Biffle POV:

Biff Tanner?

Biffle, Biff. Biff, Biffle.

I know you didn't explicitly come out and say it but your comment has that vibe.

The airlines are the victims.

The customers are the bad guys.

This is how they justify robbing their customers every minute of every day.

CNN Airlines have pocketed billions of dollars in so-called “junk fees” by charging customers extra to select a seat or to carry on bags, according to a Senate subcommittee report published on Tuesday.

The report said some airlines have even paid workers cash incentives to identify customers trying to avoid fees for carry-on bags.

From 2018 to 2023, five US airlines made more than $12 billion on seat selection fees alone, an “unbundled” cost that used to be included as part of an airline ticket.

The report, from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said that in 2023, United Airlines charged as much as $319 for an extra legroom seat, Spirit Airlines charged as much as $299, Delta Air Lines charged as much as $264, Frontier Airlines charged $141 and American Airlines charged as much as $140.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/26/business/airlines-junk-fees/index.html

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So who is the bandit? The thief, the robber?

Which is why I will never fly Frontier.

Don't tell me how cheap the seat is, add in all the fees first, so that I get a real price. A $99 flight to Texas is really $350 if you add in baggage checked, carry-on or what ever. Oh and add $100 for selecting my seat.

Don't BS me about how cheap my seat is.

I don't travel for my job now but in the past I did. Over and over again I would see people in "business dress" bring two bags aboard the plane and stuff them in the overhead bins. This means that the rest of us, who followed the rules, couldn't even find room to stow the one carry on bag that we brought.

I think these people were in a hurry to get somewhere and didn't want to wait for baggage after deplaning. They didn't care if it broke the rules and inconvenienced everyone else. And the flight attendants weren't going to enforce anything so they got away with it over and over again.

suitcase. Some of that is the airline's fault for charging for bags instead of just having it be part of your ticket, but some of that is the passengers not wanting to wait for baggage and risking having your bag damaged/lost.

them. The rest of us, following the rules, etc., have to then stand in line, waiting until these people locate a spot for their oversized luggage that they didn't want to pay for.

It's a pain in the you-know-what, and selfish. Pay the extra fee and be considerate. Just how often do you travel, that this fee gets to be excessive?

Added: My sister, who lived on the calif./washington coasts, would ship her things to me, instead of lugging her luggage around, so she literally was hands-free, and so very nice, not to have to lug that heavy luggage etc. around. Very clever, my sister was.

...I think EVERYONE flying is in a hurry.
The difference between some and folks like you & me, is that we know everyone is in a hurry. So, we play by the rules.
I used to just check my bag at the counter. Almost always except a day-trip or in one night out the next afternoon.
Then, I would never be one of "those guys".
Sounds like you refused to be one, too.

I noticed what they were doing but I didn't feel that I should do it myself. That would have made things worse for more people.

I think I conflated the "miles" in your screenname to a man's name.
But, the sentiment stands. We wouldn't do what we've seen others do because they think their time is so much more valuable than everybody else's time.
I flew enough, and on long international flights, that I seldom flew coach. There was almost always enough storage in those cabins, and I STILL checked my bags 95%+ of the time.
For me, everybody's time is valuable.

Ya mean from the companies that have one hand in my pocket for fees and the other hand out for billions of tax dollars?

Are, checks notes, STEALING??! From whom, your bottom line? This has to be one of the most tone deaf things I've ever heard a CEO say in public. At the end of the day, we, the general public are the rubes and the marks, and the corporate rulers and the con artists running the show

The airlines constantly rip off their customers.

It's an unfun experience where the service is absolute crap compared to 30 to 40 years ago. It's an example of how the service economy is truly a complete failure. The one thing you don't get is service.

Plus I don't fit in coach being well over 6 feet tall.

That you have to pay for carry-on luggage. I thought you’re just allowed to bring at least one bag with you, which is what I used to do. In fact I would have my purse and then a small bag. I once took one of my cats with me to visit my brother in Ohio. But I paid for her and she sat with me on the seat next to me, I think or under my seat. I can’t remember now on the way home our plane had a landing incident where we could’ve had a crash.