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With the recent turmoil and issues about overbooking, do you think the airlines will raise prices and change policies that will impact your ability to fly to a port?
Overbooking has allowed airlines to eliminate flying "empty" and in turn reduce prices albeit consequences can and do occur. I fear a huge price hike is forthcoming as they "fix" some of these issues.
Flying is the fastest way for get from Point A to Point B. The airlines know this, and they know you'll pay what you have to get there. Overbooking keeps their pockets full, while they're emptying ours.
I have offered to be bumped when it wasn't important to be at my destination at a specific time. Once someone is seated in a seat, he should not be forced out of his seat. This actually did happen to me once. Two of us had the same seat assignment. I was offered a first class ticket on a plane leaving in less than two hours later & I took it. No one should be dragged off the plane as that passenger was on United.
Do I think fares will go up? Probably. They go up anyway. If you go to the theater, buy a ticket & sit in your seat, do you think that you should be pulled out of your seat/ No, neither should you on a plane, no matter how low a fare that you found or how late you purchased your ticket. It should all have been settled before boarding.
Well said! I especially like the sentence, "It should have been settled before boarding".
I have offered to be bumped when it wasn't important to be at my destination at a specific time. Once someone is seated in a seat, he should not be forced out of his seat. This actually did happen to me once. Two of us had the same seat assignment. I was offered a first class ticket on a plane leaving in less than two hours later & I took it. No one should be dragged off the plane as that passenger was on United.
Do I think fares will go up? Probably. They go up anyway. If you go to the theater, buy a ticket & sit in your seat, do you think that you should be pulled out of your seat/ No, neither should you on a plane, no matter how low a fare that you found or how late you purchased your ticket. It should all have been settled before boarding.
Flying from Canada, I have not run into any problems. The only time we had any issue was returning from Hawaii, But we got a nice dinner and a hotel room for that mess up.
Good point ... first come first served ...wonder if they ever looked at that?
When we have flown to a cruise port, we have not been inclined to give up our seat for an overbooking... but coming home is another matter. My thought is that if someone needs to be "kicked off" it should be the last one that bought a ticket. If I bought my ticket 6 months before in order to get a seat on a flight, I'd be mightly upset to be bumped. There are not a lot of options for those who live far from any destination.
I think the current attention on overbooking that affects United will fix these issues. Unfortunately, overzealousness won out over common sense in the current hot case.
In any case, we were never bumped in the years when both of us were frequent flyers. A couple times, we volunteered to be re-accomodated. We made out pretty well experiencing minor inconveniences.
Fewer airlines => less choices => higher prices. Supply & demand. One of two laws that are never broken, the other being the Law of Gravity.
We mostly fly WestJet and they don't overbook flights originating in Canada, so we likely won't be impacted at all. Now, if the airlines could just find a way to not lose or damage luggage, I'd be a really happy customer.
As an airline employee it does distress me to see how mine and other airlines are making things more and more uncomfortable for the passengers before and after boarding, also passing things onto the passengers (like checking in their own bags), and raising prices.
I don't think there will be a huge price hike, but I do think there will be a rise.
But doesn't seem to matter, the people keep on coming and because of that the airlines won't be changing for the better.
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