"Airlines fighting for upscale travelers" by Mary Schlangenstein and Mary Jane Credeur | Bloomberg News, May 27, 2013
Airlines are stepping up competition for full-fare passengers between New York and Los Angeles, with lie-flat seats, pricey French wines, and valets to whisk travelers from curb to gate without wasting time in lines.
The latest dogfight over first- and business-class fliers, expanding space for high-end customers and offering goodies once reserved for international trips, such as mini-suites....
This as YOU are being made to PAY MORE for anything from a f***ing pillow to baggage, moo-crew!
They’re chasing bankers, celebrities, and others who buy tickets that can top $6,500.
The ME$$AGE is CLEAR! They DON'T GIVE a $HIT about the rest of us!
That market, a minority of passengers on any given trip, produces an estimated 75 percent of the revenue on cross-country flights — a payoff for airlines’ investment in plusher cabins and four-course meals.
Now you know why they need to TAKE AWAY LEG SPACE from YOU!
‘‘I like my space, my privacy, so the comfort level of the seat is really important,’’ said Hal Biagas, general counsel at Excel Sports Management, which represents golfer Tiger Woods and the New York Yankees’ star Derek Jeter. ‘‘What I do tends to draw interest, and I can’t have someone looking over my shoulder and seeing a name on a presentation or contract.’’
Unless, of course, it's the NSA! But DON'T WORRY!
They won't be bothering the PRETTY PEOPLE and ELITE!
For those able to afford the fare, the pampering is worthwhile on a trip that spans 2,500 miles and lasts six hours....
It really is a rich man's media, folks, from the insulting elitism to the agenda-pu$hing concerns.
As I sit back on this flight I wonder why I am still doing this.
At AMR Corp.’s American, the transcontinental-only perks include concierge employees who greet elite passengers at curbside and whisk them to a dedicated check-in room and a private elevator that skips to the front of the security lines.
American's don't like cutters, but you'll never know now as you moo inside the terminal, waiting for TSA to grope you or scan cancer into you.
Those fliers then go to the Flagship Lounge, a private facility within American’s Admirals Club lounges....
Ah, yes, the good old days of SERFS and LORDS! Gotta love it!
When we get hungry enough we are going to eat them all.
‘‘Pandering to business traffic is a lot more important than getting volume,’’ said Michael Boyd, president of consultant Boyd Group International in Evergreen, Colo.....
Did you GET THAT, cattle crowd in coach?
The airlines’ focus on the most-profitable flying breaks with their old habit of trying to grab passengers even if flights lost money....
Translation: the SOCIAL COMPACT they had with you as a MODE of TRANSPORTATION has been $CRAPPED!
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Related:
‘‘Consumers have gotten a bargain deal for the last 30 years on travel. They’ve become spoiled.’’
Yeah, what are you complaining about back there?
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Arrogant Australian A$$hole
Just to let you know who got it all $tarted.
"Airlines cut deeper into standard legroom; Seek to help boost profits" by Katie Johnston | Globe Staff, August 20, 2012
“It’s ruined the Southwest flying experience.”
Southwest is one of several airlines squeezing seats closer together in order to pack in more passengers, create rows with extra legroom for people willing to pay more, or both....
It's called EXTORTION, and you and I would be jailed for it. But the planes just fly away into the sunset.
WestJet, out of Canada, is whacking several inches of space to make room for a section of higher-fare seats with extra legroom....
Not only are the cheap seats closer together, there are fewer of them available as some airlines charge extra for window and aisle seats and remove rows to add premium coach sections. This makes it harder for families to find affordable seats together and makes travelers who have paid more reluctant to switch seats. And with airlines operating fewer flights to fill planes and cut costs, the standard economy seat has become a much harder commodity to come by.
“You are getting squeezed in all directions,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group.
But the airlines made profits and revenue was up.
Legroom is going the way of checked bags, in-flight meals, and pillows — once-free amenities that now come at a cost.
It's called a DECLINE in the STANDARDS of LIVING due to GREED!
In a fiercely competitive industry, this allows airlines to offer lower base ticket prices, while generating new revenue from those willing to pay additional fees.
As if that flopper of a coach seat was some bargain in their shit boxes.
Many passengers say that more legroom is the improvement they want most — 41 percent according to a recent survey by TripAdvisor, a travel-review website based in Newton. But 71 percent said they weren’t willing to pay for extra legroom on domestic flights under four hours.
“It’s kind of ridiculous that you have to pay for the ability to sit comfortably in a seat,” said Susan Mocarski, founder of the startup Providence outerwear company Cleverhood , who flies out of Logan four or five times a month for work and can’t afford to pay for extra legroom. “It just seems like it’s inching up on absolutely intolerable travel.”
It's GONE WAY PAST THAT to OUTRAGEOUS OBSCENITY and IT MUST STOP NOW!!!!!!
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Still, packing people too close together on planes can raise safety concerns....
Rai$e what?
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