How Far Will They Go?

With the gas prices going up these days, looking for affordable travels have become a big issue amongst travelers. More and more people started to carpool and even ride bicycles for methods of short distance traveling, such as going to the store a block away. Hybrid and electric cars became a trend while the big SUVs lost their touch on consumers. Many companies are squeezing their brains out in order to save money by being more fuel efficient and compensate for their losses even. The airplane industry was impacted even more than others and it is perhaps the industry that is trying its hardest to be more fuel efficient.

Rather than raising their ticket prices, some airplane companies searched for other alternatives, thus not losing their customers while keeping their profit margin steady. Many different methods are being used, such as using alternative materials for their tableware, making them lighter and thus reducing the fuel used to carry their weight. Some companies are starting to take out the heavy movie projectors and replacing them with a lighter and more personal controlled screen at the back of each chair for their customers. These measures can actually be helpful to the customers while other methods received many complaints.

The airplane companies started reducing flight numbers, thus combining customers, for example, they combine three planes that leave in 30 minute gaps to a single plane that leaves in one hour gap, thus having the carpool effect on a plane. Eventually, more planes are full when they leave from an airport and it saves money for the companies since using one flight instead of two or three would use less gas. Though it might not seem much, it is a definite inconvenience for people on a tight time schedule.
Some companies limited the free baggage allowed on cargo to one and started charging extra for every bag after the first. Small things like in-flight snacks are being charged by some companies as well. Though it is understandable that these measures are meant to keep the prices low because every pound matters, taking away services offered for free and charging them for it almost seems like the companies are mocking the customers. At the end, there might be issues where they start weighing the travelers and charging them for their extra weight.

With these measures taken by the industry, travelers should keep their eyes opened wider and not only look at fares but the services offered by the company. Luckily, there are many websites to research to compare prices and choose the cheaper fare. But make sure to look at both the price and the services offered since it might be cheaper to buy a plane ticket that is $50 more expensive than the other if they allow more baggage for its price or even free snacks. Many websites help travelers comparing prices but not many tell you the services offered until you click on the buy this ticket button, so do your research and buy smart.

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Fred Jones
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