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Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
I do find USA pricing for most everything a pain. We don't include sales tax on most things, which is a pain because if I have $5, and the ice cream costs $5, then I don't have enough for the ice cream, which actually might be a good thing.
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Yes, it is a pain and very weird. Working for a large multi-national company I have a lot of coworkers from other countries. (12 countries in my department at last count). When they first come to the USA they find it VERY odd that the listed price is not the actual price because we are pretty much the only country that allows that kind of deceptive marketing.
It is a combination of anti-tax philosophy* and lack of consumer protections.
(*The idea that paying taxes should be painful and very noticeable. )
Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
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We just bought some plane tickets, which is another pain. Flat rates don't exist, and we tend to buy tickets for emergencies or at least urgent things that we weren't expecting. So while someone else who had the time to plan ahead got the same flight for $50, we end up paying $500 per person. Then we've even, after all that cost, have ended up being the ones who get denied a flight due to overseating the plane and then end up missing the funeral that weekend.
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Well the DOT just rolled out new rules on that which will go into effect in October if they are not put on hold from the lawsuit. Airlines will not have to display the cost for added fees like fees for seat selection and bags clearly before the ticket is purchased. They also must automatically and fully refund the ticket price of any flight that is cancelled, delayed more than 3 hours on departure or arrival (domestic) and delayed more than 6 hours (international)
Who gets bumped when a flight is oversold depends on various factors as does the pecking order of who gets rebooked first on a standby flight. Ticket price is key but other things matter too.
Frequent flyer status. You should ALWAYS sign up for the frequent flyer program for the airline you are flying. Just being a base member puts your above about 1/3 the people on a flight.
When you check in also matters with the earlier the better. You should also always check in online the day before your flight - preferable as soon as possible. Never wait to check in the same day at the ticket counter.
You should also purchase your ticket directly from the airline not through a 3rd party reseller. If you have a 3rd party ticket you are pretty much on your own and airlines will tell you to talk the 3rd party that sold you the ticket if anything happens.
BTW, flat rates do exist - just not at the bottom end of the price range. You can buy a ticket on Southwest that includes 2 checked bags - no extra fees.
If you buy a regular economy ticket on other carriers instead of a discount economy ticket those include carry on bags and seat selection. Bags are extra but bag fees are pretty easy to find with a quick internet search.