found the experience rather pleasant. Even the TSA at both points (especially Knoxville) went out of their way for me because I'm now the proverbial physical basket case.

Since these are the only two round trips I've taken in probably around 18 years I really don't have anything with which to compare. Are such fares on similar airlines and distances far more than that?

BTW, that cost included at the time one checked bag and one carry-on.

[Trip]

With carriers chomping each other up like Pacman, routes being consolodated, and, in some cases eliminated, trying to find that comfortable fare, just gets harder, and harder. One of the less expensive fares I found for Fll, was to fly to Detroit. Sorry, don't want to fly that far west to go south..I did end having to fly to Cincinnati first though.

Gone are the memories of being able to fly to Fll, 5 times a day,and non stop to boot, for $99.00 each way...ahhh the good old days!

[balabusta]

It seems that everything is going up, these days. What Rob and I have found is that if you book a cruise on certain cruise lines like Royal Caribbean or Celebrity, there is a thing called "choice air", that works great on a repositioning cruises. The cruise line buys a round trip cruise ticket and it is given to two different people; one for going to europe and the other returning from europe. With air fares, as with most anything, the more flexible you are, the more likely you will garner a good deal. Also, flying into a smaller airport can save you money. It sometimes pays to rent a car and drive to your desired location from the smaller airport.

[ToddDH]

Trip,

I remember routinely flying from Newark to Miami for a hundred and something round trip! Fran and I frequently used to go and visit my Aunt who insisted in buying the tickets.

Were she to be alive today and knowing her (even though she had money) I think she'd be rather let's say........hesitant?

[Trip]

Sadly, what used to be an exciting adventure...going away now, has become a chore, from beginning to end...

[ToddDH]

Trip,

What you said is absolutely true......and to add injury to insult, an expensive one at that!

[Cruznut2]

I was reading this thread and thinking of the flight I took from Boston to Orlando for the Glory B cruise. We paid $169 round trip from Boston to Orlando on Delta. That was in 2005. I guess I will never see that again.

Laura

[AR]

Originally Posted by Cruznut2

I was reading this thread and thinking of the flight I took from Boston to Orlando for the Glory B cruise. We paid $169 round trip from Boston to Orlando on Delta. That was in 2005. I guess I will never see that again.

Laura

Those were the days my friend. Of course, in 2005 gas was in the $2.00 to $2.50 range. I guess we'll never see that again either. Do you suppose there's a correlation?

[Aidan]

Originally Posted by AR

Those were the days my friend. Of course, in 2005 gas was in the $2.00 to $2.50 range. I guess we'll never see that again either. Do you suppose there's a correlation?

In Northern Virginia, gas was under $2.00 a gallon in 2009 during the depths of the recession.

There is some correlation between jet a prices and fares, but free-market competition is the main driver, which is why fares from NYC to the west coast and NYC to Florida remain in the range Cruznut mentioned.

As for fares outside competitive areas? Well, that is freedom.