An ABC report, says that while airlines are struggling to attract customers in this current downturn, by offering heavily discounted flights, they're catching up the shortfall elsewhere, with in some cases, increases in fees and charges.
A musician who regularly tours Australia says he's had a ten-fold increase in his excess baggage costs from Sydney to Perth, with Peter Combe, a popular children's singer/songwriter who makes around 25 trips around the country a year to perform his hits, saying he got a nasty shock on his most recent trip to Perth.
“I take a guitar, my keyboard player takes two keyboards, a keyboard stand, and of course just personal luggage.” “So that's pretty minimal stuff, that's barely half a band.” “The cost this time of going to Perth, rather than somewhere between $40 and $80, was $800. So that's on my maths is a 1000 per cent rise.”
“I understood that Qantas going through a difficult time like all companies all over the world were.” “But to actually penalise musicians by this much was getting close to making it unviable to tour.”
A spokeswoman for Qantas told the ABC that the airline is introducing the new fee structure "to align its domestic and international allowances and provide greater consistency for customers, particularly in relation to other airlines."
Domestic travellers are now charged $10 for each kilogram over 23 kilos, but in the past passengers could take 32 kilos for free, but it is even worse for international travellers who now face a $50 fee for each extra kilo over the limit, although the good news for international Qantas passengers is that their baggage allowance has increased by three kilos to 23 kilograms, regardless of the number of bags.
Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn says all airlines are now enforcing their excess baggage costs - where they once turned a blind eye saying, “As the cold winds of the downturn have blown through this industry, they're seeking to charge more for luggage.” “In fact with all the domestic carriers here; Virgin Blue, Jetstar, Tiger, Qantas, they all have different systems about what you can carry for free.
“So the take home message is that we actually need to be perhaps a little more light-handed in what we're actually carrying with us on airlines as check baggage because the costs of doing so are going to be pretty high.”
“Especially if you think you've got a $50 ticket between capital cities and your check baggage, if you haven't actually informed them you're going to be carrying any, it might cost you $40.”
Aviation writer Tom Ballantyne from the Orient Aviation magazine says airlines are struggling to make any money in this current economic climate and that they are doing all they can to look for other revenue streams, adding, “Subsidiary earnings from additional things that they do have always also been an important part of what an airline does apart from the passenger paying for a ticket.”
“A lot of mainline major airlines nowadays are starting to do things that were only associated previously with low cost carriers, like paying additional money for a particular seat on the aircraft for instance, even paying for some food.”
“Big airlines are starting to do these things because it's so hard for them, these days to make money.” “And passengers want cheap deals and they're getting cheap deals at the moment, they're getting ticket prices at the moment which are lower than they have ever been and they want more.” “Airlines can't fly people around the world for nothing; they have to make their money somewhere.”
From E-Travel Blackboard
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