United is charging $25.00 for a second checked bag

[claassenam]

Hi Travelfan and Curtiejoe,

Although I suppose it is off topic for this particular thread am interested to hear the debate over Ryanair and other similar low-cost carriers. I was debating using them for an upcoming European trip but I just can't get over the feeling that something in their (and others') safety standards must be lagging in order to make up for the extraordinarily low prices! With today's fuel costs, I just don't understand how they can operate at that level. I'm a nervous flier as it is, so I'm choosing to take the train instead since, as you pointed out Curtiejoe, the big-name carriers are very expensive for what turns out to be a one hour flight.

Regarding the falling dollar, again probably not a topic we should get into too much in this forum. I did want to point out Curtiejoe, that the value of the US dollar is one effect not tied to Bush's spending of trillions on the war. His administration may be at fault for not addressing the problem earlier and attempting to correct the balance, but the cause in fact began with the Clinton administration's pushing a high-dollar policy and relying very heavily on foreign manufacturing and investments. Although we here who enjoy traveling to other countries may be feeling the "pinch" quite a bit as the dollar falls, many economists will say that it is a long-term good thing for America as it causes us to rely less on foreign imports and manufacturing. Much like the mortgage industry's huge run-up in low-cost but high-risk loans over the past decade, the high-value dollar made Americans feel "richer" than they really were. I say this not as a supporter of Bush, frankly I can't wait to get the next President in office, but I don't really like it when people jump to conclusions about the policies of the US government without having a clear overall picture. The falling dollar is a huge and complicated economic process going back long before the war and is really necessarily related.

[curtiejoe]

Hi claasenam



I read your latest post with interest. First, you and everyone else who flies needs to chose an airline that they feel safe and secury with. One's peace of mind is priceless. Before I decided to fly Ryan Air, I carefully reviewd the safety records of all airlines that fly in Europe. When I found that Ryan actually has one of the best safety and punctuality records of all operators in Europe, I felt very comfortable choosing them. My own flight experiences onboard Ryan's planes confirmed things. So, I would not hesitate to use them again. Secondly, I'm sorry that you feel I jumped to conclusions in my comments on the current state of the American dollar. In fact, I have been following very closely the currency markets around the world on a daily basis over the past 40 years. As an avid investor since 1965, I've made it a point to keep very well informed about all of the leading stock exchanges in the world, the economic and financial policies of every U.S. governmentsince JFK and Lyndon Johnson, the practices and procedures of the American Federal Reserve System from the days of double-digit inflation in the 1970s when then Fed Chairman Paul Volcker initiated a national monetary policy of "targeting" money aggregates and bank reserves under the administration of President Jimmy Carter, through the halcyon days (in the late 1980s and until early 2006) of Chairman Alan Greenspan, and most recently the monetary policies of the Boatd of Governors of the American Central Banking System (The Fed) chaired now by Ben Bernanke and their whirlwind cuts in interest rates and infusion of massive amounts of federal funds into the American economy in order to mitigate the financial problems now facing the United States. I hope this post has given you a sense that my earlier, much shorter and simpler, comments were not based on ignorance of the 'overall picture' of American politics, fiscal policy, and economic fundamentals. Rather, those somewhat glib comments were made in haste and without due concern for Americans, who have a deeper, directand more comprehensive knowledge of these inter-related matters.

Curt




Message Edited by curtiejoe on 03-28-2008 03:50 PM

Message Edited by curtiejoe on 03-28-2008 04:04 PM

[travel2fun]

curtiejoe and claasenam, why not take this discussion to PMs?

[claassenam]

Good idea T2F!

[omegaet]

Hi everyone, nice to be back in the country and thecommunity. As I am often reminded at my house:



Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind dont matter and those who matter dont mind

Dr. Seuss

[claassenam]

Back to United's fees and Ryanair...

I am in the camp with many here who think it's great that they are charging more per bag, I think people definitely overpack, and if your bag is overweight, well, that's more expensive fuel that has to be purchased by the airline. I'm not the greatest of packers (and I definitely load up on souvenirs by the time I'm flying home from somewhere) and I may grumble and moan when the time comes to pay that excess baggage fee, but I feel like it is a valid charge. Now, as humans get bigger and bigger and fatter and fatter, we may have a different problem!

On the other hand, I think that the same goes for carry-on baggage, and I really hope that these policies don't encourage more and more ridiculously-sized bags to be carried on-board planes. The US airlines don't seem to police carry-on baggage policies as much as they threaten, and I can never get over the kinds of things that people bring onto the flight and then attempt to stuff into the little overhead bins. Meanwhile, there will be a long line of people waiting behind them in the little tiny aisles as the bags are stuffed (sometimes unsuccessfully) or unstuffed.

These new policies also encourage loyalty towards one airline (another reason why this benefited United and others to create the policy), and I am a big fan of airline loyalty in terms of overall benefits. As stated before, the baggage policy does not apply to those who are members of United's Premier and higher Mileage Plus program, as well as First and Business class ticket holders. I can see how United is not the best airline overall in terms of customer service, comfort, etc. - when you are a every-once-in-a-while passenger. But once you attain Premier status (25,000 miles in one year) or a higher category - life on United planes gets much better. You can sit in Economy Plus, where the seats are 6" further apart, and that makes a huge difference. You can start earning upgrades to get you out of the back-of-the-bus. You can often qualify for quicker lines at the airport in both ticketing and security, you can call a dedicated customer service line where the agents actually seem to know what they are doing, the benefits go on and on...I'd much rather pay a little more to fly United and have those benefits than go back to being back-of-the-bus on American, etc. In the end, most of the US airlines are similarly dismal but if you are loyal to one airline you can really benefit. I'm sure that those who are loyal to American, Continental, etc. feel the same way and in the end it looks like all of the airlines will be adopting this baggage policy.

Regarding the European low-cost airlines, I agree Curtiejoe that Ryanair, being a large company, is up-to-par safety-wise, I just don't know how they do it! I was looking into a much smaller low-cost airline to fly from Prague to Budapest recently and although their safety reports were fine, other reports show complete non-professionalism in regards to cancellations, airport ticketing, really just overall airline demeanor. It sounded more like a bus company than an airline, and frankly that scares me! Again, I am sure that RyanAir is far superior to this particular airline, but my research turned me off the low-cost airline thing for a while. At some point, I will be my only way to get from point A to point B and I'll have to suck it up and fly with them, and I'm sure it will be fine. I don't know why I'm scared, I've taken plenty of smaller airlines within Asia, India and Africa, but as they were all booked through travel agents I guess I was never faced with just how "low-cost" they were!

[jashermd]

Hello,

At least in the UK, the airlines are pretty strict about carry-on weight limits (which has often been a problem for me when I'm going on safari, as I have a lot of delicate camera gear which needs to be carried on).

I never fly budget carriers like Ryanair when I'm on business as in my experience they have a tendency to cancel flights at the drop of a hat, normally because the flight has been judged to be too empty to be profitable. They normally don't bother to tell you until you get to the airport -- although they will get you where you were going, you're normally delayed by an hour or two which can be a disaster if you have a connection to make or a meeting to attend on the other end. For this reason I wouldn't recommend using one of their flights to connect to your international flight.

On the other hand, for cheap weekends away they're a great bargain. You basically pay for (and get) a coach with wings -- seats are tiny, service and in-flight entertainment are pretty non-existent, and the airports are often only nominally near the city you want to go to (my flight to Venice being a case in point) -- but they get you there at a bargain rate that's hard to argue with. You do need to watch out for the various surcharges but you can get a great deal.

Cheers,
Julian




Message Edited by jashermd on 03-28-2008 10:09 PM

[curtiejoe]

Hi travel2fun



A very good idea. Thanks. Should have thought of it earlier.



Curt

[lhbrown]

Hi claassenam,
Ryan Air is fine if you are not bound by a tight return schedule to the US. I think I already reported once that 4 family members of mine got stranded in Venice by RyanAir missing their return flight from Paris the next day and wound up buying tickets to return home from Venice to Washington, DC on AlItalia to the tune of 800 Euros each. All other times I have flown RyanAir, they were on time, the price was ridiculously low $100 roundtrip Paris to Bergamo/Milan for two passengers. I don't know of any well known airline (US and Europe) who can match that. However, by charging 26 Euros per 15 kg bag per passenger, the baggage charge becomes almost larger than the original flight cost.
Another fine small airline we discovered is AirBerlin.com which also offers low cost flights, charges no baggage fee yet, allows 20 kg of baggage, offers free on-board newspapers and magazines, free food and drinks and has the newest fleet of them all. We recently used them for our flight Paris - Budapest and Nuernberg - Paris and were more than satisfied.
We did use the train between Budapest - Prague and Prague to Nuernberg which was fine, still offering the oldfashioned compartment seating 6. We just got our credit card bill which amounted to $205.00 for two for Budapest Prague in 2nd class with reserved seats. Claassenam, I think you will enjoy the traintrip Prague to Budapest, just bring a good book or read up on your travel material for Budapest since the train takes about 7 hours. There is a dining car if you are interested. But you can also ask your hotel to prepare a breakfast/lunch package (free of charge) in case you have an early train. The hotel will be happy to do so we found. The hotel breakfast/lunch package will be far superior and cheaper to what you can get on the train.
Happy travels!!!

[curtiejoe]

Hi claasenam



One more point about Ryan Air. While this discount carrier is by no means everyone's cup of tea nor the most marvellous airline by a long shot (there are lots of stories about their short-comings in the press and on the Internet), the fact that they've been in business in Europe for over 30 years speaks volumes. From a tiny, fledgeling upstart operation that started out doing one local route in Ireland when Aer Lingus (the government-owned national airline that had a monopoly on air ttavel on the Emereld Isle) ruked the Irish skies, Ryan has grown into the biggest (by volume of traffic) discount airline in Europe today. To me, and many others who've flown them in Europe for next to nothing, this airline is a breath of fresh air. Like Southwest Airlines in the USA, Ryan has challenged the "Big Guns" and proven that people can fly safely without having to pay through the nose to get from place to place. Enough said.



Curt