Are Airlines Running Out of Fee Possibilities?

March 18, 2009 | Posted in: Airline Fees, Flight Attendants, Pricing Activity, Spirit

Well, the news organization Reuters thinks airlines have reached a limit on new fees, but I’m not so certain. I’m sure enterprising airlines can find a few more items/services to squeeze fees from (paying to be first in line to deplane? At some airports, United’s Premier Line allows you to pay for first-to-board privileges — at $25 person). Plus, maybe more will do what Spirit is doing: making passengers pay for the privilege of buying tickets online (as opposed to at the airport counter). And there’s always advertising on board. We’ve seen some ads, and may see more. Of course, Spirit’s flight attendants don’t like it when they were forced to become human billboards, but that’s another story.

2 Responses to “Are Airlines Running Out of Fee Possibilities?”

1. Elliot Campbell says:

   March 18, 2009 at 7:57 pm

   Actually, Rick, UA is already promoting a service where you can pay to be the first in line to board the plane (I’m surprised if you don’t know about it). Called Premier Line, it allows a passenger who is not an elite member to buy the right to check in at the elite line, go through priority security, and also gets them into seating 1 when boarding. Yes, its only available from certain airports and is supposedly limited to a certain amount of passengers at a time, but you can buy that now.
2. Rick Seaney says:

   March 18, 2009 at 9:54 pm

   Elliot, you are right and the post now reflects that — I just wanted to toss the concept out there because it is in such limited use.