Airlines executives are looking at their financial results for 2010, and they do see things that they like...ancillary fees recorded their best year ever, with a total that may have well exceeded $10 billion.
With reduced capacity, comes fuller airplanes, and along with reduced competition due to mergers, code sharing and alliances, it is not that consumers have real choices left when it comes to air travel. So airlines can choose to charge what they want when they want it, and travelers have to open their wallets.
So why not think of the unthinkable? First, when the concept of charging fees for checked-in bags, meals, drinks, enhanced seats, etc. were gradually rolled out, vanguard airlines were worried their competitors would not match and they would have to roll back, but soon almost all, with Southwest as the notable exception, did. So how do you top that phenomenal source of revenue in 2011? One thing one airline started is complaining about the "high cost" of distribution and display of its inventory. So under the guise of a "better traveler's experience", they want the distribution to go to a "direct connect" and cut the "middleman" out.
On the fee side, it won't be long before we see a card swipe type of lock on your aircraft lavatories should you wish the privilege of using it. Airlines always claim that they are only recouping costs and that passengers who do not use "services" would not have to pay for them.
www.premieretravel.com
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