Westjet Nickel and Diming

[Kosiw]

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet ... iness/home

[thatdaveguy]

I'm really disappointed to see this. At first I thought it wasn't a big deal but I'm not a fan of some of those things they want to change...

- The pre-selection of seats is really, really nice. I likely won't pay extra for it, though. I will be sad to see this go to a paid perk.
- Window seats only in a higher tier? Ugh...
- The lowest tier won't be refundable anymore?? UGH... I do not mind the current structure where the money would be held until another flight (as opposed to a real refund) but no refunds altogether really sucks

Fuel surcharges sucks, wonder how many years until the government gets around to making them illegal.

[Legacy]

Having seen them of the end of two runways this year the extra for the seat next to the emergency exit might be a good investment!

Is that supposed to be funny? Just curious.

[raven54]

I thought it was funny.

[CID]

Fuel surcharges sucks, wonder how many years until the government gets around to making them illegal.

On what basis would they be illegal?

[Jaques Strappe]

If the public was willing to pay for "airfare" rather than "busfare", then companies would not have to resort to finding creative ways to generate revenue. Sorry, no sympathy for people who want everything for nothing.

[North Shore]

If all of this comes to pass, one wonders what the difference will be between Westjet and Air Canada/Jazz - apart from less frequency, and all roads going through Calgary? Poor move, IMHO.

[. .]

Having seen them of the end of two runways this year the extra for the seat next to the emergency exit might be a good investment!

Is that supposed to be funny? Just curious.

yes?

[KAG]

First off, fuel has gone up…alot. You pay more at the pump for your car, bike, and boat. Stands to reason a plane will cost more to - no? Can't be avoided by anyone. As for the other changes, we shall se if they get approved, and how our quests feel about it. As it stands right now we have a first come, first serve for seat selection. We get constant complaints from quests who want to sit with family members but only show up at the gate 15 mins before departure and whine about how they can't sit with wife/husband. We try to accommodate but we won’t piss off more quests to please one who knew the rules when he/she booked. So this is actually a good thing IMHO.

As for what sets us aside from AC/Jazz…fly on us sometime. The answer will be smiling in front of you.

[co-joe]

I don't have a problem with fuel surcharges, their cost goes up and they still have a bottom line to meet. Now I just wish I could charge my employer a fuel surcharge on me showing up to work...

[Chuck Ellsworth]

I was wondering about these giant rises in the price of fuel.

As the price rises the taxes also rise in direct porportion to the rise in price.

What does the government do with that tax windfall?

[2milefinal]

...

[MrG]

As for what sets us aside from AC/Jazz…fly on us sometime. The answer will be smiling in front of you.

Is it me, or does AC's cabin crew grow more bitchy each time I fly with them?

[fanspeed]

As for what sets us aside from AC/Jazz…fly on us sometime. The answer will be smiling in front of you.

Is it me, or does AC's cabin crew grow more bitchy each time I fly with them?

I have had surprisingly great service on AC these days...not really anything to set the two carriers apart these days. (other than the color of the paint!)

[KAG]

As for what sets us aside from AC/Jazz…fly on us sometime. The answer will be smiling in front of you.

Is it me, or does AC's cabin crew grow more bitchy each time I fly with them?

Actually there getting better. Still come across alot of bitter pills, but overall, a much improved attitude over the last few years.

[kevenv]

Air Canada fees = Devil Incarnate
Westjet fees = Following industry trend

People were in an uproar when Air Canada announced a fuel surcharge. People are on this thread sticking up for Westjet? An extra fee is an extra fee, I don't care who you are or what you are adding on.
What is so difficult? Give me the "real" ticket price! You're not fooling me. Everyone knows that what you advertise as the price of a ticket is so far off the mark it is laughable!

[Doc]

I have no problem with a "user pay" system. An airline ticket SHOULD cost more than a bus ticket. Bottom line? Sometimes, the bus actually costs MORE. This is wrong. What has people pissed is the simple fact that an airline advertises one price for a ticket, then has all these cute little "extras" upon purchase. Just put them all in the price of the bloody ticket in the first place! Too simple? Guess so. Another thing that's always pissed me off, is referring to your passengers as "guests"...they are NOT guests....they are your passengers. GUESTS are people you invite over for dinner!
Of course, if I can, I'll always drive rather than fly airlines. You should be able to move about your own bloody country without showing photo ID! I mean, piss off! You think the "bad guys" don't have the best photo ID money can buy? Of course they do!

[Chuck Ellsworth]

I have no problem with a "user pay" system.

Great Doc, yesterday I got a phone call from a collection agency claiming I owe TC almost a thousand dollars for a user fee for my medicals .....

...can you pay it for me?

Thanks, ..

[shankdown]

The travelling public always seem to have the answer, don't they? However, the airlines know that they are teenagers, try to sound like they know everything when they really know nothing at all. To me, it's quite simple why the fuel comes as a surcharge, and not part of the fare.

If AC makes it part of their fare, when WestJet has is as a 'surcharge', then the travelling public will fly WestJet because when they go book online, their fares would be cheaper... even though the end result is the same money. So, they're forced to make it an additional surcharge. And as for WestJet, they also needed to bring in more money for rising fuel prices, so they also made it a surcharge shortly after AC did. Because if they included it in their fare, everyone would fly AC because AC's tickets would appear so much more inexpensive.

Further, if they were to collaborate, and agree with each other that they'd both increase ticket prices by 'x' amount on whatever agreed upon day to account for rising fuel, the public would jump up & down, and say that the airlines are illegally 'price fixing'. The airlines can't win, because the public is too dumb to figure it out on their own that airlines are trying to make a profit, rather than break even or lose.

Do you see their problem?

If it costs you twice as much to drive to the airport than it did this time last year, it stands to reason that it's also gonna cost airlines more to fly you across the country. Perhaps its just easier to bitch about it than it is to sack up and pay the extra cash.

[kevenv]

Shankdown

I think you are missing the point here. I, and others, are saying roll all the dumb fees into a ticket price. Period. There doesn't have to be collusion, or the appearance of price fixing by ACA and WJA. Stop advertising ridiculously low prices that do not reflect the actual price I have to pay. If all the fees and surcharges add up to $1000 then advertise $1000 plus tax. Period. The public that you think is too dumb to get it, does get it. Yes we want cheap seats, we'd be stupid not to. But when my Visa is charged way more than the airline advertised for the ticket, I get it, they aren't fooling anyone.