Posted by
Wayne J. on Friday, March 06, 2009 12:02:23 PM
I love Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. It is one of the easiest airports to get into and out of. Unfortunately, the airlines that I find at other airports are the same ones at Sky Harbor.
Last week my wife and I flew home from Phoenix. We arrived at the check in counter, each with a carryon. As we had only been gone a few days, and knowing that the airlines charged for each checked bag, we shared one large suitcase. Placing the suitcase on the scale we found that it weighed 52 pounds. Two pounds over the limit. Naturally we did what anyone would do. We opened the suitcase, took out some items from the suitcase and placed them in our carryons.We were now at just over 48 pounds. The agent tagged our bag and off we went.
Waiting at the security gate I started laughing. The weight on the plane was not being altered in the slightest by my moving those four pounds from the cargo hold to the overhead bin. My weight wasn't going down at all while I waited.. (In fact it probably went up as we enjoyed overpriced airport food while awaiting the planes arrival.) Nothing was accomplished by moving the weight.
Airlines have made this type of logic into an artform. Take ticketing for example If I want to fly from Atlanta to Miami it may cost me $400. That is unless I want to fly on a Thursday instead of a Saturday, but not stay the night. If I get to the airport early on Thursday and find that there is an earlier flight that is empty, I still have to wait unless I want to pay an extra fee. SHEESH!
What would it be like if Wal*Mart had pricing like that? A dozen eggs would cost $3.00 unless you promised not to use them until Saturday, and then only if you cooked them on Saturday but didn't eat them until Sunday. Feel free to use the express lane to check out for a $50 fee.
I've often wondered, what would happen if an airline would sell tickets using the "Wayne J. simplifed flight plan".
You buy a ticket from point A to point B at a specific price with no refunds allowed. That ticket gurantees you a seat on flight XYZ on a certain date and time. If you want to go earlier, that's fine. Just fly standby. If you miss your flight, there doesn't have to be a change fee. You just fly standby. If for some reason you dont want to fly standby, pay a small change fee to guarantee your seat.
The airline thus ends bumping and having to pay people to give up their seats. The planes will fill themselves, especially the early flights as people will leave when it's most convienent for them. The airlines wouldn't have to fly with empty seats. If somone from a later flight gets on an earlier flight, the original guaranteed seat can then be given to another standby passenger.
I know the airlines have all justifications for their rules. I just wish those justifications made sense.