$15 fee for Seat Assignment on Northwest, is this normal?

SMS wrote:

Rudy wrote:

My sister has a flight on NW today. She called the airline last night
because at the time of her reservation there were only middle seats
available, and she wanted to change her seat assignment. The phone
agent told her that there were now plenty of window and aisle seats
available, and that she could change the seat assignment for a $15 fee


Booking (or changing a booking) on the phone with an agent costs $ 15.00
She should have done it "online" at NWA.com


She tried, it wouldn't let her change it. Maybe you have to book online
in order to be able to make changes online.

Why didn't she contact her travel agent to change it?

mrtravel wrote:
SMS wrote:

Rudy wrote:

My sister has a flight on NW today. She called the airline last night
because at the time of her reservation there were only middle seats
available, and she wanted to change her seat assignment. The phone
agent told her that there were now plenty of window and aisle seats
available, and that she could change the seat assignment for a $15 fee


Booking (or changing a booking) on the phone with an agent costs $
15.00
She should have done it "online" at NWA.com


She tried, it wouldn't let her change it. Maybe you have to book
online in order to be able to make changes online.

Why didn't she contact her travel agent to change it?

Travel agents have worse hours than bankers. This was Friday night, long
after the corporate travel agents have gone home. There's an "emergency"
number, but this wasn't an emergency.

"SMS" wrote:
Why didn't she contact her travel agent to change it?

Travel agents have worse hours than bankers. This was Friday
night, long after the corporate travel agents have gone home.
There's an "emergency" number, but this wasn't an emergency.

One alternative, for future reference, would be to show up at the
airport early enuff that the ticket or gate agent still had some exit
row seats (they often hold those until they "see" who wants one)
or other seats open, and claim a "intestinal" need for an aisle seat.

BTW, some discount airlines charge a fee simply to assign any
seat prior to check-in.

why do they care if the ticket is purchased on their own web site.

Because most agency bookings are made through a GDS
(Apollo/Galileo/Sabre/Amadeus/Worldpsan) and the GDS charge the airline a
fee for that service. That fee is in addtion to the cost of holding the
booking in their own computer whereas if the booking is made via the website
they only pay the cost of holding the booking in their computer. I
personally think that is a simplistic arguement - it ignores other costs
that the airline incurs when they look after the booking themselves.

Does she have an "online Worldperks" account with password etc ? I do (for
about 20 yrs) and it works fine for me.

Booking (or changing a booking) on the phone with an agent costs $ 15.00
She should have done it "online" at NWA.com

She tried, it wouldn't let her change it. Maybe you have to book online in
order to be able to make changes online.

SMS wrote:

mrtravel wrote:

SMS wrote:

Rudy wrote:

My sister has a flight on NW today. She called the airline last night
because at the time of her reservation there were only middle seats
available, and she wanted to change her seat assignment. The phone
agent told her that there were now plenty of window and aisle seats
available, and that she could change the seat assignment for a $15 fee



Booking (or changing a booking) on the phone with an agent costs $
15.00
She should have done it "online" at NWA.com



She tried, it wouldn't let her change it. Maybe you have to book
online in order to be able to make changes online.


Why didn't she contact her travel agent to change it?


Travel agents have worse hours than bankers. This was Friday night, long
after the corporate travel agents have gone home. There's an "emergency"
number, but this wasn't an emergency.

Why didn't she ask about seats when she booked it?

Rog' wrote:

"SMS" wrote:

Why didn't she contact her travel agent to change it?


Travel agents have worse hours than bankers. This was Friday
night, long after the corporate travel agents have gone home.
There's an "emergency" number, but this wasn't an emergency.


One alternative, for future reference, would be to show up at the
airport early enuff that the ticket or gate agent still had some exit
row seats (they often hold those until they "see" who wants one)
or other seats open, and claim a "intestinal" need for an aisle seat.

Exit row seats are often selected by frequent flyers in advance, and are
often not available at the airport.

On 17/05/08 16:37, in article ,
"SMS" wrote:

My sister has a flight on NW today. She called the airline last night
because at the time of her reservation there were only middle seats
available, and she wanted to change her seat assignment. The phone agent
told her that there were now plenty of window and aisle seats available,
and that she could change the seat assignment for a $15 fee.

I've never heard of such a thing.


It is generally coming, nickel and dimming the passengers.

Päy toilets are next. After which they will charge you by
your weight.


****

It'll cost you $15 to check one bag

AMERICAN AIRLINES TO LEVY NEW FEE BEGINNING JUNE 15
By Deborah Lohse
Mercury News
Article Launched:*05/22/2008 01:30:22 AM PDT

Airlines have started charging for food. Headsets and exit-row seating cost
extra, too. Now, American Airlines has become the first major U.S. carrier
to charge for yet another service that used to be free: checking a bag.

Starting June 15, passengers who don't pay full fare or who aren't high-end
frequent fliers will have to pay $15 for their first checked bag.

The change comes as American, like other airlines, grapples with
$130-a-barrel oil prices and a weak national economy. American posted a $328
million first-quarter loss last month.

The Fort Worth company also announced plans to cut flights by 11 percent,
which San Jose officials fear will affect some of American's 29 daily
flights from Mineta San Jose International Airport. American also plans to
raise various fees such as those for unaccompanied minors, non-Internet
flight booking and itinerary changes.

At least one airline industry consultant believes other airlines will
quickly follow suit. Indeed, United Airlines told the New York Times on
Wednesday that it is "seriously studying" a charge for the first checked
bag. Most large U.S. carriers already have instituted fees for a second bag.
In the business world, what American is doing is called "unbundling" - or
charging fees for things that used to be "bundled" into the ticket price.
AirTran, for instance, charges $6 for the ability to select one's seat.
JetBlue has said it will start charging soon for pillows.

Rationale for fees

Airlines argue that adding fees this way is preferable to fare hikes
because in theory, at least, passengers who don't want to use the services
can avoid them. And airlines can't just raise fares whenever it suits them
because the industry is so competitive that they'd surely lose passengers.
"There is hardly any other product or service out there where a customer can
instantly compare all the prices and products and services of every
competitor," said American spokesman Tim Smith.

But to many passengers, checking luggage is hardly a luxury. "What is all
that cargo space for?" asked Trudy Karl, a Salinas-area graphic designer who
was waiting for an arriving passenger at Mineta International Wednesday.
Several travelers griped that overhead bins are already too full - and that
American's new fee will just spur more people to try to cram their
belongings there, slowing down boarding and adding to the aggravation
factor.

"We already have to be really first in line to get any space in the
carry-on bins," Karl said.

Danielle Robinson vowed to avoid American, which she had flown in on from
college Wednesday. A graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School who plays
basketball for the University of Oklahoma, Robinson said packing light is
not an option. "I've got my basketball stuff, my other bags," she said.
Already she's had to consolidate from two checked bags to one, to avoid
American's $25 second-bag fee. Now she's going to favor Southwest or
Frontier, she said.

Other passengers Wednesday noted that Southwest is the only major carrier
these days that lets passengers check up to two bags for free, and the
company told the New York Times it was not planning to change.

But Gerard Arpey, chief executive of American parent AMR, said in a
statement that the airline "cannot afford to sit by hoping for industry and
market conditions to improve." The airline industry as a whole lost $2
billion in the first quarter this year, and eight U.S. airlines have filed
for bankruptcy protection, the company pointed out.

Fewer flights

In addition to the new fees, American said it may lay off an undisclosed
number of workers and retire 40 to 45 airplanes - mostly MD-80s and some
Airbus A300s - plus another 35 to 40 regional jets. Those cutbacks will
amount to a 10 to 11 percent reduction in flights handled by American,
although the company didn't specify where those flights would originate.
But San Jose is likely to be affected, said Ed Nelson, director of air
service development at the airport. American has 29 daily non-stop flights
from San Jose to Texas, Chicago and Southern California, including MD-80s
and regional jets.

"If an airline is reducing that many flights, it should affect us," Nelson
said. He noted, though, that most of the daily American flights out of San
Jose are full - which might make them less likely to be cut.

Although some airlines, including Delta and Northwest, said Wednesday they
have no immediate plans to follow American's fee, airline consultant Raphael
Bejar figures they will do so in due time - just as numerous discount
carriers in Europe have done.

"I expect all the legacy carriers in the U.S. will do the same," said
Bejar, chief executive of Paris-based consultant Airsavings.

That's a scary notion for Mia Munson, a hotel program manager from Denison,
Texas, who arrived Wednesday in San Jose on American. Noting that food
prices, gas prices and even college tuition are all spiking, she asked:

"Where does it stop?"

On Thu, 22 May 2008 11:29:05 +0200, Earl Evleth
wrote:

On 17/05/08 16:37, in article ,
"SMS" wrote:

My sister has a flight on NW today. She called the airline last night
because at the time of her reservation there were only middle seats
available, and she wanted to change her seat assignment. The phone agent
told her that there were now plenty of window and aisle seats available,
and that she could change the seat assignment for a $15 fee.

I've never heard of such a thing.


It is generally coming, nickel and dimming the passengers.

Päy toilets are next. After which they will charge you by
your weight.
Right you cretin. All the airlines should go bankrupt and out of
business so cheap idiots like you that are unwilling to pay for what
your transportation costs can be satisfied.

On 22/05/08 13:48, in article , "John
Kulp" wrote:

Päy toilets are next. After which they will charge you by
your weight.

Right you cretin. All the airlines should go bankrupt and out of
business so cheap idiots like you that are unwilling to pay for what
your transportation costs can be satisfied.

I prefer traveling Air France exactly because they don't get cheap.
They still feed you on European flights if they are long enough
(Paris-Athens). And they make a profit.

The crisis right now is in fuel costs and that even got to
Air France their last quarter.

We just returned from a trip, Paris-NY-Miami-Paris. Since
AF does not provide service it was less expensive ($1000 total)
to take American, which functions OK on the international flights
(they feed you, although want money for the wine). Since we only
had one bag each there was not problem with them.

What is simply true is that the quality of flights within the US
is generally poor. The historical push by the "great unwashed"
like yourself, was for the ever cheaper flight, in which the
old law of capitalism, "bad pushes out good" has prevailed
and led to a progressively lower level of service. I admit
I prefer the train (in France) and preferred the passenger
boats when the operated (we made 15 crossings on the SS France
in the 1960s and 1970s) until they went out of service. It
was a time and a way of traveling in which "getting there"
was more the half the fun.