Ever wake up after a good night’s sleep feeling so energized you could fly?
Yeah, me neither.
Ever wake up after a crazy dream about entertaining guests in a house you built entirely out of popsicle sticks?
Yeah, I can relate.
Ever wake up after sleeping into early afternoon and wonder if the rapture happened and you’d been left behind? Yeah, that would freak me out at first, but then I’d get on a plane, I wouldn’t pay to check my bags, and just like Santa Claus, I’d fly around the world visiting all of my blogging buddies. All seats on the plane would be first class.
What a wonderful day that would be!!
Ever wake up, reach over to the nightstand for your iPad, check to see if anyone commented on your latest post, and roll back over in despair and read an article that sets you on fire? That’s what I did this morning.
Baggage Fees Turn Five Years Old; Passengers Turn Blase
First of all, the word is Blasé, NPR! Seriously? You can’t afford an acute accent symbol?
Second of all, passengers are far from accepting of this manufactured threat turned revenue generating solution. Most people won’t take long trips without full-sized toiletries. The airline industry knows this. Unless people want to purchase contact solution and toothpaste in every city, people are going to check baggage. Cha-ching! The mother of invention! Fear + Fees = FRAUD. Fraud sanctioned by the government, and anyone who dares to object, or God forbid say so, is labeled anti-American.
Recently I have noticed the next phase of this ridiculous systematic gouging of air travelers. The no carry-on bag preferred boarding experience. That’s right, now when coach cabin passengers at the gate don’t have carry-on bags they are given the option to board first. Well, right after coal up their ass could create a diamond alliance first class.
What do these non-carry-on pre-boarders do? They put their coats and shopping bags and baby gear in the overhead bins. Those of us traveling with our safe 3 ounce allotment of shampoo board to find no room in the bin! GEEZE! Next thing you know there will be a fee for carry-on luggage. Shit, I probably just gave some airline industry genius an idea. Shit! Can’t keep my mouth shut for nothin’!
Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest. So, I think I’ll go take a nap. I hope I have that dream about the house made of popsicle sticks again.
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Honie Briggs 
ROFL!!! Do you ever not have comments on your blog? It doesn’t seem like a worry that you would carry.
Sure I do. I try not to let it disturb my sleep though. Sometimes I anticipate comments that no one makes and then I start over-thinking my writing. Now THAT can cause sleep disturbances.
Ha!
Artsifrtsy beat me to it– I was going to say, next thing you know, they’ll charge you to pick a seat. Then to sit down. Maybe a fee to breathe the cabin’s air? It never ends.
I giggled at the line “Ever wake up after sleeping into early afternoon and wonder if the rapture happened and you’d been left behind?” Only every single day of my life, Honie.
Everybody went to heaven in a red canoe. The only ones left are me and you. HA!
The saddest thing is that we consumers actually have the power to stop companies charging ‘what the market will allow’. But we don’t because of the inconvenience, and they know it. They also know that after a while, habit will set in and we will have reached another plateau in what we will accept without complaint. I suspect they have some very smart behaviour modification psychologists working for them. 😦
Mind control: the wave of the future!! Catch the wave. 🙂
Rats. Why am I the only aussie who can’t surf? lol
It drives me crazy to see all those people with all those shopping bags. Why don’t those count as carry on bags – they are loaded with stuff and have to go somewhere. I used to love traveling and flew constantly for work. Now, just dread it.
I know. it makes me shake my head every time I see it.
When I have a dream about flying it’s about not having to fly anywhere. It leaves me immune to all that!
Anti travel anxiety antibodies. You should get a patent on that!
The last time I was looking at booking a flight, my dad suggested I try Spirit Airlines because their ticket prices were cheap. Well yeah, they were. But then when you read the fine print, you find they charge for EVERYTHING. Baggage fees. Carry-on fees. The ice cubes in your drink. By the time you add everything up, the cost of a flight with them is actually higher than the other airlines. Buyer beware, that’s all I can say. And, Southwest rocks!
Southwest does rock. Unfortunately they don’t fly out of DFW.
I haven’t flown for quite a few years, but my husband does. He always packs light and takes just one bag to put in the overhead compartment. On his last flight, they took his bag from him right at his seat on the plane. They said there wasn’t enough room, and his bag would be waiting for him in Las Vegas when he arrived. Of course his bag wasn’t waiting for him, and it has never turned up – even with his name and address on the bag. He filed a claim, but he keeps hearing he will never see a dime for his lost items. Thankfully, he whipped his laptop out of the bag before they took it. This all still gets my hackles up. I’m old enough to remember when flying was a joy.
Oh the days when flying was a joy. I vaguely remember those.
It won’t be long Honie and they’ll be charging for the oxygen masks during emergencies and life jackets as you reach the top of the slides. Hopefully they’ll have pay pass for credit cards so the lines move faster.
Can you imagine if your card got declined? Shoulda joined the Better Safe Than Sorry Club that offers pre-paid travel features such as priority access to emergency exits.
As far as air travel these days is concerned, we just can’t win. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The entire process, from beginning to end, leaves a lot to be desired.
You said it Fransi. A LOT to be desired. I desire not to be herded like cattle, I desire to be treated like a valued customer, I desire to depart and arrive on time more often than not…the list goes on and on. Frequent business travelers of course have their perk programs that get them fee free travels, but yes, the industry is limping along, passing along the cost of doing business and there seems to be no end in sight. As a consumer, it’s hard to separate the TSA experience from the air carrier experience, and they are separate, but one hand certainly washes the other.
Allegiant started charging for carry-ons last year, they even charge you to pick a seat – you can rack up $100 in fees on your bargain fair in no time. Southwest doesn’t charge – I think they are the last larger airline to not charge. It’s ridiculous!
Allegiant. Are they a regional carrier? It’s terrible to be held hostage by an industry. I mean sure, we could pack the car and drive to wherever, but that adds extra days to a trip. Extra days we just don’t have. It cracks me up when the flight attendant says, “we know you have a choice when you fly.” Totally cracks me up.
Allegiant is a carrier that flies from regional airports into destinations like Vegas or NYC – they used to be a bargain – but no more. You are so right about the time. It just doesn’t make sense to drive as busy as life is.
Well I hate to tell you this, but there is at least one airliner that charges for carry on baggage. Starting charging it in 2010. Spirit Air (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Airlines) I knew I read this some time ago. Just had to jog my memory. Sorry 😦
Whew! What a relief. I thought I was going to be the cause the next wave of rip offs.
Well you know there are still dozens that could take it to that level. They read your blog and then bingo! Honie tax comes into play. 😉
They’ve got us, don’t they? I hadn’t heard of the no carry-on preference. Would that include a purse? And what about people with no carry-ons. Isn’t that that a bit suspicious? They have no plans at the destination because there will be no destination, so they need nothing?
It doesn’t seem to be something they have adopted as policy. It has happened recently on flights where I was in boarding group 2 and then suddenly found myself in group 762 because I didn’t check my carry-on. Once the practice becomes commonplace, it will grow into an expectation. THAT’S when they’ll hit travelers with a charge to carry-on luggage. Crafty, those devils are crafty.