Air Canada adds $120 fuel "surcharge". Where is the government?

[Ben Kenobi]

It's a mistake for the industry, but once one makes the move the others need to follow in lock-step or risk appearing uncompetitive. When the "low-cost carrier" has higher "airfares" than Air Canada, that tarnishes their image of being the cheaper airline even if it's still cheaper once you actually take into account random fees/surcharges.

As opposed to tacking on hidden fees? I'm sorry, the whole point of flying "no frills" is that all the costs are upfront, none of the bull**** that Air Canada pulls.

They should have simply raised the seat price. People know that Air Canada is lying outright, and they will find that out the first time they fly Air Canada and get sticker shock.

I'm sorry Asher. This move might keep them superficially competitive, but hurts them badly with their long-term customers. I assure you there will be a few calls to their management over the next while.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
As opposed to tacking on hidden fees? I'm sorry, the whole point of flying "no frills" is that all the costs are upfront, none of the bull**** that Air Canada pulls.

No, the point of no frills is to keep costs down. Costs have never been fully upfront on Westjet either. Have you ever flown to Toronto? The landing fees in Toronto are literally the most expensive in the world. They're one of the many hidden fees on Westjet as well.

They should have simply raised the seat price.

No one is arguing this point with you. This is my point as well.

People know that Air Canada is lying outright, and they will find that out the first time they fly Air Canada and get sticker shock.

No, not everyone will know that and no, not everyone comparison shops when they should. Especially out here in the east, some people only fly Air Canada because they always have, always will. Others will just see the ads in the paper, go to the one with the lowest "airfare", and then shrug as all of the exorbitant extra fees get added because we're used to that happening already...

I'm sorry Asher. This move might keep them superficially competitive, but hurts them badly with their long-term customers. I assure you there will be a few calls to their management over the next while.

I HATE this move. The whole point of this thread is me *****ing about how much I hate it.

The thing is I understand business far better than you do. This is why I predicted WestJet would do the same with Air Canada, and they did. This isn't going anywhere until the government levels the playing field.

WestJet stands to lose more from losing their image as the cheapest airline in public perception than it does from joining the rest of the airlines in Canada in adding a fuel surcharge. Remember, there are already surcharges...this isn't new, it's just more.

[Ben Kenobi]

No, the point of no frills is to keep costs down. Costs have never been fully upfront on Westjet either. Have you ever flown to Toronto? The landing fees in Toronto are literally the most expensive in the world. They're one of the many hidden fees on Westjet as well.

Yes, in fact I even flew to Hamilton and had a friend pick me up there rather then fly Air Canada. The landing fees are a little bit cheaper then driving to hamilton and back, but not much.

No one is arguing this point with you. This is my point as well.

Cool. Something we can agree upon.

No, not everyone will know that and no, not everyone comparison shops when they should. Especially out here in the east, some people only fly Air Canada because they always have, always will. Others will just see the ads in the paper, go to the one with the lowest "airfare", and then shrug as all of the exorbitant extra fees get added because we're used to that happening already...

I agree, but the portion of those who would consider flying WestJet, this isn't really their target market. Their target market has always been those disgruntled customers of Air Canada.

The thing is I understand business far better than you do. This is why I predicted WestJet would do the same with Air Canada, and they did. This isn't going anywhere until the government levels the playing field.

Well, why would the government intervene now? Status quo is everyone is on the fuel surcharge bandwagon. Say WestJet complained that the surcharges ought to be represented in the advertisements, they would have had a serious case. Second option would be to lower fees to match Air Canada, and then complain to the government to fix it so that the surcharges were listed in the advertisements.

WestJet stands to lose more from losing their image as the cheapest airline in public perception than it does from joining the rest of the airlines in Canada in adding a fuel surcharge. Remember, there are already surcharges...this isn't new, it's just more.

Yes, but transparency is important too. I think it's more important that WestJet be transparent about their expenses, because how can I believe that they are the cheaper one if they have the same hidden costs that Air Canada does?

The low sticker only means something if it actually translates to real savings. Otherwise the customers will treat the lower price with skepticism.

[Spec]

Maybe I should have read the whole thread but after 10 posts all I could see is that no-one understands what fuel surcharge is.

Its very very common in commercial transport. We pay from 9% to 19.9% fuel surcharge on every carrier bill we get, depending on the market value of gas....but I never thought they would implement it in personnal market.

Spec.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Spec
Maybe I should have read the whole thread but after 10 posts all I could see is that no-one understands what fuel surcharge is.

Its very very common in commercial transport....but I never thought they would implement it in personnal market.

Spec.

I think we all understand what it is, Spec, the problem is it's misleading how they're implementing it.

[Spec]

They should just raise the prices so that customers dont see the "Fuel surcharge" charge for whatever reason. Poeple are too ill-informed to understand it clearly instead, they see it as a crock.

And I dont see why they didn't do as I mentionned since airplane fares vary for one week to another.

Spec.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Spec
They should just raise the prices so that customers dont see the "Fuel surcharge" charge for whatever reason. Poeple are too ill-informed to understand it clearly instead, they see it as a crock.

And I dont see why they didn't do as I mentionned since airplane fares vary for one week to another.

Spec.

This is the point we've pretty much all been saying.

[Spec]

DP

[Spec]

Originally posted by Spec
Maybe I should have read the whole thread....

...But I'm too lazy.

Spec.

[Asher]

http://www.theonion.com/content/infograph/american_to_charge_for_first

American Airlines announced that they would be charging $15 for a customer's first checked bag. What new revenue streams are the other airlines implementing?

United—$25 seatbelt rental fee for passengers who didn't bring their own

Midwest—$35 to sit in the passenger compartment

JetBlue—New fee structure for wait times on runway: $150 for under 2 hours, $75 for under 4 hours, etc.

Frontier Airlines—$20 penalty if passenger is not wearing coonskin cap

Continental—$100 reduced-fare tickets for standing-room-only passengers

Southwest—Ten bucks to touch the captain

Virgin—$30 fee for booking a flight with another carrier

Delta—$50 to chip in for gas