US Airways Reverses Fee, Sodas Free!
US Airways has reversed course and decided that it will no longer charge you for some soda-pop in a cup with ice.
The airline had started charging $1-$2 per drink in coach in 2008. The change was announced in an email CEO Doug Parker blasted to employees, noting that the fee, which was not matched by other carriers, had become a distraction for the airline's image. He praised the company, however, for trying an "innovative" measure and noted how the fee had reduced the the length of lines to use the bathrooms.
US Airways reverses soda stance: won't charge [AP]
Free drinks from US Airways [Charlotte Observer] (Photos: jayRaz) (Thanks to Redwoodflyer!)
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Comments:
They should put in change slots on the oxygen masks too.
Don't accept ice on an aircraft.
Ask for the can and a cup. Or ask for no ice.
Ice made on aircraft is nasty.
These little things make a huge difference it getting back repeat travellers. It's only a matter of time i think before other airlines fullow suit
I guess public reaction > $ generated per flight
Anybody try and pay with a $100 or something, I heard they'd give you the soda free to not have to deal with the change?
@Maurs: I flew with Delta, NWA, Continental past couple months, and they gave free sodas with the flight
How the hell was this an "innovative meaure" on the company's part? What a douche.
Years ago, on Compuserve's travel forum, I predicted the day would come when airlines would charge for food. You should have heard the hullabaloo from everyone, who ridiculed me mercilessly. I predict that ALL airlines will charge for sodas, just as soon as they think the public isn't looking--or as soon as a barrel of oil goes back up to $150.
When will they just finally go out of business?
They have to be the worst airline ever.
If he really wanted to be innovative there would be a fee to use the restroom.
They reversed the fee because the value of the negative press exceeded the few bucks they saved per flight. Idiots. If only we had a free market in aviation...
I'll second that: in 2004, 15% of aircraft water tested by the EPA came up positive for coliform bacteria ( [travel.nytimes.com] , [www.nytimes.com] ). Of course, the airlines tested their water and found it to be significantly safer, but ever since then I've avoided the ice and brought hand sanitizer into the bathroom.
I appreciated how this policy made beverage service much calmer. As someone who has come to loathe USAir but still must fly them regularly, I'd much prefer they keep charging for drinks and stop advertising their crappy credit card at painful volume while I'm trying to sleep.
@twophrasebark: Aircraft don't have ice makers. The ice is made locally and provisioning fills the ice bins.
I love how the reason it was reversed was that the other airlines didn't start charging. Does that kind of show something about their operations? "Hey, let's have this fee!" Then you get, "HEY, THEY HAVE THAT FEE! ADD THAT!" And the chain broke, and now we all know how it works. As if we didn't before...
@samyoed:
Many (most or all?) aircraft don't make ice on board, its pre-made and delivered by catering, or topped off at non-catered stations by the same type of ice machine you see in the grocery stores..... The water in the sinks in the aircraft lav however.... avoid at all costs.... often times its delivered by the same truck that pulls the "blue juice" at the end of the flight......
I like usair - and this makes me happy:)
It also reduced my chances of waiting in line to get on a US Air flight. A company that's willing to nickel and dime you on soda is doing the same on their maintenance. Very innovative sir, I salute you.
@superdantx: potable water usually comes from a hose on the jet bridge and sometimes a separate truck, but never the lav truck. "Potable" is kind of a misnomer since one should not drink the dink water, it it doesn't come from the poop truck. And yes, ice comes in a fresh plastic bag from the catering truck and is plenty safe.
Wow! This is really sad when are thrilled to get a little cup with lots of ice and part of a can of soda. I remember when you got magazines, blankets, pillows, sodas, etc...free. They WANTED your business or at least pretended to. Still, I guess we have to be happy for an little nod to us as customer so pour that 1/3 can of Coke, flight attendant! Thanks.
Yay! Free soda! It used to be that you had to get stranded by a hurricane in the Dominican Republic and kicked out of the airport by guards with guns to get free soda.
@InThrees:
Ha! A fee to use the restroom on the plane? I'd piss my pants and tell them to fuck themselves if they sent me the bill.
I am waiting for the day when airline tickets will all be handled through Ticketmaster and food is handled by Aramark [www.aramark.com]
Airfare: $350
Boarding Pass: $100
Convenience Fee: $99.99
Window/Aisle Seat Surcharge: $50
Center Seat Surcharge: $60
Baggage Loading Fee: $20
Baggage Unloading Fee: $20
Soda in Souvineer Cup: $10
Hot Dog $30
Nachos $30
Shaved Ice in Souvineer Cup $40
Large Foam Finger$15
Total Flight Cost for a family of 4 :$7500
@Rachacha: you forgot the $2.00 fee to print your boarding pass in advance from your own printer at home.
But my best inflight sex with a flight attendent was with US Airways.
See, back in the day you did get some freebies.
@Patrick Henry: @Patrick Henry: @Corporate-Shill: I told you to never tell anyone about that! I promise I'm not gay - it was a one-time lapse in judgment!
@TacoDave: What the?! Why did it put Patrick Henry's name in there? How did it know he'd had a taste of the Taco as well?
It was a two-time lapse in judgment!
@superdantx: You have no idea what you're talking about, so why even comment? Lav trucks do not fill aircraft with water as any passenger waiting for a flight can see. Also, ice is not made aboard aircraft.
If the charging for sodas idea would have worked, USAir would have stepped up to the next level!
If US Air also makes the booze free, it would keep me from grabbing the brat kicking my seat and throwing him out the emergency exit.
My husband and I are trying this for the first time. We're going to Italy in a few weeks and will be attempting to do this with only two carry-on bags (one for each of us). No bags to check in and lose. The only way to do this is the wash clothes in hotel sinks, but Woolite makes little packages.
@CyrusOpeth: Well, any airline exectuive with half a brain would hedge as much of their fuel as they possibly can at this price if it's really going up.
@Maurs: Everytime I've ever been on an airplane I've had free soda as well. I was under the impression Airlines only charged for liquor and "other" fun stuff?
@OprahBabb: They do, that's the point. US Airways was the first to start charging for beverages, hoping that other airlines would do the same (much like the second/first checked bag fees).
When that didn't happen about 8 months later, they took a step back and realized that their reputation was getting worse, costing more business than $2 in pop would ever cover. It'd be one thing if all airlines did it, and people would come to accept it, like they kind of did with the bag checking fees, but when they are the one airline to do that, they get all the attention.
That's the most enjoyable part about Southwest Airlines, the free coffee. Well.. that and the on-time flights and the very funny flight attendants.
US Airways, ugh. Expensive, rude, and always delayed.
@catastrophegirl: I figured that would be lumped in with the $99.99 convenience fee. The Airlines, & Ticketmaster wouldn't be that greedy...would they.
In my next strange but probable business matchup, I think that I might look at the airline industry working with Monster Cable*. I am sure that aurline crashes are because the airline industry does not use the highest quality cables that are available to them.
*Monster is a Registered trademark of Monster Cable International, the manufacturer of the world's highest quality audio/visual cables. Monster is not a registered trademark of Monster Golf, Monster Energy Drink, Monster.com, Monsters Inc., The Consumerist, or any other party. All rights reserved, Some Restrictions may apply, Results not typical, Professional Driver on closed course do not attempt at home, Wear clean underwear every day as you never know when you will get into an accident, Wash Rinse & Repeat.
@chiieddy: I think most airlines give you 2 checked bags for free on international flights. Should be the same if you have a domestic connection before the international segment, you might want to look into that.
@Corporate-Shill: Sadly, the same flight attendants still work there. And no one wants that "freebie" anymore.
;-)
Anyone with enough money to use compu$erve (when network time cost more per hour than some well paid executives) would be talking to people with so much money they'd never flown below business class, and, AFAIK, business class and above have never met with these sorts of ridiculous charges.
@savdavid:
Heh. I know things were going downhill when the last flight I was on stocked only French newspapers for a flight from London to Toronto.
@spongebue: At least if you're going to the Caribbean or Central America, you still have to pay. Going BWI -> Houston -> Belize, we paid on the way down but not the way back. That was on Continental. We've found that going to the Caribbean / Central America, bag claim fees are terribly inconsistent. I never know when we're going to be charged. One US Airways person didn't charge us because her credit card machine was broken. So, you really never know. Going to Europe might be more consistent.
@metsarethe...: Precisely the reason that all decent airlines have gone cashless!
There's still issues, however, since purchases can't be verified until the aircraft is batch processed once every few days - on most aircraft where you slide the card at your seat, you can actually just use your Costco card or hotel key and it would let you watch the movie or whatever...but you didn't hear that from me!
You uh..you haven't flown much on US Airways I take it? This is less douchey than most things they've done - like the time the CEO got a DUI...
Kind of surprising the other airlines didn't match the move, but hey whatever works.