In a word: fees. Lots and lots of fees.
Alright, it isn’t just the baggage surcharges and change fees. Airlines have cut capacity and raised fares, and business travelers are coming back after a long absence. But with United Airlines posting its first profit in three years and Delta recording its best quarter ever, you’ve gotta wonder — how much do fees and surcharges have to do with it?
We have an answer, thanks to Amadeus and IdeaWorks. Disclosed ancillary revenue activity from the world’s airlines jumped 43 percent to $13.5 billion in 2009, compared to a year before, they reported.
The ranking reveals United, America, Delta, Qantas, and Ryanair as top overall ancillary revenue producers for 2009.
Comments by other travellers
There are no posts. Why not be the first to have your say?
About this author
Elliott
Christopher Elliott has been called one of the world’s leading travel experts. But his focus isn’t on the destination, or ev…
Also by this author
Pay to sit with your own kids on a plane!
Although being separated from my kids on a long flight appeals to me on one level, I am sensitive to the fact that it could be another passenger’s worst nightmare.
Pay a seat reservation fee — or your kids don’t fly with you
Being separated from your family while you’re traveling is every child’s worst nightmare. Every parent’s, too.
Ridiculous or not? A fee to print a boarding pass – no, seriously
Here’s the problem with Spirit Airlines’ new $5 fee for printing a boarding pass, according to Dennis Tucker. Not everyone has access to a PC and printer when they’re on the road.
Hotel reservation agent: “I feel very guilty about lying”
Mary is an in-house reservation agent for an upscale, full-service hotel in a major American city.
Latest travel blog posts
Visiting Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia
Three days on Isla del Sol, in Lake Titicaca; natural beauty and Inca legends
Peru vs Canada: Differences in Daily Life
Differences in daily life between Canada and Peru
A Month in the Jungle, Part 1: Iquitos
Iquitos: the largest and most popular jungle destination in Peru
Is this the best week to visit Madrid?
Madrid's Festival of San Isidro has morphed from a religious procession to a full scale arts festival
