When I fly I do not use pillows or blankets, unless it is a long flight. (over 4 hours) I only bring carry on luggage,(unless it is a vacation or extended business trip) so a reduction in air fares would be a welcome thing. Unless you are rich, or your company is paying, then the cost for such amenities is a poor financial decision and a cash cow for the airlines.

American and others,

When will airlines wise up? When you are trying to overcome gravity, your biggest obstacle is weight. Charge by weight, not by the person and you’ll be better off in the long run. This way you can charge people for all their junk they think they need to bring on board. Also, you get the people who travel on one fare, who should actually be paying for probably two or more. Yes, I’m talking about you fatty.

Please institute a special upcharge for winey kids as well, or make them travel with the luggage.

I predicted airlines would charge by the bag and there’s no doubt in my mind one will take the lead and start charging by weight. You can’t violate the laws of physics.

Sorry people. Don’t like it, you don’t have to fly.

American can do anything they want, I won’t fly them, their response to customer complaint is arrogant. Southwest always gets my business.

Does that mean I am merely renting a blanket…or do I get to keep it for future flights?
IF renting…please make sure it is not filthy and full of germs from the previous 150 people who also rented the same blanket….That is—if they can afford some soap and water to wash them semi-regularly!

Really, how “low” can they drop the fares? They’ll have to sell a lot of water, soda and liquor….and rent lots of blankets….to offset the “reduced” fares. So in the end, the fares likely will not actually be reduced, and passengers will end up paying more for the “comforts”.

It sounds to me too much like another bait and switch tactic.

I flew to New Orleans this past weekend on Southwest. Great carrier! But even Southwest could improve their service by denying ALL carry-on luggage. The time delays at boarding and deplaning could be reduced by a full 30+ minutes, which might improve the bottom line for the company.

The article mentions the phone and cable companies have been using this practice for years.

Does the article also mention that the phone and cable companies are two of the most hated most complained about companies in the USA as well?

Nice business plan, adopt the strategies of companies everyone would avoid if they could. Oh wait, phone and cable are darn near a necessity. Flying is not. Guess time will tell how well it works out for them.

The market will decide whether this change is good for American. I personally don’t ask for extra stuff like pillows, blankets, or extra snacks on a flight. If I want those things then I’ll buy them in the airport or pack them before I fly. Now, if American can actually decrease their fares by cutting back on the amenities, they may get my business. That is to say, if American’s plan is for people to just assume that their fares must be cheaper since they don’t add on extras, they have another thing coming. With Internet ticket sales, it’s easy enough for anyone to compare fares between airlines. If American wants my business, they’ll have the lowest fares, eliminating extras if they need to in order to accomplish that.

I am comfortable with American’s new pricing plan, so long as they make everything transparent from start to finish. If the ticket is $300, and the blanket rental is $3, and a bottle of soda is $4, then make all of that very clear up front, when reserving the ticket.

It is just another way to charge more. Before I say yes or no, I would like to know how much AA will lower their prices. Airline pricing is just a non-sence. AA already killed STL airport, now they are trying to kill themselves.

Whatever the airlines decide to do, they need to do it and stop changing every few weeks. As far as I’m concerned, they all need to look at what Southwest is doing and try to copy. The way I see it is that there is no way that they are ever going to lower fares as long as fuel is at the price it is now. They can only take away so much. I’m glad I don’t have a prosthetic leg. They may charge me extra for it.