So a few weeks ago I noticed that Virgin Airlines decided to join the “stick-it-to-the-customer” club and start charging for the first bag checked when flying anywhere. Not just short hops. If you are a hi-miler, well you are still okay, but to those of us that don’t fly Virgin that often, the lowly ones, we pay. This made me sad because they are (or were) one of my favorite airlines; one of the hold-outs to the trend of stripping down the flying experience of all its creature comforts. But, now they are groveling for a few bucks just like the rest claiming competition is forcing them to do it. And by the way, if you are flying Virgin virtually anywhere, at least from the United States, how many people would NOT be bring a largish bag? Most of us don’t go to Europe for the weekend. Okay, I could do a carry-on for Barbados, but not London!
Anyway, to the title of this post. Now Alaska, my most and best loved airline of all time (read.. free beer) is going the route of Virgin and the rest of them. What is the world coming to? Now they want their $15 bucks to check a bag just like the rest. Okay all you airlines, you are now pretty much all the same. So bite me. I’ll just be sticking closer to home for a while. In fact, I think this year will be the year that we take that car trip to National Parks in southern Utah: Zion, Bryce Canyon, etc. If I must fly, I will of course. But, otherwise I am voting with my wallet.
What is stupid is that they just don’t get that it is not about the money. It is about getting mugged at the ticket counter. At least that what it feels like. You pay all this money for a ticket, probably do quite a bit of comparison shopping online, and then in the end get stuck for a $15 each bag (2 for us) each way. That’s a weekday dinner out around where I live.
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