Comments by "Sean" (@sean2015) on "Travelers turn to ‘skiplagging’ to save money on flights l GMA" video.

  1. Ironically, "skip-lagging" wouldn't even be an issue if airlines didn't charge fees for checked bags. The airlines have brought this on themselves. The airlines need to do away with these ridiculous checked bag fees. In addition to saving passengers money, free checked bags allow for quicker boarding procedures and lower overhead. Some passengers abuse the free wheelchair policy so they can be the first on the airplane and get first dibs on the overhead bins, and some passengers request one because they don't want to pay the fee and are too physically unfit to drag their luggage around the airport. The airlines have to pay an outside company a large fee for every passenger requesting a wheelchair.
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  2.  @oo0Spyder0oo  but this wouldn't work with an airline like Southwest because their entire fleet is the same (Boeing 737s), i.e. all their planes have the exact same capacity.
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  3. Instead of complaining about airlines and their poor service and overpriced tickets, we should be pushing Congress for a high-speed rail system in this country. There is no excuse why the same country that built the Interstate Highway System can't build a dynamic network of comfortable, sleek and fast trains.
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  4.  @oo0Spyder0oo  oh, whoops. I may have intended to reply to someone else and replied to you by mistake.
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  5.  @mrmacross  airlines operated for decades without charging one penny for checked bags and things seemed just fine. Airfares don’t seem any cheaper in the modern era since carriers started charging these fees. In fact they’re probably even higher when you factor in all the cutbacks airlines have made in other areas, such as no more free inflight meals, no free eye masks, and heck you even have to pay just to rent a pair of earphones. If I’m paying the same price for something and receiving fewer amenities, I look at this as essentially a price increase because the business is saving money but still taking the same amount of money from me. Besides, passengers don’t like being lulled in with a low base airfare and then nickel-and-dimed with all these extra fees once they arrive at the airport for their flight. This is why airlines like Spirit consistently get such negative customer service reviews. You didn’t dispute the point I made about fees for advance seat selection nor did you address the advantages of free checked bags which I cited, such as quicker boarding and less abuse of the wheelchair service.
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  6.  @johnp139  nonsense. Ever see the movie Field of Dreams ? “If you build it, they will come”.
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  7.  @johnp139  if you prefer to fly than ride a train, that’s fine. Just don’t stand in the way of progress and try to spoil it for the rest of us
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  8. How would that be cheaper ? I paid the postal service $12 to send two picture frames in a padded envelope and how much does THAT weigh compared to a 40-pound suitcase?
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  9. No you can't.
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  10.  @johnp139  don’t know about illegal but it would be difficult to do because how would you scan a boarding at the gate and then not board?
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  11. Or you make up a cover story, that you got airsick and couldn't board your connection flight, or your plans changed, or you left the airport to smoke a cigarette and were late, etc.,
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  12.  @johnp139  I don’t have much of a soft spot for airlines complaining about this practice of “skip lagging”. They (the airlines) have brought it on themselves by charging people for everything from advance seat selection to checked bags. Airlines need to abolish these ridiculous checked bag fees, it’s in their best interest to do so as well as that of the customer. For one thing, allowing free checked bags will free up a lot of overhead bin space and make the boarding process much quicker and smoother. It also eliminates the problem of passengers abusing the free wheelchair service (which some passengers do) either to procure overhead bin space or to get assistance lugging their bags through airports (keep in mind: airlines have to pay a large fee to an outside company for every passenger that requests a wheelchair, and naturally they have to pass that expense along to other passengers in the form of higher airfares).
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  13.  @johnp139  what kinds of differences are we talking about? (in terms of the number of seats)
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