The "No Fly List" now takes on a new meaning

[Ichingcarpenter]

Airline Tickets to Soar 200% and Beyond

Some nonstop flights out of Houston cost over 200 percent more this summer compared with last year, and the trip to Memphis has seen one of the biggest increases, according to BestFares.com.

Last year, the lowest advance-purchase fare for a Continental Airlines flight from Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport to Memphis for travel during the week of July 22 cost $198 round-trip, but the same trip this year is running $663, according to BestFares.

The major airlines have raised fares 13 times this year on noncompetitive domestic routes by as much as $340 round trip, he said.

Some big increases BestFares highlighted include a round-trip flight to Charleston, S.C., that jumped to $412 this year from $138 last year (199 percent) and a trip to Detroit that has motored up to $476 from $188 (153 percent) on a comparable ticket in June 2007.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5819857.html

Now they are charging for your bags

American last month was the first major airline to announce it would charge customers to check a single piece of luggage. The fee takes effect on tickets bought on or after June 15. American said three-quarters of summer travelers had already bought their tickets and wouldn't pay the fee.

The airline defended the fee, saying it was a bargain compared with the cost of shipping a 45-pound bag overnight on a package-delivery company. It said the cost of sending a bag from Dallas to New York would range from $150 to $230 or more.



The next step could be charging for overweight passengers


Airline fares are expected to go nowhere but up as the price of fuel continues to rise, and, now there's word of a possible charge that's sure to make people angry -- charging by the pound.

The airlines have been guessing passengers' weights for years because of the physics of flying. It's called the passenger weight standard and, with most airlines in dire financial straits, they may start using the weight standard to set new fees. That means it will get personal.

``They're going to get down to specific passengers, probably. Something like, if you're more than the standard weight, then they may charge you an extra surcharge," says Louie Theile of ``The Travel Show" on News/Talk 92-3 KTAR.

The current weight standard is 175 pounds, male or female.

The standarized weight issue allows airlines to keep their base fares cheap, getting more bookings online. Then they can add on fees at the airport.

``What they do with you after you get to the airport -- `If you want to check baggage, we're going to charge you. If you want to have a meal, we're going to charge you.' That way, they can make it specifically your problem. So if you show up and you weigh 300 pounds, that's your problem and it doesn't affect the fare for everybody else."

Despite the bad press that airlines' might draw, as long as they keep advertised fares law, they will be able to sell tickets, Thiele says.







http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=859076

[electron_blue]

1. Sounds reasonable, but good luck enforcing it.

Does that mean my ticket would be cheaper bcs I'm under 175? Nah, didn't think so.

Interestingly, two years ago I was flying standby with my daughter and it was looking like we wouldn't make it on the last flight to Atlanta for that day. All of us 8 standby passengers waited anxiously for the plane to get its final weighing. After the pilot knew the final, total weight of *everyone* and their carryon and checked bags, plus the fuel, etc. he would call the desk and tell them how much more weight (ie passengers) he would allow. Another 20 mins went by and the phone call came - 1 person. The man at the desk explained that I and my daughter probably together were under the weight limit for 1 person and could we both get on? The pilot said yes, so she and I were the very last to get on. I was happy to make it, but really surprised to see there were a dozen seats or more empty. All the standbys could have made it had the weight limit not been already reached. Those empty seats represented money lost to the airline. Not to mention the standbys left behind had to wait another day to fly out.

This was before any new limits had been set on number of suitcases. I think the airlines are attacking extra weight of suitcases instead of passengers, which they know would be massively unpopular with many/most? passengers.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. I was on an inter-island flight that did the same thing

The pilot started to look at the passengers' weight to see how many
he could safely carry because of the cargo he had taken on board.

I don't see it happening on large commercial flights but who knows these days.

Book your tickets now for your summer and winter trips now is all I can say
and start traveling like Rick Steves always suggested in his books.

How do you fit a whole trip's worth of luggage into a small backpack or suitcase? The answer is simple: Bring very little.

Spread out everything you think you might need on the living-room floor. Pick up each item one at a time and scrutinize it. Ask yourself, "Will I really use this snorkel and these fins enough to justify carrying them around all summer?" Not "Will I use them?" but "Will I use them enough to feel good about carrying them over the Swiss Alps?" Regardless of my budget, I would buy them in Greece and give them away before I would carry that extra weight over the Alps.

Don't pack for the worst scenario. Pack for the best scenario and simply buy yourself out of any jams. Risk shivering for a day rather than taking a heavy coat. Think in terms of what you can do without — not what will be handy on your trip. When in doubt, leave it out. I've seen people pack a whole summer's supply of deodorant or razors, thinking they can't get them there. The world's getting really small; you can buy Dial soap, Colgate toothpaste, Nivea cream, and Gillette razors in Sicily or Slovakia. Tourist shops in major international hotels are a sure bet whenever you have difficulty finding a personal item. If you can't find one of your essentials, ask yourself how more than 500 million Europeans can live without it.

Whether you're traveling for three weeks or three months, pack exactly the same. Rather than take a whole trip's supply of toiletries, take enough to get started and look forward to running out of toothpaste in Bulgaria. Then you have the perfect excuse to go into a Bulgarian department store, shop around, and pick up something you think might be toothpaste....

He has a very good suggestions that work for any traveler even if they are flying to the next state.

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/packlight.htm

[Sequoia]

6. Very cool. Thanks.

[robinlynne]

14. I do that with the toothpaste, just becuase I think it's fun to go buy foreign things

and bring them home. it's cool to have a mission (find toothpaste)too.

[krabigirl]

18. Not so easy when traveling with a toddler - carseat, etc.

[pitohui]

8. i've seen this and i'm told it is because of overweight cargo (not pax bags, but other cargo)

the short version is that airlines lose money on every seat they sell, they make money (if they do at all) on the sidelines

southwest for example makes money by gambling on fuel hedge contracts

MANY airlines -- and this was almost certainly the case on your flight -- make money by shipping in the cargo hold

if it's a choice between putting a butt in a seat and putting a well compensated bit of cargo in the hold -- the butt is not getting the seat

i pick up extra money (vouchers) volunteering to be bumped so it actually helps me

but i believe pax and their bags are competing with more profitable shipping

[electron_blue]

9. I hadn't thought about that. Hmmmmm.

[benddem]

3. well the 300 pounders

create real havoc for the person sitting next to them. They ought to be charged more.
On a flight to Chicago this week, my bag was 4 pounds overweight. Had I carried a second bag it would have been $25.00 but 4 pounds over $100.00. I removed 4 pounds of stuff from the bag.

[Missy Vixen]

10. Considering the fact that as an overweight person, I fly on miles and in first class

I'm not bothering anyone.

I'd pay extra not to share the same plane with someone like you, frankly.

Julie

[sandnsea]

4. You better like where you're living

You're not going to be able to leave it.

[KamaAina]

5. Tell me about it

:scared: :scared: :scared:

edit: new map

[east texas lib]

7. I can hear it now-"You pay by the pound, fatboy!"...

Next will come surcharges for an actual pilot to fly the aircraft.

[Missy Vixen]

11. Airlines have tried this in the past

They require the very large to purchase two seats, but the fine print reads that the airline reserves the right to reseat someone else in the seat YOU just paid for.

It's true.

Julie

[east texas lib]

13. Damn! I did't know that.

That's rather harsh. And greedy.

[robinlynne]

15. That has to be illegal.

[Missy Vixen]

16. Who's going to stop them?

I have to fly next month to attend a conference. Believe me, I dread it.

Julie

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. Newspapers run ads about fake airline Derrie-Air

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Derrie-Air has been exposed. Readers of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News opened their papers Friday to see ads for a new airline called Derrie-Air, which purportedly charges passengers by the pound.

But the new carrier will never get off the ground. It's a one-day advertising campaign about a fake airline by Philadelphia Media Holdings, the papers' owner, and Gyro ad agency.

In light blue banners throughout the papers — as well as on their Web site, Philly.com — Derrie-Air cheerily trumpets its policy: The more you weigh, the more you pay. The ads direct readers to the Web site http://www.flyderrie-air.com.

Philadelphia Media Holdings spokesman Jay Devine said the goal is to "demonstrate the power of our brands in generating awareness and generating traffic for our advertisers, and put a smile on people's faces."

The company will track traffic to the Derrie-Air site. Devine said there's already buzz about the campaign on online blogs.

Visitors to the airline site learn that Derrie-Air is the world's only carbon-neutral luxury airline, and it justifies its fare policy by saying that it takes more fuel to move heavier objects. The carrier pledges to plant trees to offset every pound of carbon its planes release into the atmosphere.

Derrie-Air's sample rates range from $1.40 per pound to fly from Philadelphia to Chicago to $2.25 per pound to fly from Philadelphia to Los Angeles.






This just came up on Countdown!!



Frequently Asked Questions
How much will your tickets be?

It depends on how much you and your luggage weigh. These masses will be combined and then turned into a price with our "Sliding Scale". If you and your luggage have a combined weight of less than 200 pounds, the cost savings is considerable-as high as sixty percent for domestic flights!
How will you help the environment?

We will plant trees in deforested acres around the world to absorb all the carbon that our planes release into the atmosphere. We plan on having over 128,000 sycamores in Derrie Forest by 2010. The practice, known as "carbon offsetting" has been adopted by a diverse array of credible entities such as famous Hollywood actors and actresses.
What is the "Sliding Scale"?

The "Sliding Scale" comes from the notion that each of us is responsible for the energy we use. There's nothing wrong with toting around a little extra mass-as long as you pay for it.
What is Green Luxury?

Green Luxury is the guiding principle of Derrie-Air. At the heart of our company is the belief that consumers in the developed world shouldn't have to choose between doing good and feeling good. We have no problem with environmentalists who perform hairshirt activities like composting and not flushing. But we maintain that upscale luxury consumers can do their part as well.
What amenities will your jets offer?

First of all there will be no class distinctions inside of a Derrie-Air jet. Every passenger will be treated like royalty. Every seat will be first class. There will simply be too many extras and treats on our flights to list here, but highlights will include: gorgeous air hosts and hostesses, golden-age Rat Pack films, top-shelf vodka Martinis, on-demand video blackjack, spacious private washrooms outfitted with porcelain fixtures and gilded faucets, gourmet snacks, on-board masseuses, loofah scrubs and, of course, digital cable!



http://flyderrie-air.com/

[momster]

17. Do they fly to

London-derrie-air?