While booking a summer vacation to Vegas, I was disgusted that all the major carriers now charge $15 per checked bag each way. So, a couple going on vacation may have to hand over $120 at the airport to transport their clothes and toiletries. I wondered - wouldn’t it be cheaper to send my clothes ahead of me via UPS Ground? I concluded: probably.
While researching, I stumbled upon an airline carrier called Jet America, which claims to offer $9 seats to under-served Midwest cities, and a few East Coast areas too.
The situation, however, is that it’s not really $9. There’s the convenience fee, a 9/11 fee, a baggage fee, and Federal taxes. To start the base price at $9 pre-fees, you also have to be among the first nine people to book your flight. If you’re not, the base price can go as high as $199 pre-fees.
But, wondering if a decent deal was still at hand, I decided to look up a fare from Lansing, MI to Orlando, FL. I chose flight dates of June 20th - June 27th. The computer told me those dates “weren’t available”, but might I want to go on July 18th - July 25th (yes, a month later!!!). I decided that sure, a month was no big situation this time. (huge eyeroll)
The lowest available base fare each way was $69. Not $9, but not bad! I clicked “Next” to continue. Taxes came in at $40, putting my roundtrip base ticket at $169.20. The baggage fee on Jet America is $20 each way. Seeing as this is a beach trip, I’ll certainly need a bag. Now my total is $209.20, which resembles a normal ticket price on a discount carrier like Southwest. (Also, $200 more than the giant $9 ad on their homepage).
So, I don’t know America, I think we’re stuck with unreasonable airline practices for the long haul…
