US Airways to charge $2.00 for a soda.

The free can of soda has withstood every attempt by major U.S. airlines to squeeze more money out of passengers. But no more.

US Airways Inc. said Thursday that it will begin charging its coach passengers $2 for sodas and fruit juices on domestic flights, and raise the $5 charge for alcoholic drinks to $7.

In addition, US Airways and United Airlines Inc. both announced they're adopting the $15 charge for the first bag checked, following American Airlines Inc.'s May 21 lead.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/061308dnbusbagfees.389a277.html

And what sucks is that you're not allowed to take your own drink.

:grr:

Pay toilets next?

I've let my USAirways miles expire with no regrets.

I bring food and drink on airplanes all the time.

They'll make up some "safety" concern.

that will be $30, please.

skit about security screening with liquids? "So the sandwich is ok if it's still a sandwich, but not if it's been through a blender?"

But I can imagine it! :rofl:

via "the Google" on "the internets":
http://consumerist.com/consumer/video/snl-training-the-crack-tsa-team-in-the-fight-against-liquids-259036.php

I had long since given up on searching for SNL videos, because I thought the greedy fuckers had successfully scrubbed them from everywhere.

on NBC.com first, but they didn't have the video up, so I had to go elsewhere. Try to play by the rules, and see where it gets ya. :hide:

funny

Security confiscated a jar of peanut butter from my wife's carry-on on a recent trip to Germany. However, I've packed peanut butter sandwiches many times. I guess if they start opening up the sandwiches and checking the contents it's going to make for some dry meals.

But I was once told that I could bring a bagel in, but the little 1 TBSP tub of cream cheese (obtained from the shop 15 feet away from security) would have to be bagged because it was not solid.

it was "like a liquid." I'm pretty sure he was going beyond his powers there.

Are they much cheaper at the stores than on the plane?

Flying: Fast-moving torture.

Tesha

so you'd have to pay the highway-robbery prices of the airport concessions to buy a drink -- probably at or above the $2 per 12-oz(?) can the airline charges. You could save some money on a sandwich or what-not, but are forced to buy a high-priced drink. Yogurt or pudding is probably verboten - classed as a "gel" or liquid, I think.

and then to the drinking fountain I go.

that used to hold water.

So, $2 for a can on the plane, or $2 for a can from inside security. You have bottles and cans at home? Too bad, can't take them through security.

I have always been nervous flying, though I know there are more risks driving, still I have been. Sitting on a plane in Baton Rouge late Sept 2005 I looked around and had to laugh since the plane was full of confident people who had been in Louisiana/Mississippi helping after Katrina. No one in suits, everyone in work clothes carrying day packs full of useful stuff.

Has nothing to do with paying for drinks, just something I thought of.

I don't travel much, but the last time I did, we had a lay over and most of the passengers went to a McDonalds in the airport and came back with their food and drinks. That plane smelled like a mickey-d's for the whole flight. :rofl:

because they won't let you bring any liquids in, for fear of explosions. Apparently they're afraid terrorists heard about the mentos and coke trick.

I think that this is a PERFECT example of what happens in unregulated business, and especially when it's not under federal control. Granted, the soda was just a luxury, but was nice to have still. Now it's only water, and it will be soon that we have to pay for that. So, you can't take bring any soda from home on the plane, and yet you now have to buy theirs? It's crazy.

Lawsuit ensues. :nopity:

...and remember the stories about contaminated airline water? :scared:

The drinking water that they serve you is bottled water and is safe. You can also fill up an empty water bottle past the security checkpoint, if you don't want to have to ask the flight attendants to bring you a drink.

HOW DARE THEY CHARGE AS MUCH AS THE VENDING MACHINE AT THE HOTEL!

Also, if you don't like the hotel vending machine price, you can walk across the street to the 7-11. At 38,000 feet, well . . .

and then building that luxury in as a hidden cost in your total bill. Be glad that this is a fare increase you can avoid if you so choose.

That's $.75 more than the vending machines here!

Where I live it is already $2.00 so I can find no [problem with this..

mikey_the_rat

Might as well, since they don't serve food on airplanes anymore. Unless you fly first-class.

or are they still a-skeerd of the terrist bag of cheese doodles and dangerous bottle of Aquafina?

I don't think it was ever disallowed.

What are you, some kind of terrorist? :sarcasm:

I bring my food from home and take it through security with no problems. I buy a drink in the airport. Most airports have several shops and restaurants.

Can't buy drinks outside of security and take them in. If the only shops in the airport are outside security (and this happens a lot at older, small airports), you're fucked.

a little four pack of wine in my carryon, but they confiscated it. it wasn't opened either.

In a checked bag or a gate checked bag, it's ok, as long as it's packaged according to airline rules (generally, styrofoam or bubble wrap is good enough.) The reason being, they can only let you drink alcohol that they serve to you aboard.

edit: bar to bag arrrgh

:rofl:

And they had no problem with that.

It wasn't that far from the gate.

I should have mentioned that in my reply. My bad.

with that stuff? Or did you have to pay the inflated airport-McDonald's-in-the-sterile-zone price for it? 3 bucks? 4?

you've passed security in the terminal (for a heck of a lot more than they cost anywhere else).

Free.

If you want to bring in a can of soda then you're out of luck.

And there's usually drinking fountains everywhere, and if not, there are taps in the restrooms.

probably costs a few bucks to buy a cup of ice...

yeah, I'm a tightwad...

have definitely kicked down ice without any disparaging looks. :)

It's $200 extra if you want a seat, $500 extra for international flights.

and everyone in his administration. (plus his saudi friends/brothers)

You get a nice breeze, at least. :D :cry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCz8he36hsk

ridiculously funny then but so true now

I couldn't help noticing how spacious the seats were, even in the "no frills" section. It looks like today's first class.

Ryanair was the airline that charged a passenger about £18 to use a wheelchair. They've always charged for drinks and charge for checking in baggage.

I don't see why the cost of other peoples' food, sodas, and checked bags should be factored into my ticket.

First the liquid ban, then the bullshit baggage check fee, now charging money for drinks they used to give for free. I'm done with US Airways. Seriously. Fuck them.

with the ads everywhere like public buses already.

I have some unused passes with them that I need to use by them. Thankfully I'm taking the much superior Southwest for one leg and them the other.

:spank: :rofl:

because your Coke won't impact his ticket price now! :crazy:

:eyes:

However, since they're letting you opt out of the fare hike by forgoing an unnecessary luxury, you're upset.

When I fly for pleasure, I fly with only a backpack. When I fly for business, I fly with a small carry-on roll-away. I'm happy that I can opt out of fare hikes by not bringing heavy baggage (and thus not increasing their labor and fuel costs). When I fly, I drink water and not soda; caffeine dehydrates, and planes are dry enough as it is. I'm happy that I can opt out of fare hikes by not asking the airline to provide costly (and, yes, heavy) refrigerated cans of soda.

And don't complain to the airlines about fare hikes. Fares are still too low for air travel to remain viable, believe it or not; the airline industry is operating in the red. Fuel costs are simply too high.

My partner is an air traffic controller.

We haven't flown since before 9/11.

We both resent how passengers have been forced to give up their dignity just to get from point A to point B.

I hardly think that handing a pair of singles to the flight attendant in exchange for your must-have can of Diet Dr. Pepper is debasing. If you're talking about TSA screening, I agree, but the airlines don't like that any more than you do; it raises the financial bar for potential customers without any benefit to the airline (since the 9/11 security fee increases their ticket price without adding revenue), and it increases customer dissatisfaction and reluctance to fly.

tarmac for 5 hours because the greedy airlines have scheduled too many fucking flights in too small an amount of time, the whole nine yards.

I'm done with this conversation.

burning fuel on the tarmac, either--but all of our airports are overcrowded and our air-traffic system is outdated and inefficient. If you want to complain about the number of flights scheduled, you would be better to complain to passengers themselves. They've clearly indicated through their purchasing habits that they prefer a larger number of CRJ flights to a smaller number of 737s; should airlines not offer the flights people want, they'd drop into bankruptcy nearly immediately. Our airport infrastructure is insufficient to handle the purchasing habits of the flying public. That isn't the airline industry's fault. You can call them 'greedy,' but there isn't one of them that's financially stable; it's not so much "greed" as it is "desperation."