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Old 11-05-2011 | 09:42 AM
  #79547  
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FIIGMO
Sho me da money!
 
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: B25, Left
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Originally Posted by Bill Lumberg
So, $952 MILLION wasn't a big deal? (in one year) Nah, no biggie..... a fee that never really helped us before. Nah. Have you noticed that SWA still hasn't stopped the bag fees over at Airtran yet? Why is that? Maybe because it brought in $200 million for Airtran last year. Southwest jumped on the no bag fee bandwagon, and now I bet they wish they had not.
I think it is the same revenue and yes it has a bad connotation because the traveling public wants something for nothing. So we give them something for next to nothing and if the want extra they will just pay for it. I am sure all airlines would love to get rid of the nickel and dime and just charge what it costs. I agree though it sounds like we are getting something extra but I feel reality is different. SWA does not charge for bags for now (airtran still does and I bet SWA will bite the bullet and assume that little tid bit) but SWA also is not any cheaper than many airlines. Multiple stops, higher fares that one cant compare on the open market without a lot of work. SWA just appears to be cheaper and on the higher road of not charging for bags. But they are not stupid they make money for a reason, by forcing the traveler through their well thought out revenue system. As they get away from their system (al la ATL and angry airtran employees) they may just have to start charging for bags too.