Air Travel: Who do you LUV? Not U.S. Airways, United
Published 2:35 pm Thursday, June 12, 2008
Guess who won’t be adopting WaMu’s “We don’t nickel and dime you” slogan?
Try U.S. Airways.
To cope with high fuel costs, the carrier announced plans today to reduce its domestic capacity, retire aircraft and cut 1,700 jobs. The announcement makes U.S. Airways just one of several carriers making such moves.
The airline also said it will follow in American Airlines’ footsteps and charge passengers $15 each way for the first checked bag. (United Airlines also matched the first checked bag fee this morning).
But U.S. Airways took it a step further. Later this summer, the carrier will do away with a complimentary non-alcoholic beverage for economy passengers. And it will up its fee for booze to $7 (the free Northwest-region beer and wine on Horizon flights looks better all the time) from $5.
Want to cash in your award miles for a free flight? Well, that won’t be “free” anymore either. The carrier plans to start charging a $25, $35 or $50 processing fee for your “free” trip.
Finally, if you need to call to make a reservation, the fee went up to $25. Do it at a reservations counter and it will cost you $35.
Airlines are making so many moves on fares and fees that it’s tough to keep tabs (our story in today’s Herald is obsolete already).
Rather than jumping on the fee-collecting bandwagon, Southwest Airlines has launched a new ad campaign: LUV is freedom from fees.
One would hope the carrier will steer clear of “LUV means never having to say you’re sorry” a la Love Story because sorry is probably what Southwest will be if they try to back away from statements like:
“We despise fees as much as the other airlines seem to love them”
That doesn’t mean Southwest hasn’t raised fares (duh) along with the rest of them. But you don’t have to decide in advance if you’re willing to drag your bag on board or if want to fork over $2 for water on the flight. That’s probably worth a big WaMu Whoo hoo! from a lot of travelers.
