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1. Understanding the Cost of Your Ticket
2. Baggage Handling Options
3. Tips for Booking the Lowest Fares
4. Layers of Security
5. US Department of Transportation Issued Recommendations for
Extended Tarmac Delays
6. The Smart Way to Cut Travel Costs
7. How Consumers View Airline Fees and Bag Policies
1. Understanding the Cost of Your Ticket
Dissecting the cost of rising airline fares is no easy task. To interpret your ticket’s price, take a glance at the following list which explains what you’re paying in the price of your airline ticket.
Fuel Surcharge: Most airlines and cruise lines are locked into long term contracts for fuel. To calculate extra costs, they use a fuel index, usually based on markets world wide. On some competitive routes like JFK-London, additional fuel costs can be more than the actual ticket. Fuel surcharges by law must be included in your trip price.
Airline Ticket Taxes: The odd extra amount on an airline ticket is a total of various taxes levied by government authorities. These taxes pay part of the FAA and overseas government air budgets, are used for airport improvements, security fees, passenger and baggage screening etc.
Credit Card Costs: Companies that accept credit cards pay a percentage of each sale to the credit card company. Credit cards with benefits like frequent flyer miles cost the vendor a higher fee.
Deviation Fees: If you are flying on a group airfare and wish a change from the routing, the airline charges to compensate for individual ticket work.
Stop Over Fees: If you have a connecting flight and wish to stop over for a night internationally, or more than 4 hours domestically, you pay this fee. And you will pay additional taxes because of it since you have used airline airport facilities twice.
Handling fees: Fees charged by the tour operator for overnight-mailing, facilitating visas and other non trip expenses. These can be high if your last minute booking requires telephoning and bank wiring.
Classes of Service on Airline Tickets: The number of seats in each fare class on a flight is restricted by the airline. Booking late will result in paying a higher fare while sitting next to someone who booked early and paid less.
Currency surcharges: Some fees and taxes are charged by airlines in other currencies. As currencies fluctuate these costs change almost daily.
Re-Booking Fees: Many times, if you cancel and re-book your airline ticket, cruise or hotel, you will have to pay again, as if your booking is totally new.
Visa fees: Certain countries require visas and charge for them. Visa companies facilitate this process and add a handling fee to their service.
2. Baggage Handling Options
As top U.S. airlines scramble to match the first checked baggage fee policies kicked off in June by American Airlines, travelers everywhere are left feeling the pinch of increased costs when traveling. Added costs to check a bag along with additional costs if the bag is over the airline weight limit can add up so travelers are looking for other options. One company available to travelers is “The Luggage Club” a specialized service for leisure and business travelers that offers door-to-door baggage and goods delivery. Using this type of service helps to reduce the risk of baggage delays, lost luggage and even helps to reduce the time in check-in lines at the airport. The Luggage Club will pick up the luggage at the customer’s location of choice, transport the luggage and deliver it to your final destination. The Luggage Club has no limits on size, weight or number of pieces that can be shipped, and services are available throughout 220 countries and territories worldwide. When consumers ship luggage with a service like The Luggage Club, the cost per bag decreases as bags are added to the order, unlike airline polices that sanction more fees as bags are added.
3. Tips for Booking the Lowest Fares
Book early, be flexible and use the airline’s pricing logic to your advantage. Because fares are based on supply and demand, ask yourself which fares have the highest demand. When do most business travelers prefer to fly? Vacationers? Which airports do they use? Then avoid those situations. Fly in the middle. Search for fares in the middle of the day, the middle of the week, the middle of weekend. Most business travelers depart on a Monday morning and return on a Friday evening. Start with a broad time window and be flexible. Still be open to the occasional anomaly: a cheap fare on Friday night, for instance. Accept multiple legs. If you favor price, let the airlines shuttle you about the country in their low-demand, available seats (if you can still find a seat) just bring snacks. Book early, buying 21 days in advance doesn’t guarantee the best advance fare. Airlines set aside a certain number of discount seats many months ahead. If someone buys one, not only is it gone, but other fares on the flight can increase, based on a new supply-and-demand model. This can happen instantaneously. Check alternate airports. Some low-fare airlines fly point-to-point at smaller airports.
4. Layers of Security
Airport passengers may not be familiar with one of the newest enhancements to aviation security. Roving patrols of Transportation Security Officers screening employees on the secure side of the airport. The program deploys officers anywhere, anytime to inspect workers, their property and vehicles. These officers ensure workers follow proper procedures, display proper credentials and do not possess items unrelated to their work. Anyone accessing sterile and secure areas of an airport can expect that they could be screened at any time. Outside the airport, random inspections include scrutinizing delivery trucks or personal vehicles at access gates. Inside the airport, roving patrols screen workers and examine property for threat items. Temporary checkpoints are also created beyond access points to ensure access protocols are followed and workers are screened before entering the terminal. Airport employees receive a security threat assessment prior to receiving credentials and access privileges. The assessment consists of a criminal history check and vetting against terrorist watch lists. These are required for airport personnel and individuals such as taxi drivers, parking lot attendants, vendors and shuttle bus drivers who have identification issued by the airport.
5. US Department of Transportation Issued Recommendations for Extended Tarmac Delays
The US Department of Transportation task force comprising representatives from airlines, airports, consumer groups and DOT issued recommendations for treating passengers during extended tarmac delays, calling for better communication and improved preparedness to provide stranded passengers with food and water. But the nonbinding “model contingency plan,” approved by a 34-1 vote, did not include a suggested set time for returning delayed aircraft back to a gate, a provision desired by consumer advocates and some lawmakers. It also did not recommend any new regulations to govern such situations. Airlines were pleased with the report while consumer groups said it favored the industry over passengers. “Government data show that there were fewer lengthy onboard delays over the summer and customer complaints are down,” US Air Transport Assn. said. “The success of the task force clearly demonstrates that not every problem requires a new law or regulation.” The task force recommended that airlines should develop contingency plans for dealing with delays that are carefully coordinated with airports and, when an aircraft is delayed on a tarmac, should update passengers every 30 minutes and do their best to provide food, water and usable restrooms. Kate Hanni, founder of the Coalition for an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, said that the report shows “the game is still heavily weighted to business as usual,” adding that the task force did “not come up with a way to get people out of those metal tubes.” Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) derided it as “nice window dressing” that provides no “real guarantees that passengers will not be abandoned on the tarmac.”
6. The Smart Way to Cut Travel Costs
In a recent article featured in Business Travel News, TRW Consulting president Tom Wilkinson shared his view points on the smart way to cut travel costs. Click here to read his thoughts on how to address the economic downturn when it relates to travel.
7. How Consumers View Airline Fees and Bag Policies
A significant majority of flyers dislike ‘A La Carte’ fees, but more than half understand why airlines have introduced them and see value in paying only for what they want, a new survey by Amadeus North America reveals. “Flying ‘A La Carte’: Consumers Dislike Fees, But Are Willing to Pay for Choice” shows the results of a groundbreaking survey aimed at capturing how airline passengers feel about new fees. According to survey results, the majority of air travelers (85 percent) dislike paying fees for services they received free as recently as a year ago. But it is telling that many consumers (52 percent) not only understand why airlines have embraced the ‘a la carte’ approach, but they also see value in the choices it brings to the flying experience. Of the air travelers surveyed, 53 percent agree with the statement “I prefer the cheapest base ticket fare available so I can then pick and pay for extra services I want.” One in 10 say they do not mind paying for optional amenities individually. Only 18 percent prefer an all-inclusive ticket with its higher price. Less than one-third of respondents think airlines have gone too far with new fees.
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