Airlines made $36 billion in fees last year. Maybe you should follow their lead. Business Travel is About to Get Pricier.
Traveling for business can be an unpleasant experience—long security lines, flight delays, uncomfortable seats and “snacks for purchase” —are just some of the highlights. In 2013, we have something else to look forward to—more fees. Last year, major airlines collected $36 billion in high-margin fees. These fees now represent a significant source of revenues (and profitability) for the airlines. So it’s no surprise that the industry as decided to start adding more fee-based services as well as fees for benefits that were previously included in ticket prices.
Some of the new fees, fee increases and fee-based services being introduced by major carriers include:
- Fees for economy-fare passengers to board flights earlier
- Fees to pass through security in less time
- Fees to select seats
- Fees to sit in premium coach areas
- Fees to stream internet-based videos and movies during flight
- Fees to have your luggage shipped to your final destination to avoid dealing with it on flight day
The airline industry successfully tested the a la carte fee-for-service model and given its success, it will likely continue to expand its use. Based on this success for one sector of the travel industry,
Learn more about Mike Periu
Mike works with small businesses to teach them about finance and management. He started Proximo, LLC, a company that offers small business education and training services focused on finance and technology.
Periu also writes for OpenForum, Yahoo! Finanzas the Huffington Post contributor.
Mike went to Georgetown University where he studied Finance and International Business. He also serves on the Board of the Council for Economic Education and was a Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation.
