Airlines will make a record $118 billion in extra fees this year—their websites are designed to get you to pay::Airlines are piling on fees for checked bags, assigned seats, and other extras. Here’s how their websites pressure fliers into paying for them.
You can buy tickets at the ticket counter and they can’t charge all the convenience fees. We’ve gotten tickets for 50% of what they were listed for online. Just go when there isn’t a flight departing and have all your info ready to go. They will not be happy you are there.
Most airlines don’t charge convenience fees. It looks like Spirit does, not surprisingly.
I worked at an airport for a major airline over a decade ago. IIRC there was a $25 charge for booking at the airport (I can count on one hand how many times people actually showed up for that) and it didn’t give any cheaper fares than online. All we’d do is book in full Y to get the itinerary started, then LA$R on that command line system (how do I still remember that?) to automatically change the fare class to whatever was cheapest available while still following all the fare rules.
Bonus points for anyone who knows what system we used that LA$R is a thing.
What fees do you find waived and for what airline? I haven’t noticed TicketMaster-like convenience fees with the ones I fly
I’ve done it with frontier and spirit. I’m not sure what the specific fees are, but it’s saved me tons of money for the few years I’ve been doing it.
Spirit, avelo… But the fucking smiles are free