Glenn Alperin

The ATM at the Airlines

BlueDog, thats part of my point. If I go and do my research on finding an airline to get me from point A to point B, and only later discover I could have flown for less net dollars on another airline not charging such fees or charging less fees because I couldn't read the 2 point font that says I was going to be charged such a fee, I would have surely flown a different airline. I'm not in the business of wanting to pay more for an equal level of service I can get elsewhere.

As a customer, I don't like the idea of fees attached that are not included in bold faced font on any contract I agree to sign, including one that guarantees me a spot on an airline (or compensation in case of overbooking) when I pay for a ticket. I don't like the current fuel surcharges, but I do realize that is a necessity for airline survival in these difficult times, but I wouldn't even mind paying a higher fuel surcharge because at least that isn't going to effect my ticket price when I get to the airport. As a customer, I think I should have the ability to make easy comparisons of price points between airlines. I can do that with banks, because banks are required to list all of their fees in a fee table or some other mechanism for my review, and I can do that with ATMs because laws require that if there is a fee attached to such a transaction, it must be either posted or clearly laid out in the process of my agreeing to withdraw money from somebody's ATM machine. Why can't I do that with airlines so easily? Do airlines enjoy making the process complicated for customers? If they do, surely, that will effect customer opinion of their business, and ultimately, airline passengers will likely take their hard earned dollars somewhere else where such fees are not the norm, or at the very least, are not laid out in a font size so small that it is impossible to read or decipher their amount before purchasing a ticket.

BioInvestor, I happen to disagree with your assertion that "Individual experiences while traveling are interesting, but not really useful when analyzing companies." If enough individuals complain, a company will either change it's policy to keep those customers, or will lose at least some portion of their customer base who will go elsewhere instead. In the event that they lose customers, that will invariably effect the bottom line of an airline, and if history is any guide, such effects on the bottom line are usually reflected in stock price per share over time. Very few airlines are currently operating in the black right now, and it shows from their stock prices. (I've been very tempted to buy a few airline stocks, but don't think the bleeding is done yet.) Those doing the best appear to be airlines serving international routes. British Airways, for example, continues to put forth some stellar numbers. Domestic airlines and international airlines are, I realize, completely different ballgames economically speaking, but the principles of customer service apply across the industry pretty much the same. As one wise business person I once spoke to said to me, "If you please one customer, they MIGHT tell another customer about the good experience, but if you screw up and don't make proper amends for it (and sometimes there are no proper amends) you can be sure that a thousand potential customers will hear about it, and choose to shop elsewhere accordingly."

So again, if airlines are making it very difficult for their customers to determine how much it is really going to cost them, and customers get upset, they will go elsewhere, and some airlines will suffer even more than they are now because of that, and those holding such airline company's stock will suffer with them.

That was the thesis I was trying to make with this article. Perhaps I didn't do that as effectively as I would have liked.

The ATM at the Airlines

BlueDog, thats part of my point. If I go and do my research on finding an airline to get me from point A to point B, and only later discover I could have flown for less net dollars on another airline not charging such fees or charging less fees because I couldn't read the 2 point font that says I was going to be charged such a fee, I would have surely flown a different airline. I'm not in the business of wanting to pay more for an equal level of service I can get elsewhere.

As a customer, I don't like the idea of fees attached that are not included in bold faced font on any contract I agree to sign, including one that guarantees me a spot on an airline (or compensation in case of overbooking) when I pay for a ticket. I don't like the current fuel surcharges, but I do realize that is a necessity for airline survival in these difficult times, but I wouldn't even mind paying a higher fuel surcharge because at least that isn't going to effect my ticket price when I get to the airport. As a customer, I think I should have the ability to make easy comparisons of price points between airlines. I can do that with banks, because banks are required to list all of their fees in a fee table or some other mechanism for my review, and I can do that with ATMs because laws require that if there is a fee attached to such a transaction, it must be either posted or clearly laid out in the process of my agreeing to withdraw money from somebody's ATM machine. Why can't I do that with airlines so easily? Do airlines enjoy making the process complicated for customers? If they do, surely, that will effect customer opinion of their business, and ultimately, airline passengers will likely take their hard earned dollars somewhere else where such fees are not the norm, or at the very least, are not laid out in a font size so small that it is impossible to read or decipher their amount before purchasing a ticket.

BioInvestor, I happen to disagree with your assertion that "Individual experiences while traveling are interesting, but not really useful when analyzing companies." If enough individuals complain, a company will either change it's policy to keep those customers, or will lose at least some portion of their customer base who will go elsewhere instead. In the event that they lose customers, that will invariably effect the bottom line of an airline, and if history is any guide, such effects on the bottom line are usually reflected in stock price per share over time. Very few airlines are currently operating in the black right now, and it shows from their stock prices. (I've been very tempted to buy a few airline stocks, but don't think the bleeding is done yet.) Those doing the best appear to be airlines serving international routes. British Airways, for example, continues to put forth some stellar numbers. Domestic airlines and international airlines are, I realize, completely different ballgames economically speaking, but the principles of customer service apply across the industry pretty much the same. As one wise business person I once spoke to said to me, "If you please one customer, they MIGHT tell another customer about the good experience, but if you screw up and don't make proper amends for it (and sometimes there are no proper amends) you can be sure that a thousand potential customers will hear about it, and choose to shop elsewhere accordingly."

So again, if airlines are making it very difficult for their customers to determine how much it is really going to cost them, and customers get upset, they will go elsewhere, and some airlines will suffer even more than they are now because of that, and those holding such airline company's stock will suffer with them.

The ATM at the Airlines

First of all, I'm the author. My "comment name" is Stock Miser.

legalalien, I wasn't suggesting that such services were actually "free". As with anything else, there are business costs associated with all aspects of running a business. My gripe is that these are extra charges imposed by the airlines in an attempt to prop up their sagging bottom line. Why are they penalizing passengers who wish to fly with them? If they raised their ticket costs by $25 per one-way fare, they could make the same amount of money (possibly more) and not, at the same time, leave an unexpected hole in the wallets of their passengers who won't know it if they don't read the fine print (and we all know that most people do not read the fine print, which is how businesses get away with such fees in the first place). Furthermore, they would not be discriminating against people who are unwilling or unable to pack light. When you go on a trip expected to last a week or two, do you expect to wear the same clothes everyday? What about parents with infants, for which is is rather easy to need a significantly greater collection of luggage? It's easy to pack light, but I wouldn't want to be the one sitting next to you on the flight back if you chose to do so to avoid paying an extra service charge.

As for being able to withdraw cash anytime anywhere, do you know it actually costs banks far LESS money per ATM transaction (regardless of whose ATM it is) than it would for a person to go into a bank to see a teller to either cash a check or withdraw money from their account? People do banks a favor by going to the ATM. Banks should do more to reward their customers for helping to keep costs down. I don't consider an ATM service charge a reward. Given that it costs banks MORE money for a bank customer to see a teller in person, why don't they charge fees for that instead of ATM fees? Actually, some banks have tried, and very quickly reneged on the idea after massive protests.

User216242, the idea of "fewer flights + larger (same) planes = more profit" is a good one, but that doesn't effect the passenger experience. Passengers, or for that matter any consumer in any industry, don't like to feel like they are being cheated by way of unscrupulous pricing policies. Lets face it: passengers are paying to get themselves and their luggage to a destination. They shouldn't have to pay a price to get themselves there, and another price to get their baggage there. That just seems really underhanded of the airlines to try to sell two tickets (one for passenger and one for baggage) for the price of one passenger to fly.