Happy holidays.
Major airlines are expanding the number of days they’re squeezing cash out of customers, imposing $10 fees for most flights on 13 busy travel days around Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and school-vacation time next year.
The financial assault began sneakily.
Two weeks ago, with no announcement, American, Continental, Delta/Northwest, US Airways and United stealthily imposed the $10 fee for flights on three days — the Sunday after Thanksgiving and on Jan. 2 and 3.
Now, fliers will also pay the fee for most flights on 10 more days — the Monday after Thanksgiving, as well as Dec. 19, 26 and 27, March 14, 20, 21 and 28, April 11 and May 28, Rick Seaney of FareCompare.com said yesterday.
“They are not [charging] on every single route, but it’s significant,” said Seaney, who uncovered the surcharges through his careful monitoring of airfares.
The airlines, barred by antitrust law from discussing fare decisions in public, did not announce the surcharges.
Fares on surcharge days are already higher than usual. Seaney called the $10 fee, usually called a “peak travel fuel charge,” a “quick and easy” way for airlines to gather some extra cash from passengers.
Low-cost airlines, including JetBlue, AirTran and Southwest, so far have not imposed peak travel fees, Seaney said.
“It’s petty. It’s gouging. And if you’re traveling on a budget, $10 makes a big difference,” said an outraged Amy Hyde, 46, of Jacksonville, Fla., who flew through La Guardia on a business trip yesterday.
“On this trip alone, I spent $100 in baggage fees,” said Hyde, a wholesale buyer. “They should include everything in the price of the tickets, without surprises.”
Airlines compete fiercely to keep prices down — but sometimes, they’ll also match competitors’ price hikes.
“No airline wants to be undercut,” Seaney said. “But they also don’t want to have someone eking out a little more than they are, especially on the premium days.”
The peak-day surcharges follow major airlines’ successful imposition of checked-baggage fees last year. Some airlines also charge extra for aisle seats.
Airline tickets are still cheaper this year than in mid-2008, when carriers bashed passengers with sky-high fuel costs.
A round-trip flight from New York to Los Angeles from Nov. 14 to 20 — a period not covered by the new peak-day fees — cost $298 on Orbitz.com yesterday.
A round trip from New York to Miami on the same dates was $204.