It is becoming clear that United Airlines is not so much interested in economic survival as in driving everyone away from flying.

First: Surcharges on a second checked bag.

Second: Surcharges on a first checked bag.

Now: Minimum stays.

Starting Oct. 6, most United fares will require a one- to three-night or weekend-night minimum stay, spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said.

The new rules, which apply to nearly every ticket, are bound to be unpopular with business travelers who prefer to catch a flight out early in the morning so they can make it back home in time for dinner.

Major carriers scrapped most minimum-stay rules — put in place largely to discourage big-budget corporate travelers from snatching up the cheapest seats — years ago, although a number of airlines have been tightening up restrictions and tacking on fees in recent months as the price of fuel has soared.

Remarkably, this is one case where United seems more interested in slamming it to business travelers than family vacationers. In this case, it's going to be much more expensive -- and scarce -- to do a "fly-out-fly-back" the same day. Though ... how many non-business travelers actually do that sort of flying?

I'm just trying to figure out now if this makes my using United for business travel prohibitively expensive, or prohibitively inconvenient.

Filed under :: Big Business :: Travel
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