Fees, Fees Galore, Online Booking, Web Check-in, and More

As airlines face increased pressure to offer ever lower fares in this lousy economy, they have become increasingly creative with their charges. A few years ago, many airlines began to add fees to customers who booked via phone or via an airport ticket counter. Allegiant took that a step further, adding fees to customers who booked on the internet and imposing additional fees on those who book over the phone (now known as a "convenience fee"). However, the airline simultaneously removed fees on those who book via airport ticket counters--arguably the least convenient option for most customers. Now, Spirit is taking a page out of the Allegiant playbook, and plans to charge customers $4.90 each way in the form of a "Passenger Usage Fee" in order to book tickets online. Customers who book at airport ticket counters will pay no fee. Not surprisingly, Spirit hasn't exactly publicized this widely, encoding the fee in language that makes it sound like a government-imposed tax. The change is reflected in the fine print at the bottom of Spirit's booking page:

All fares are subject to change until purchased. All fares listed on spiritair.com are per customer for each way of travel and include the base fare plus a federal excise tax. Fares do not include (a) a segment tax of $3.60 per U.S. domestic flight segment (a flight segment is defined as one takeoff and landing) of a passenger's itinerary; (b) up to $18 per round trip in local airport charges; or (c) a September 11th Security Fee of $2.50 per enplanement originating at a U.S. airport; (d) $4.90 Passenger Usage Fee per one way of travel; and (e) fees from $15 for the first (1) bag (fare shown does include one free carry-on)... (emphasis added)

And now, in the infinite wisdom of Ryanair, Europe's largest low-fare carrier, passengers will "pay" for another previously free service--online check-in. Arguably, passengers are not paying extra for this privilege, as it will be a unavoidable charge on all tickets (except what Ryanair defines as "promotional fares"). Ryanair is using its transition process of removing airport check-in desks (in a bid to cut costs) to stick customers with a hidden fare increase--not a surprise from this company, but unfortunate for passengers nevertheless. Ryanair even plans to charge for restroom use on the aircraft, an idea that I suspect will have many unintended consequences, few of them pleasant to deal with.

And so this begs the question: How far will other carriers go in imposing such charges? Allegiant, Spirit, and Ryanair are all unabashedly no-frills, deep-discount carriers, and hence more likely to be early adopters in making such changes. But, even though passengers are increasingly confused by all the added charges and fees, other carriers, including so-called "legacy" carriers, will impose them, because they ultimately equate to added revenue. While I was skeptical that legacies in the US would charge for checked baggage, they have done so with far greater success than I could have imagined. Other charges, for food and priority seating, have also been similarly successful.

I suspect that if airlines in this country started to charge for checking in at an airport desk (with exceptions for travelers with special needs, travelers in large groups, and those checking baggage), customers would probably not be too surprised, nor too upset. That charge is easily avoidable by checking in online, an offering of nearly every carrier that flies within the US. And if customers were not able to print their boarding passes out online, they could check-in at the airport using automated kiosks.

But some added fees may be a bit of a stretch. We have already seen that if airlines go too far to nickel and dime passengers, it can be problematic for the carrier's reputation. US Airways has retreated from its position to charge for beverages after other airlines have not followed suit. (On a side note: I flew US Airways last week and unexpectedly enjoyed one of the best travel experiences I've had in awhile, though it may have been because the plane was half-empty). I suspect that charging for ticket purchases online will be a tougher sell for airlines. Carriers which once offered customers incentives for booking online, because it it cheaper for the company (it often costs carriers less than fifty cents to take an online reservation) may soon argue that taking web bookings is unduly expensive, and customers need to help pay for it (even though taking a reservation at the airport is, in many cases, more expensive for the airline.

Allegiant has more justification for this fee than Spirit, since Allegiant operates out of smaller airports close to the cities they serve, which often have free parking, and are easy to get into and out of quickly. Spirit, on the other hand, operates mostly from large airports in major cities. Most legacy carriers fall closer to the Spirit model, which would make booking a ticket inexpensively quite challenging for customers if such a fee were implemented. This is not to say such a fee could not be implemented--if this industry faces another crisis, with fuel, liquidity, or an unforeseen hazard, then over consumer objections, purchasing tickets at the airport may, unfortunately, become the cheapest way to book.