C. G.

Why U.S. Airline Service is So Bad

Other things to note:
*The airlines are busy dismantling their frequent flyer programs. Delta just made it so that there are certain seats that no amount of miles will get you as well as removing the lounge benefit for its top tier members, and other carriers are inflating their mileage requirements and reducing the number of available seats. It's unlikely they'll truly get rid of the popular programs, but they will render them unusable. If I fly a lot and have to fly 50,000 grueling, expensive miles on a single carrier just to get in the short security line, I'll just buy a lounge membership instead (which provides the same benefit), fly who is cheapest since domestically, service is not a competitive issue, and go about my business.

*The airlines' pricing model is built around putting smaller carriers out of business and milking their best passengers in less competitive markets. Wherever there are what most call "low-priced" carriers but what I call "fair-priced" carriers (AirTran, Southwest, Frontier), the bigger airlines charge ridiculously low prices at the beginning and fair prices if they lose the pricing war. In non-competitive markets, prices are through the roof. On Delta, a one-way walkup PDX-ATL was about $600, but a one-way PDX-ATL-LGA on _the same plane_ for the first leg was $250-$300 cheaper, consistently. America West had similar practices on it's ATL-PHX versus ATL-PHX-LAX route, and I'm sure every carrier has a comparable story. Practices like this along with the maze of fare codes made me resent my carriers of choice at the time and reduced my desire to be loyal. I disagree with the point that we just won't pay for anything; the fair-priced carriers generally don't have rock-bottom prices, but you'll never have a situation where you paid $99 (less than the seat is worth) and your neighbor paid $899, and that sense of fair play seems to permeate these airlines and make for a better experience.

Net-net, if the airlines stopped offering teaser fares to lure travelers who fly only a couple of times a year coupled with ridiculous walk-up fares that are as much as 8x higher and focused on offering fair, profitable round-trip prices ($250-$600 round trip depending on the route) to lure the business travelers who fly on short notice or need some flexibility but fly 50 times a year, they'd be in better shape.