Why, I ask again, would anyone in their right mind want to fly a commercial airline?
Two things to know about me: 1) I’m fairly cheap about air travel. I hate the idea of paying to sit at the pointy end of the plane (other people, though, are welcome to pay for me; and in the case of speeches, etc. they’re actually obligated to…) and I can fold myself up into an aisle seat in coach without too much trouble. And 2) I’ve always assumed that air travel taxes and fees are high, but that some law of physics commanded that they could never be higher than the cost of the ticket itself.
I was wrong. Checking out flights on kayak.com to London and back next month, I was directed to Orbitz.com where I came across this odd bit of economic distortion. Cost of ticket: $270.00. Taxes and fees: $441.00.
What follows is a small mountain of government and “other authority” fees and charges that, if I didn’t know better, were designed to drive people away from flying and to the far more dangerous highways. Why do we accept “U.S. or International Departure and Arrival Charges” that can almost double the price of a ticket, especially when those charges tell us nothing about who will get out money and for what purpose?
The abuse can’t go on much longer without a serious revolution. If you’re not getting felt-up by a TSA agent, crammed into a seat far too small for be comfortable for anyone but a Chinese Olympic Gymnast, or held captive in a stuffy tin can for hours for reasons you will never know, you’re being gouged for every single penny in your pocket. That’s not flying, folks. That’s a frat hazing and, at some point, it’s going to have to stop. We can begin by prying the hand of Big Momma Government out of our pockets when we pony up for a ticket.
Tags: Big Government
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jimmie, John Brodigan. John Brodigan said: RT @jimmiebjr: New Post: The Revolution Will Not Be Shown on Your In-Flight Movie http://bit.ly/hB5cNZ [...]
Aren't you more concerned about porn scanners and having your private areas touched by TSA agents? I think that takes priority which is why we no longer fly.
I did mention that as a contributing factor.
Totally agree. Last year R/T from MSP to MNL on NWA was $1000 total. This year with Delta, the same flight is $1500. That is 50% increase in one year. I won't be spending any money on flying until prices are reasonable and TSA gets their hands out of my pants.