Flights over the Pacific will be tapping your pockets just a bit more. In response to a carbon tax in Australia and carbon trading schemes in Europe, Qantas has announced their fares will creap up in the near future. Do not fret, as there is still time to enjoy some world-class beaches and pet a koala or kangaroo before the change.

The red roo has announced an increase of no more than 24% in fuel surcharges for international and domestic flights. International itineraries increase by flat rate, while the domestic charge depends on the length of the flight. Unfortunately, with the high cost of jet fuel and taxes, Qantas is not alone in airfare hikes. ]]> jetflyboy 2012-02-02T10:34:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/16/215053/412

Just when you thought you had mastered the system of European travel aboard the vast network of low cost carriers, one of the major players throws a wrench in the works. Easyjet is changing up the way it charges for certain stuff, so you’re going to need a few more euros for your next trip—and maybe a calculator and notebook.

Honestly, it’s half the airline’s fault and half the government’s fault, since much like here in the U.S, the UK is changing the rules and regulations about airlines and their fees. If you're thinking about easyJet the biggest change is a new £9 administration fee—that's like $14—that more or less replaces the former £8 booking fee forced upon most everyone using debit cards to pay for the tickets. ]]> kjb 2012-01-17T09:20:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/10/55236/4782

If your vacation piggy bank is almost filled to the top, you may need to tape a few bucks to the outside as travel to Europe just got a little more expensive. With the new year comes a new fee, as the European Union wants airlines to pay a little bit extra to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Obviously this is going to be passed along to passengers, and that’s exactly what’s already started to happen.

Last week Delta was the first airline in the nifty fifty to add another $3 to one-way fares to Europe, and now it looks like all the other major carriers have joined the party as well. United and US Airways were quick to ask travelers to chip in a few more dollahs dollahs, and then last but not least, American did the same exact thing. ]]> kjb 2012-01-10T09:50:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/26/82334/807

Are airline and airport taxes and fees making you sick? If so, the Air Transport Association is right there with you, as they’re plastering their message on the side of airplane barf bags.

Airline fares and fees are already high enough, and now the industry is speaking out in opposition of plans to hike security taxes and other charges. The new air sickness bags are pretty direct with their message, as they pretty much tell you where to place your stomach-turning displeasure. ]]> kjb 2011-10-26T10:03:58-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/13/135351/39

We have to imagine there's some kind of countdown timer in the offices of Irish LCC Ryanair. The clock ticks down second by second, and when the buzzer goes off it's time for the airline's customers-are-there-for-abusing CEO Michael O'Leary to say something outrageous about airline fees or peeing or airline fees for peeing. That way Ryanair can solidify its "no frills" branding, before turning around and—per a BBC expose—"duping customers with hidden fees." Marketing is magic.

Apparently the publicity timer recently hit zero, because O'Leary just gave this grating interview to The Independent. His new proposal is to remove two of the three toilets in every Ryanair Boeing 737-800, and to use the resulting space to install a total of six new seats.

That would allow the airline to stuff 195 passengers into every flight, instead of the 189 to which they're currently limited, and so they claim they're asking Boeing to sign off on the safety issues. Like so many other Ryanair brainstorms, we doubt this will go anywhere.]]> Omri 2011-10-13T16:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/12/152912/63

You might remember last spring, when we threw something very close to a temper tantrum over TSA's request to increase the security fees that passengers pay with every ticket. We suggested that maybe the agency should stop wasting the money they already had—the hike was floated right after TSA started rolling out gingerbread man scanners as replacements for their predictably rejected billion-dollar full-body scanners—before they started coming after more of our money.

The idea that TSA is hopelessly wasteful was echoed this morning in a POLITICO story about the agency's budget, which included bits like "tendency to grab on to a new system before it's really validated" (no kidding) and "cycle of faulty equipment and failed programs" (everybody remember puffer machines?)

And yet that's not the most infuriating part of the story. It turns out that not only is an eventual $15 security fee increase back on the table, but—weirdly, unbelievably—it's not even all going to be spent on airport security. Which is kind of weird, because with "security" right there in the name, you'd kind of think that's what it would be for.]]> Omri 2011-10-12T15:29:12-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/16/163029/994

Irish LCC Ryanair is notorious for inventing obscure fees that other less innovative airlines - which is to say, airlines that are not driven by hate for their customers - would simply never imagine. Among the most obnoxious is the airline's credit card fee, which is so tangled that even we couldn't avoid it back on a project where we were actively, professionally trying to avoid all fees.

So naturally, Ryanair has taken that exact fee and found a way to make it even more unpleasant. Yeah we know. We were surprised too.]]> Omri 2011-09-16T16:30:29-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/