Airlines Get Billions From Unbundled Services

Posted by timothy on Sunday July 18, 2010 @06:46AM from the jet-set-crowd-with-pitchforks dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "In hearings before Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that airlines reported revenue of $7.9 billion from baggage fees and reservation change and cancellation fees in calendar years 2008 and 2009 — fees on unbundled services that once were considered part of the ticket price. 'We believe that the proliferation of these fees and the manner in which they are presented to the traveling public can be confusing and in some cases misleading,' says Robert Rivkin, the Department of Transportation's general counsel. Published fares used by consumers to choose flights don't 'clearly represent the cost of travel when these services are added.' However, Spirit Airlines President and CEO Ben Baldanza defended the practice of unbundling, saying it allows his airline to charge lower fares (PDF) and allows the customers the choice to purchase the services or not."

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Re:I like it by kamukwam · 2010-07-18 09:01 · Score: 0, Offtopic

My parents had to take out a bank loan to cover the airfares - They were that high.

Excuse me, a bank loan to pay for airfares??? I can see where the credit crisis originated. How hard is it to save money (and earn some interest) and then pay for the flight to England? It saves you a lot of money in interest on the loan...