Alaska adds first-checked-bag fee — with a guarantee

Buried in the recent airline earnings news was the announcement that Alaska Airlines has succumbed to charging $15 for the first checked bag. Starting on July 7th, Alaska Airways will initiate the fees. This is bad news. But their unique-to-the-industry guarantee is good news.

The rhetoric from Alaska Airlines was to be expected as the company instituted the $15 first-checked-bag fee, joining almost every other airline in the country other than Southwest Airlines and JetBlue. Alaska Air’s Chairman and CEO Bill Ayer claimed that passengers actually want these baggage fees.

We are responding to the continued economic uncertainty by maintaining a healthy level of liquidity, retiming some capital expenditures, controlling costs, reducing capacity and actively pursuing revenue opportunities.

This response includes the new bag fee. We’re adapting to a marketplace in which customers increasingly want the lowest fare possible, with the option to pay extra to use other services.
The only silver lining to this continuing march of increased baggage fees is Alaska Airlines unique baggage guarantee.

We want to continue matching the lowest fare in the market without being at a revenue disadvantage to our competitors. But we’re also going to provide customers more value for what we’re charging through the bag service guarantee, which no other airline offers.

That offer guarantees $25 off a future flight or 2,500 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles if luggage is not in baggage claim within 25 minutes of the aircraft parking at its gate. Alaska also unveiled a drop in its third bag fee from $100 to $50, and exemptions for first class ticket holders, certain frequent flyers, unaccompanied minors, military personnel on active duty and passengers traveling to Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico.

There are no baggage fees for internal Alaska flights.

At least Alaska Airlines has given something back to the passengers, in the form of this baggage guarantee, in return for forking out $15 for what was once included in everyone’s price. Their action admits what passengers have been muttering for years. They wouldn’t mind checking luggage if it wasn’t lost so often and it didn’t take an exorbitant time to collect at the destination airports.

Delivering baggage within 25 minutes of parking at the airport gate would be a good start.

Finished your taxes? Now check your passport

by Janice Hough
Now that most Americans have finished with tax season, it’s a good time to take care of other life maintenance issues. How about a quick passport check?

First, where is the passport? Yes, I know, most passports live in the same drawer all the time. Except when they don’t. I can’t count the number of frantic calls I have gotten over the years when clients go to get their passport before a trip, and it’s not where it should be.

Next, what is the expiration date? This issue particularly can be a problem for children’s passports, which are good for only five years. A family assured me last year all their passports were current to fly to Vancouver for a cruise, they discovered the week before that their son’s had expired. It took a two-hour drive to the nearest passport office, a lot of waiting time, and money to save the trip.

Then, where are you traveling next? Some countries, including England, require six months validity on a passport beyond the entry date. Otherwise they will deny entry. This means travelers planning a June trip to London with a passport expiring in October need to get a new passport now. They aren’t kidding about this. A travel agent in our office ran afoul of this rule and was turned back at San Francisco Airport by British Airways.

Also, regarding the destination issue, make sure you have a couple of blank pages. Some countries want a clean page to stamp their authority to enter. No space, no entry. And still other countries want that space for a visa. This is especially important for travelers who enjoy last minute trips, because you would need to send for new pages before you request such visas.

Finally, if you have had any name changes, through marriage, divorce, or any other reason, does your current name match your passport? I just dealt with a divorced woman who gave me her legal name for a ticket, and forgot that her eight-year-old passport had her old married name on it. (She said, I just try not to think about the jerk much anymore.) Fortunately an amused Delta agent in a good mood allowed us to change the ticket.

A passport check should take only a couple minutes now. And it could save you hours, stress and money before your next trip.

AirTran. Continental And United Post First Quarter Results

AirTran posted net income of $28.7 million despite a 9% drop in revenue compared with the same period last year. The airline had record operating income of $47.7 million, and the highest first quarter load factor in its history at 76.3%. The combination of lower fuel prices, low costs, and quality service coupled with fleet and route network adjustments resulted in the airline posting its best first quarter earnings in history. Fuel costs were down 50.5% on a 7.2 capacity decrease. Continental reported a net loss of $136 million. The airline blamed the loss for the significant decline in high yield traffic The airline reported $4 million of aircraft-related charges as a special item. Total revenue decreased 17% while passenger revenue decreased 18.8%.

United reported a first quarter net loss of $382 million, down from a loss of $549 million in the same quarter in 2008. The airline lost money on fuel hedges, one-time lease termination costs and charges related to severance and employee benefits. Without these one-time charges the airline would have posted a loss of $579 million. The airline has suffered a large drop of 30% in premium and business cabin traffic which declined more than their leisure business. The airline generated $14 in revenue per passenger from ancillary charges and fees, up 60% year-over-year. Mainline traffic decreased 15.1% on a 13.1% drop in capacity.

YOU MUST READ THIS ABOUT US AIRWAYS BAGGAGE RULE

New – pay for checked bags when you check in online

Beginning July 9, 2009, customers will be able to pay for checked bags when they check in online – $15 for their first checked bag and $25 for their second. For customers who choose to pay for checked bags at the airport, there will be an additional $5 service fee, so make sure your customers know to check in online!

Remember, Dividend Miles Preferred members are exempt from checked bag fees. Also, if you booked your flight before April 23, 2009, fees will stay the same for you.

Read all our baggage policies

Everywhere a sign: Obey or ignore at your own peril

by Laura Townsend Elion
Like most folks of my generation I am much more traveled than my parents. My children, with many years left to catch up, will be marathoners compared to me. So maybe it’s no surprise that as we take airplane travel and the wonders of flight for granted, we have begun to be a bit more blithe about common sense security procedures; and unlike a previous column, I’m not referring to the TSA.

Most folks by now have realized those signs really mean it when they instruct not to alter, destroy or disable a smoke detector in an airplane lavatory. Do it and get a fast pass through the terminal when you land (after the shrill alarm you immediately endure). Besides, given how careless some smokers are, do you want them to be able to toss a butt into the trash or hide it while possibly still smoldering, to avoid detection?

The Miracle on the Hudson now has a lot of us formerly passengers paying extra attention to the emergency exits and the placards detailing the procedures for a water landing. For the first time in years I sat on a flight recently where a seatmate asked where the life jackets were stored.

Then this week comes the scariest story of them all. A woman on a Continental flight to Houston left the plane possibly paralyzed due to turbulence. When was the last time you heeded the instruction to remain seated with your seatbelt on whenever the seatbelt sign was illuminated? Free to move about the cabin seems to most to be an inalienable right. Maybe not from now on.

According to reports, the 47-year-old woman hit her head on the ceiling when the plane suddenly dropped. She was either in, or exiting, the lavatory. So far, it hasn’t been disclosed if she willfully ignored a warning to stay belted – or if she had left her seat before the warning sign was turned on. The episode also sent one other passenger and a crew member to the hospital. They have both subsequently been discharged.

The unidentified passenger in the lavatory, who broke her neck and back, remains hospitalized after two emergency surgeries to restore movement and sensation. Doctors are cautiously optimistic and say she is regaining some feeling in her toes. Originally paralyzed from the chest down, she has endured a total of 11 hours of surgery already. Probably not her original plans for a touchdown in Houston. At least not all her luck was bad, a physician who happened to be on the flight made sure she wasn’t moved until the paramedics came on board.

So, the lesson I’m taking away from this is that no matter how many miles I’ve flown, or how amusing the Southwest safety spiel is, I think I’ll listen to any advice they can give me. My life, or quality of life, may depend on it.

New Baggage Fees

US Airways announced yesterday it will charge an additional $5 per bag when the fee is paid at the airport. If paid online the fee remains at $15 for the first bag and $25 for the second bag. The fee applies to all flights within the US and to and from Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Alaska/Horizon announced it would initiate a fee of $15 for the first checked bag but it would include a guarantee. If the customer's checked baggage is not at baggage claim 25 minutes after the flight parks at the gate, the customer will receive 2,500 miles or a voucher for $25 off a future flight. The fee will not apply to intra-Alaska Travel, Premium loyalty members and those flying to Mexico City or Guadalajara. The fee for the second bag remains at $25 while a third bag will drop to $50, down from $100. 


Loss-ravaged Delta adds checked bag fee for international passengers

by Ned Levi
Delta Air Lines released its first quarter financial results today. In Delta’s press release they said, Despite the worst economic recession in our lifetime, the fundamental strength of Delta’s business allowed us to deliver breakeven results this quarter, excluding fuel hedge losses and special items.

Of course, what that opening doesn’t tell you is that Delta had $684 million in realized fuel hedge losses, and that overall they lost an astounding $794 million, almost $0.8 billion, in just one quarter. You’ve got that right, the bottom line is Delta lost just $206 million short of $1 Billion in just 3 short months.

Buried in Delta’s press release, in the section entitled, Response to Global Recession is this statement.

In response to the global recession, Delta is implementing the following initiatives in 2009 to increase revenues … Effective today, for international travel beginning July 1, Delta will charge customers a $50 fee to check a second bag, which the company expects to generate more than $100 million annually… So, effective immediately, Delta is charging $50 for your second checked-in bag for all international travel, for flights on or after July 1st, regardless if you’d already purchased a ticket for flights after July 1st. That’s right, $50 for the second checked-in bag next time you fly outside the US. That fee is double what Delta charges for domestic flights.

International travel from the US is down. Airlines have significantly reduced the number of daily international flight seats. In better times, international flights are big contributors to the airlines’ bottom line.

In these troubled times, is it just me, or do you think this $100 round-trip fee, on passengers taking long trips abroad who need an extra bag, might be driven away to other airlines?

Then, when the global recession recedes, is this new fee going to help Delta compete with the other airlines for the lucrative international traveler?

Los Angeles World Airports is eager to help travel agents

Los Angeles World Airports is eager to help travel agents speed their clients through LAX. Among the FREE resources available are their guides "All About LAX" and "Smart Traveler" (available in several languages) and the clear plastic PSA-compliant pouches for metallic items, liquids and gels. Call 424-646-5260 or check lawa.aero

Hope everyone is well.....take care,  Adios (with a Castilian lisp) Liliana

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