What else will be considered “not essential”?
So Christine the Curmudgeon has heard that the CEO of Spirit Airlines considers luggage to be “not essential” when traveling. (Story here; contains auto-play video)
What is even more of a joke is that by having cheap fares, and then nickel-and-diming people for everything else, Ben Baldanza says that this policy has “allowed many to travel who otherwise simply could not afford to do so.”
But what the hell is the point, if poor people can maybe afford the fare, but not the luggage fees? Yes, Spirit will let you bring a backpack on board for free, as long as it fits under the seat. But I’m sure you have noticed that there is not much under-seat room on airplanes these days. So what are these people supposed to do? Wear the same thing every day while on vacation? Or waste half their vacation time doing laundry? The whole thing is ridiculous!
And how come Southwest can still have cheap fares, yet they still don’t charge for a checked bag or carry-on baggage? They also do not charge for soft drinks and snacks. You want booze, you gotta pay for that, but that’s pretty much anywhere. The fact is, the Spirit people are just greedy.
But think about it – if this jerk says that luggage is non-essential for flying, what will be next? Will other industries decided that certain things are not necessary, and charge extra for them? For example, grocery stores charging $5 – 10 to use a cart? How about having a beer festival that already charges $30-40 to get in, only to find that there is an additional fee for using the restrooms?
Baseball parks could really rake it in. Buy a hot dog, and when you go to the condiment station, you have to insert money to be able to get mustard, ketchup, relish…even napkins! Did it rain just before the game? That’ll be $5 to have an usher dry off your seat for you! That additional fee to use the restrooms could apply here, too, maybe even charging more if you use toilet paper, soap, and paper towels!
How about mail order companies charging extra if you want protective packaging materials? Don’t pay it, your stuff will be broken when you get it. Wanna watch those Netflix DVDs? Won’t be long before in addition to the monthly fees, you will have to log into the site and pay a fewe before the DVDs you just got in the mail will play. And so it goes…
Well, if this is the wave of the future, then how come I don’t get to decide what things that other people do to me are “not essential” and charge them for it? Unsolicited phone calls and door-knocking? That’ll be $100, please! Your kids are kicking the back of my seat at the ballpark, on the bus, plane, theater? That’s going to cost you $50. Blog comment spammers should have to pay $100 per spam comment.
Hey, if the airlines can get rich by nickel-and-diming people, so should I!
