rolfemaine
it is obvious that airlines are ripping passengers off
I disagree.
It is well known how airlines charge for their services these days. They do so in this piecemeal way because people want to pay less. They learnt the hard way that if you present the full-up cost on your advertisement, not as many people will book. If you put a low price and then fill up later, people will by then have raised their expectations about making the trip on such-and-such a date and be excited. When they see the extra pricing - they work out that it is still cheaper than others or that it is worth it to make the trip. Some will drop out of the booking.
That has been the same with people buying goods and services for as long as human beings have been using barter and money. (The Neanderthals have been gone for 30,000 years but you can bet they used barter)
if it was a genuine attempt to restrict weight then they would weigh people too
Doubtless, you have read the posts in this thread where you would find that is illegal? If they stated it up front as part of their policy, they would have people booking but not reading that small print and then protesting when they got to the airport. The carrier would say "be weighed or lose all your money" and you can write the rest of the problems from there! Mostly, the problem would involve more money and time and people by the carrier. Have you any idea how much time it would take to weigh every pax? Just use averages it's faster and cheaper.
nothing to do with health and safety just another case of profiteering.
On this point, you are essentially correct BUT for many carriers it is not profiteering but just trying to make a profit in the first place! There is a surplus of airline seat capacity in the world, following the boom of the last 15 years. Many carriers have already closed, others are consolidating, many are losing pax and facing increased costs. They must make money where they can or die.
In other words, carriers have adapted to the challenge of new entrants and the demands of 21st century pax. This is identical to the way that the following have all forced companies to change their way of working and making money (in no order):
- Catalogue shopping
- Department stores
- Telephone shopping
- TV shopping channels
- Door-to-door salesmen (arrive and then disappear)
- Internet
- Shopping malls
- Supermarkets that become department stores selling many of the things that department stores used to sell
- Software was very expensive now it is often (genuinely) free
Airlines make an offer and you accept it or not. The reason that some people are upset about this change - is because they are witnessing the change. The generation now growing up would think it strange to be charged large prices for services they do not want and for luggage that they are not carrying.
dazdaz
Have you considered a nudist holiday destination, that'll save packing all those clothes. Just a thought
Yes, often. I have been a naturist all my life and have not worn a swimming costume in years. My last such trip was by car to France (month ago) as friends offered me a lift but I have used a/c many times and hand luggage can suffice.
