Here is a piece of news that will not come as a shock to anyone who travels by air on a regular basis–airlines made a lot of money from extra fees last year! In fact, the Department of Transportation has just released figures that show the amount of revenue created by fees in the airline industry rose forty-two percent last year. The total sum that all of us travelers of the skies made to the airlines with our fees was $7.8 billion in 2009. The largest chunk of that money came from fees charged for checked bags, with pets and reservation changes also resulting in some steady fee intake.
I believe in helping others whenever possible, so I thought that I would offer this blog as a forum through which we can share our suggestions to the airlines for other fees that they can charge to up that revenue total even more in 2010. Here are a few I came up with to get the ball rolling:
1. $1.00 charge for the flight attendant to open the can of soda and pour the beverage for you
2. Coin-operated toilets — two quarters to get in, three more to get out
3. $5.00 for a functioning oxygen mask
4. $2.00 for a seat in the waiting area at the gate
5. The highest bidder gets to be the first one off the plane
6. $1 per ice cube in your drink
Based on a couple of my previous blog posts, I know that many of you are frequent fliers. So, I’m sure that you can come up with plenty of wonderful ways for the airlines to charge us additional fees. Here is your opportunity to get the word out! Leave your additional ideas in the comments section. The airlines will thank you later!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Joe, so appreciate you trying to be helpful. It is just the kind of guy you are…
1. Perhaps airlines should charge to use the arm rests. Or at least give you the chance to bid on full use of the arm rest. I am sick of fighting my seatmate for that damn thing…
2. I would pay money to lock the seat in front of me so that it could not recline…
3. Won’t be long before they charge for blankets and pillows…
4. And I would pay money to NOT get a scowl when I request the entire can of soda…
Hope this helps!
Todd – this is exactly why I reached out to all my gurus! Your ideas are fantastic. I am calling Delta today to pitch the arm rest idea!
Have a great week! and thanks for adding value as always!
I’d like pay $1,000 more for my first class ticket if they would actually leave on time. Let’s see, I’ll throw in another $20 for every flight attendant that isn’t publicly complaining about their job the whole flight. How about $100 per screaming child you sedate?
Just some thoughts…
Amanda Vega
http://www.amandavega.com
Thanks for the great ideas Amanda! As I have a 3.5 year old, I have grown tolerant of the screaming children, but as someone that just reached the 2 Million Mile mark with Delta last week and has already flown over 125 segments already this year I could not be more in agreement with you about being on-time and grumpy flight attendants!