[bilingual]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

You have got to be kidding me... what planet are you on? Since deregulation, US airlines have not adapted to their customers. They have built fortress hubs, which are effectively local monopolies, consolidated massively, precisely to avoid "adapting" to their customers.

We have all had our sport in criticising Chris's original post...but in fact, he articulates well the overall point. The lack of discretion, the sense that the rules are loaded in favour of the airline and against the customer and the overall feeling that the airline is no longer trying to make your journey more comfortable, but instead to outwit to enhance their "revenue opportunities" leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

He also sets out well the utter transparency of the fake "security" and "safety" arguments, made largely by lazy or stupid airline employees to justify anything. The safety argument cannot possibly be legitimate... how could it become safe if you pay an extra $454? Ludicrous

The weight limit for hand luggage is set by the airlines, at least in Europe. Easyjet for example, has no weight limitation, but you must be able to place it in the overhead bin easily and without undue strain. Ryanair on the other hand strictly enforces dimensions and weight of hand luggage and will charge anyone even 1cm or 1kg over. BA vary the hand luggage allowance according to the class of ticket bought. It's a minefield.

Whilst I don't agree with Chris' argument regarding the value he received for his extra payment (ie buying him only 3kg), the overall thrust of his complaint and argument is sound.

(Except the headphones, which I suspect only came up because he was so ****** off everything they did by then irritated the hell out of him)

As i am living in Northern Europe, i can not comment directly on US related matters, but here people vote with their wallet, and as a consequence low-fare airlines has emerged and regular airlines have cut costs dramatically in order to be competitive. If customers choose quality compared to cheap flights, the low fare airline revolution would have never occurred.

It might not be that you have chosen to trade quality for cheap flights, but the majority has forced the evolution and airlines such as Southwest seems to find the right balance.