Tom sorry I gave the wrong example thats a US firm quite different than Ryan Air or Wizz Air who if you do a search have nothing but bad reviews.
To be truthful the lowest cost airline I took had been Southwest . Not traveling by airline very often, I did not realize that SW was a somewhat low cost carrier until we departed on an early morning flight with one stop at Baltimore. Waiting for breakfast to be served I got a bag of peanuts. Meanwhile the newly arrived passengers opened up their Mc breakfasts and all I could do was salivate while waiting for the flight to land 4 hrs later.
In that case I did not observe that breakfast was not included, even if you paid extra for it. So I had no complaints to the airline because it was transparent what I was getting for my money. I just didnt pay attention.
Achim actually the market wants it for free and so do I. But is that realistic? I think not. Its all about being transparent. Thats all I ask. This way the consumer can make an educated choice.
For once I believe in some regulation to control the sales departments marketing gimmicks from getting in the way of transparency.
In the end they will all be like Easyjet
I hope so, because I find their fares more transparent than most legacy carriers, and their seats, while older, more comfortable than Swiss new A330 seats, which require a tapered backside to fit in
Just because Low cost carriers are doing it dosent mean a National carrier should.
The distinction no longer exists. The “national carriers” have adopted the low-lost carrier price model and the “low-cost” carriers are starting to provide long distance service. It’s already common in Asia and now RyanAir/Easyjet are gearing up as well. Lufthansa is moving the majority of its connections to a low-cost subsidiary — the reason of the frequent strikes at the moment.
In the end they will all be like Easyjet. It’s what the market wants.
Sorry but if your not up front with your fees than there certainly is a reason to complain. Just because Low cost carriers are doing it dosent mean a National carrier should. By the way I didnt pay a low cost carrier fee. So I didnt expect this kind of Shenanigans. The reason I dont fly on Ryan or Wizz or whatever other cheapo airline there is, is because I did do my research and have found those carriers customer service is abominable/abysmal. Take your pick.
If people let themselves be the victim, without pushing back, then you will have reason not to complain. Whats to stop them there, if they know people are going to roll over and let themselves be abused?
We’re not in the 1990s anymore with a few booking classes and fixed fare prices. Nowadays we have daily fare prices based on yield management and when you rebook, you have to pay a rebooking fee plus the difference in fare price. That is just the way it is, thanks to the low-cost carriers that have changed the price models. The traditional carriers have all followed.
I don’t think there is much to complain about.
Dublin I have to correct you. I booked economy basic. If you go onto the web site it will show what each class has and you can compare.
1. Economy Premium you can rebook for 190Euro but you cant cancel. Good news is you get 2 bags to check.
2 Economy Flex there is no rebooking fee or cancellation fee.
3.Economy Basic Plus allows you to rebook for 130Euros and for 190Euros you can cancel the flight and get your money back.
4.In basic (my flight), you cant cancel without loosing the ticket but you can rebook for 130Euros..
So I just did a ticket search and nowhere does it tell you that there are other classes of Basic-basic or which class of basic-basic you are in. I didnt go up to the point of giving my credit card just in case.
I do have to say that this leaves a bitter taste and that we all have to be more careful when dealing with the airlines EVEN Lufthansa.
Peter is right this is a fine example of why we should fly GA. I will continue to fly to Augsburg from Tokol and back even though it costs me more than $1000 R/T in fuel and fees.to include parking. Just to be transparent. Of course flying the Atlantic is a different story. I hope there is another airline that values their reputation.
If you want more flexibility, you have to buy one of those flexible tickets which cost a lot more.
But he did buy one of the more expensive flexible tickets.
Dublinp. I understand your point. But giving them all the info I thought would be best since they have to respond to all my points. Im sure it will take a few back and forths.
Well why on earth would you book the cheapest flight that has a rebooking fee so that you can change the date and add 130Euro onto it when you could get the same dates for the same low price? How do I know? Because I had researched the return date for the following week and it was the same price for the basic ticket. I wanted to get back the 25th of March but if I had to stay a 130E rebooking fee for the following week was acceptable.
Here is what the rep told me why the subcategories were not listed on the computer the same way the two other Coach categories Premium and Fex are. She said making those other 4 categories transparent as in listing them side by side to the Premium and Flex would just confuse the potential traveler by giving them too many choices.
Oh I see Im smart enough to allow the airlines to not have to pay travel agents by making reservations self service but not smart enough to figure out what the best deal would be for me once I have ALL the facts.
