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Spirit's "Carry On Fees" find opposition in US Senate!

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  • Spirit's "Carry On Fees" find opposition in US Senate!

    The senators —Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Charles Schumer of New York, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey— want a law that would designate carry-on baggage as a necessity for air travelers.

    Airlines currently pay a 7.5-cent tax to the federal government for every dollar they collect in fares, but no tax is imposed on fees collected for nonessential services, the senators said. They said the Treasury Department last January ruled that carry-on bags are not essential for air travel.

    "As a result, airlines can impose fees on these bags without paying any tax to the federal government on the revenues they collect," the senators said. "This creates a tax incentive for airlines to try to bilk consumers in the form of fees rather than by increasing the fares."

    Separately, Cardin and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said Tuesday they had introduced a bill that would effectively prohibit airlines from charging fees for carry-on luggage and require advanced disclosure of special, often higher fees for specialty checked items. The bill is based on an amendment the two senators proposed last month to the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill.

    Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the airline is reaching out to all the senators' offices to clarify information that Spirit believes has been misrepresented in the media. "We are confident that once they see the complete story that they will agree that this is for the benefit of all customers," Pinson said of the carry-on bag fees.

    Other airlines will be watching closely to see if the carry-on bag fee announced by Spirit on April 6 will bring in revenue and not drive away passengers. If so, other airlines could follow suit. None have indicated any plans to do so.

    Spirit's new charge for a carry-on for most travelers is $45 if paid at the gate, and $30 if paid in advance.
    http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...x_N.htm?csp=34
    This is interesting, although (IMHO) not unexpected. With passengers demanding more and more from airlines (such as the Passenger Bill of Rights), this is a sure way to tap into some constituent support. It is interesting to see how this will pan out, in that a tax upon this might easily segway to a tax on all other airline 'amenity' revenues. As for Spirit - this is once again, as always with them, ridiculous.
    Whatever is necessary, is never unwise.

  • #2
    As ridiculous as it is for Spirit to implement this new fee, it's infinitely more ridiculous for the US government to get involved in this and threaten to prevent a company from doing whatever they want/can to make more money.

    It isn't illegal for a private or public company to enact fees for service. The fact that Schumer came out so quickly and publicly against this and threatened to stop it should infuriate people more than Spirit having the fee itself.

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    • #3
      I agree that it is strange for the government to get into this. If you don't want to pay $45 for a carry-on, then don't fly Spirit. $8 for a ticket each way for a ticket, $30 or so for taxes, extra $ for a window or aisle and even more $ for an exit row seat, plus fees for bags and drinks onboard. Comes to about the same probably as most other airlines with all that, except with the others you pay up front and don't get nickled and dimed the whole way there.
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