So I went to check in online, and it asked me to check some boxes for what luggage I wanted to bring on board. I did, and it told me that to carry on both a backpack and a roller bag it’ll be $45, or $65 if I try to play games and they have to check stuff at the gate.
I said fuck that, and unchecked some boxes. It said I couldn’t check in without putting a credit card on file, that they would charge if there were any issues and they wound up needing to charge me for my luggage. It wouldn’t let me continue without putting a credit card on file and checking a box that said they could charge me for my luggage, if they felt it was excessive.
I said fuck that and decided to check in at the airport. I threw all my stuff in a backpack to remove any wiggle room, and the kiosk said the same thing. I talked to one of the people, and she said it’s a new policy. I pointed out that I paid for my ticket, she could see I had only a backpack, and I wanted to get in the airplane. She told me to go talk to the guy at the end.
I talked to the guy at the end, politely, and eventually he printed a boarding pass for me. But you should know they’re up to some bullshit.
It’s basic economics in its ugly application.
Usually, the people who are buying stuff come in different tiers: The people who want to pay the least at all cost, people who are careless enough to get fleeced out of a few dollars for the same crappy product if paying less is difficult, and people who are willing to pay a premium for really good stuff. There’s an art to structuring your service to catch all of the tiers, and make sure that they’re all going to pay the highest price they will accept, and I think “basic economy” is a new technological development in drawing a more effective distinction between tiers 1 and 2.
What makes it ugly is that they’re designing deliberately punitive features into the service to push people up into tier 2 who would otherwise be going on Kayak and just clicking the “cheapest” button. If you have any willingness to pay $40 more, they want it. They’re going to put you to the test a little bit, to make sure that you’re committed to the lowest price, and then if so they’re going to punish you a little for it, while still taking your money.
American and United are now both on the no-fly list for me, I think. I may have to see what airlines are decent, when you fly them one tier up.