Northwest will begin charging more for aisle seats.
Bankrupt Northwest this week unveiled a program called Coach Choice in which the carrier will save some preferred coach seating on the aisle or emergency-exit rows until check-in. Passengers can pay $15 per flight to sit in those seats, which may offer more room.
Mercifully, I don’t fly Northwest except on the rarest of occasions. Unmercifully, more stuff like this is likely to come from other carriers.
A next step — one that may be controversial — could be that airlines will start charging for bag checking, said Cheapseats’ Trippler. Generally, airlines do not charge to check bags that weigh 50 pounds or less. Many charge for bags that weigh 51 pounds or more.
Which, of course, will increase the amount of baggage people will try to bring onboard, which will slow boardings, increase crowding, and make life generally more miserable.
The possibilities for special fees are almost limitless, Trippler said. Airlines just need to be creative. “This is all gravy,” he said.
Until, of course, people refuse to fly.
(via BoingBoing)