OT: Brian to hate Spirit Airlines even more?
http://www.chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/04/spirit-airlines-to-try-4…
Spirit is going to try a carry-on baggage fee of 45 bucks. They will still have the regular fee for checked baggage as well.
... along with the misfortunes of our fearless and hairy leader, are surely enough for me to never ever ever ever give Spirit my business.
You just don't mess with the voting and economic power of the MGoBlog.
That is the biggest crock of shit I think I've ever heard about airline policy. Unreal.
I used to fly Spirit fairly regularly (cheap flights to FL), no more.
...whether everyone will now hate Spirit even more. Hard to know when airlines will hit the "they've gone too far" point, but this just might be it.
...is use of empty space inside the airplane. Next step: dunking each passenger in a tank of water at the gate and charging $5 for every liter of displaced volume. Because you are taking up space that could be used by valuable oxygen molecules.
if the average ticket price drops by $30, and then you have to pay $30 for an overhead carry-on.
huh?
I meant that if the ticket price drops by $30 then it is a wash for someone to buy a ticket and carry-on a bag, and a win (savings of $30) for somebody to buy a ticket and not carry any bag on.
The real issue is how much the total flight experience costs, when adding in meal costs, rewards programs, baggage fees, ticket price...
If Spirit just keeps ticket prices the same, but charges $30 for a carry-on bag, they will lose a lot of customers.
Yep, that's how math works.
I just received an email from them today stating that they were rolling out "Penny Saver" fares, with tickets selling for 1cent on select destinations, beginning Aug 1st. My wife and I are looking to going to Orlando, which was one of the "Penny Saver" fares from Detroit, I almost booked, and now I am going to think twice, because it truly isn't any cheaper.
then it probably is cheaper.
In reading the linked story, it states that though the fare of the ticket will be reduced, Spirit will be adding the additional fees on the back end, to basically make it a wash. The "Penny Saver" fares are to get you to book, when it is all said and done, with the numerous fees Spirit continues to tack on, it will be just as expensive, if not more so to fly.
LOL $15 billion bailout. Oh 2002 how I miss thee.
Spirit Airlines to begin weighing customers at check-in, charging extra fees for being a big fat-ass.
Horrifyingly, airlines have been looking into effective ways to do this for years. I would not be shocked at all if sometime in the next 5 years you have to step on a scale just like your bags when you check in for a flight.
They should. Wait until you are sitting next to someone that needs 25% of your seat in addition to their own, and you can't put down the arm rest because their fat ass is literally blocking it, and saying something just seems so rude. Like, what are you going to say?
I DIDN'T FUCKING PAY TO CUDDLE WITH YOUR FATASS?
I don't think that's an option.
Coming soon to a Hallmark shop near you.
I would.
Yelling at obese 50 year old women is something I'm just not capable of.
I was imagining a guy, a woman would be more uncomfortable.
Edit: I know this pic has been posted all over the place, but would you really be able to just quietly accept this guy sitting next to you? It's a very real safety issue for one thing, dude blocks the entire isle.
It's weird, I've seen tons of women needing more than one seat in coach, but the comparable, really big guys tend to be in first class more often.
They ALWAYS have window seats and early boarding, prohibiting the arm rest from being lowerable. It's totally premeditated. It puts the onus on starting the inconvenience on me, because I'd have to ask to put the arm rest down when it's clearly not possible. I'm a tall guy, I need my whole seat.
Since I travel a lot, I typically hope that the person next to me is an attractive young lady, since if you are on the same types of business flights, you probably have at least a couple things in common. Nothing quite as dis-heartening as seeing a pretty girl in a row that's about where yours is, then realizing she's in 12, but you get to cuddle the whale in 13. JOY!
Where's the armrest or should I say butt-crack rest?
Maybe he can cover Tate's blindside.
Just sneak a big juicy cheeseburger onto your flight and eat it right in front of her, moaning about how good it tastes. Upon finishing, complain about how fat you feel because you ate that delicious burger, and just keep reiterating how fat you feel. Work that passive aggressive mojo.
They actually should, but it might not go over too well. One dollar per pound over 200, counting everything you've got with you sounds about right. It would really simplify the process too. Instead of having the industrial scale behind the counter, you just need to step on it to check in.
I'm a pilot, and weight really matters.
Watching some family hand their giant bags to their 11 year old daughter and 7 year old son while the paunchy Dad (and Mom?) step on the scale without luggage will be hilarious.
I don't think the airlines care much about your comfort in the seat. They figure if you want more space you'd pay for first class.
People don't like paying more than their fair share, so this is one way to account for that. People who weigh a lot (either with baggage or personal weight) cost more to fly around, so they should pay more.
I care less about weight, because a 215lb athlete probably fits in his seat and doesn't need 25% of mine. A 215lb, 5'3" person though, spilling into my seat is just bullshit.
Make them buy two seats, preferably next to each other.
Instead of a scale, maybe passengers could pass through a cardboard cutout of a person. If you don't pass through it because of your fat ass, you would have to pay more.
at least this small to ride the ride.
Or maybe a giant set of calipers.
If Jake Long was sitting next to you, his shoulders would probably be in your face, because he is huge. What would you do then? Would you complain, or take it like a man?
Personally, he's Jake Long. He can sit wherever he wants, I don't care if he spills over into my seat space.
The 5'3 person though, I agree. Get two seats.
Wrestle them for the seat. If they're in good enough shape to beat you, then they deserve it.
Well, I'm tall, so it would be shoulder to shoulder, which is totally fine if someone that is athletic happens to also be on the plane. It's more about gross leg and ass fat creeping up 25% of my seat and I can just feel the jello.
TL;DR - Shoulder to should is ok, assfat-to-leg is NOT.
If Jake Long is sitting next to me I'm wondering why he's flying coach after all that guaranteed money he got
I know I wouldn't complain if a 300+ pound NFL lineman was next to me. I like not getting the shit kicked out of me by 300+ pound NFL lineman way too much.
You need to think about shoulders. I fly a lot of smaller jets (like the regional ones) and what I tend to notice are not just how plump butts spill over, but how shoulders of above-average men absolutely, positively, do not fit in the space allotted.
It's not a matter of their girth--this can be a factor for fit men as well. You can't tell a guy like that to just shape up--unless you were going to suggest limb amputation at the collarbone. It's not his fault he doesn't fit in the seat.
Say exactly that. Exactly. Ask the stewardess if you can kindly be moved to the section where people who aren't due for a massive coronary at the first turbulence sit.
It only seems to happen to me on full flights. One of which I was rebooked onto because Delta sucks, otherwise I wouldn't have a middle seat.
Besides, it's a lot easier to be a gigantic asshole in my head and on the internet. Try saying it on a plane full of people and you'll get dirty looks and shit that doesn't make it worth it. Besides, how do I know the whale isn't somehow connected to my client? It's highly, highly unlikely, but it's not a chance (no matter how small) worth taking.
Hmmm, I came off as pro fat ass there. Which I most certainly am not.
I've been squished next to whales before and there is literally nothing worse than the horror of watching someone waddle down the aisle and thinking "please don't sit next to me" over and over.
...I was taking a puddle jumper from Memphis to Huntsville. I was in the first row and feeling good that as the plane filled to capacity behind me, no one had sat down next to me. Then she appeared. Oh...my...God. After she poured herself into 1B and half of 1A, I was literally curled up against the bulkhead. Thankfully it was a 30 minute flight, but my what a horrible 30 minutes it was.
That's one reason I like flying Southwest: if you're smart about it, you can complete a row next to a smaller person so you know there won't be any surprises coming later.
Even better is completing a row to sit next to an attractive young coed. Now that's flying!
I prefer the fact that if you're within the first 2/3rds boarding on the plane you can almost always get an exit row seat with southwest. Most people want their aisle or window seat, whereas I want leg room since i'm 6'4".
Yep, that is literally the worst thing that there is.
Put your armrest down the instant you sit down. If they don't fit, that's their problem. If they say 'can you move the armrest' just shake your head and put your arm on it defiantly.
I would endorse that move.
Bags fly free people!
Charging for carry-on bags based on the fact that they 'slow down the time for people to leave the plane' is such a bullshit reason. These will be great for all those people who only travel with a backpack or briefcase, all 10% of the flying population.
Although Blazefire I would actually approve of 'larger' people paying more.
If the first checked bag was free, this would make sense actually. From a scheduling sense, this would speed boarding/de-boarding by a good couple minutes. No more people with gigantic fucking bags that were too cheap to check them trying so hard to fit in the overhead after they had last zone boarding, then having a flight attendant gate check the bag anyway.
Spirit is a dumb airline that flies only to leisure destinations for people that are too stupid to do basic math. Unless you get one of those $9/$19/$49 fare deals AND don't need to check any bag (or carry-on now), it's not much cheaper than flying Southwest or United or USAirways or w/e.
You have hit upon my preferred system. First checked bag free, but pay for your carry-on. If you want the convenience of being able to have your bag when you leave the plane instead of having to wait at baggage claim, and the knowledge that no one is rifling through your bag or losing it, then pay the carry-on fee. Otherwise, check your first bag for free.
It makes a lot more sense to make people pay for something that actually offers them value than what they do now -- people preferred to carry on even before they made you pay to check a bag.
First checked bag free would be nice, but you know people are going to pull bullshit and have a gigantic 150lb bag to check so they don't have to pay a carry on or 2nd bag fee.
If you try and idiot proof a system, the system will just make better idiots.