Yet another aviation thread.

Quote: DRich

Are you required to check in at the counter?

Yes, or an automated kiosk.

Trust me. I always "help" just about everyone with their boarding passes (meaning I do it all). The irritating thing is it walks you through the whole process, until you select "check-in." Then it tells you "Unable to check-in online. Please obtain your boarding pass at the airport."

A couple of years ago someone had a flight to SLP on AM. They could have printed a boarding pass beforehand, but their ticket arrived in their email at around 3 am. AM in MEX requires all airport check-in at kiosks, with the counter reserved for receiving checked bags. Things were so FUBAR that day, this co-worker missed their flight while waiting to use a kiosk.

Now, Interjet is hinting they'll assign seats for the Light fare soon, allowing you to check-in online. And apparently you'll be able to pay a fee for changing the seat assignment. That still sucks, but not as much.

Quote:

Many U.S. airports also have kiosks that allow you to print your boarding pass onsite. Las Vegas has banks of them near the security checkpoints.

I had to use an AM kiosk for a flight to Houston in 2012. That's worse, because you have to input the passport number in addition to the flight reservation number. Allegedly the machine could read the barcodes on both the passport and ticket. In practice, not even close.

Quote: DRich

This is rather interesting. It is the breakdown of the fees for my roundtrip Spirit flight. The flight itself is listed at $1.86. The passenger usage charge is the one you avoid if you buy it at the airport.
$ 1.86┤ Flight
$13.02┤ Unintended Consequences of DOT Regulations
$37.98┘Passenger Usage Charge
GOVERNMENT'S CUT $29.52
Total Due $82.38

I posted a similar breakdown a while ago. The usage charge could also have been avoided, but you had to pay at the airport in Florida on Allegiant. As the trip was from Pennsylvania to Florida it would have been very difficult to pay at an airport in Florida.

Without the "Trip Flexibility" surcharge any change in the ticket (including time of flight) would have resulted in penalties that would have nearly voided any value to the ticket.

Credit Card Surcharge could be avoided with a debit card

Quote: Pacomartin

Allegiant Round trip per person (Pennsylvania to Florida roughly 1000 miles)
$144.93 Airfare
$30.00 Carry-on Bag
$26.00 Passenger Usage Charge
$28.00 Trip Flexibility
$8.43 Credit Card Surcharge

Government Regulations
$10.87 Fed Excise Tax
$8.00 Segment Fees
$4.50 PFC
$11.20 Sept 11 Security Fee

$271.93 Total Trip Cost:

Quote: Pacomartin

As the trip was from Pennsylvania to Florida it would have been very difficult to pay at an airport in Florida.

Do you suppose three's a market for someone in Florida to pay for Allegiant tickets from out-of-state customers? Take the money in by PayPal, add a reasonable commission lower than the service charge, then pay the airline.

The usage fee was $26 a ticket and credit card fee was over $8 a ticket. There was two tickets.

The ticket counter at the destination airport was only open 6 hours per week. It was two tickets so potential savings was close to $70. But the person they were visiting lived close to Regional South West Airline which is 29.4 air miles from Punta Gorda airport that Allegiant flies too. It was a reasonable request to ask the Florida residents to drive the extra 30-40 miles to save hours of flight time and hundreds of dollars, but it was not reasonable to ask them to drive the distance to save $70.

Fort Myers / Punta Gorda, FL (PGD)
MON 9AM–11AM
WED 10:30AM–12:30PM
FRI 9AM–11AM

Quote: Nareed

Do you suppose three's a market for someone in Florida to pay for Allegiant tickets from out-of-state customers? Take the money in by PayPal, add a reasonable commission lower than the service charge, then pay the airline.

As a business it might make sense. You could cut the fee in half making it $35 a ticket commission to produce $35 in savings for your customers. If you had 20 tickets per day for three days per week that would be annual revenue of $109,200 for essentially 6 hours of work per week plus commuting time plus time to work the internet. But you would have to handle over $4000 per visit, so security might be an issue if you are dealing in cash.

Personally, as they only let you pay the ticket at counters at the destination airports, I saw it is basically a scam to increase the price of the ticket by advertising the "usage fee" as optional. At least with Spirit you can drive over to the origin airport and pay for the ticket.

Quote: Pacomartin

But you would have to handle over $4000 per visit, so security might be an issue if you are dealing in cash.

Set up shop at the airport and sell overpriced souvenirs and snacks on the side. Get the working cash delivered from the bank by armored truck and armed guards.

Quote: Nareed

Set up shop at the airport and sell overpriced souvenirs and snacks on the side. Get the working cash delivered from the bank by armored truck and armed guards.

It might be a good sideline for someone who is already working in the airport at a souvenier shop. That way you would be going to the airport anyway, and this would just require two hours three days a week to go to the counter.

You don't have to work in cash, as Allegiant Airlines only charges a fee for credit card usage. You are free to use a debit card. But people would have to trust you enough to wire money to you before you purchase the ticket. Otherwise you may end up buying a ticket for which nobody reimburses you.

It reminds of that guy in Canada with the bitcoin gambling site (which operated under Canadian law at the time). He couldn't figure out how to write the software to guarantee to people that he wasn't just rigging the outcome so that he would steal the money. He wasn't a casino, so there was no commission certifying that he was honest. He finally went online and clearly told potential customers that if they put money on the website, they would have to trust that he wasn't stealing any of it People invested millions of dollars anyway, as they were so impressed by his honesty.

Quote: Pacomartin

But people would have to trust you enough to wire money to you before you purchase the ticket. Otherwise you may end up buying a ticket for which nobody reimburses you.

There's the Heinlein method: offer a cash guarantee, payable through a third party (like a bond). If the customer can prove they paid for tickets and you didn't deliver them or returned the money (commission included), they can collect the cash guarantee you've offered. Something big, but proportional, say $1,500.

The trick is getting someone to process the guarantee payment.

Quote: Pacomartin

I posted a similar breakdown a while ago. The usage charge could also have been avoided, but you had to pay at the airport in Florida on Allegiant. As the trip was from Pennsylvania to Florida it would have been very difficult to pay at an airport in Florida.

$144.93 Airfare
$8.00 Segment Fees
$10.87 Fed Excise Tax
$4.50 PFC
$11.20 Sept 11 Security Fee
$26.00 Passenger Usage Charge
$8.43 Credit Card Surcharge

Credit Card Surcharge could be avoided with a debit card

I checked the same flight for the summer when there is much less demand for flights to Florida. The price is much lower

Departing: Flight 1683 Fri Aug 18 2017, 9:35 AM - 12:08 PM
Returning: Flight 1682 Mon Aug 28 2017, 6:30 AM - 9:05 AM
$76.84 Flights
$8.20 Segment Fees:
$5.76 Fed Tax:
$4.50 PFC:
$11.20 9/11 Security:
$26.00 Carrier Usage Charge:
$132.50 Total (USD)

I think the only business model that would work is blind trust. I can't imagine that more than 10% of their tickets are paid in person.

Allegiant flies over 20,000 people per week into that small Florida airport. There is only minor competition from another airlines. If you can persuade 150 passengers a week to trust you, then that is 150*$13 = $101,400 per year revenue.

Quote: Pacomartin

I think the only business model that would work is blind trust.

I'm serious about a cash guarantee. In my line of work, we use bonds to guarantee contracts literally every day. I don't know if any of the many firms in the country would guarantee the scheme I propose. But you could always get a lawyer to handle it, assuming you give them the money to back it up.

If you don't intend to cheat, it's a small enough cost.

Quote: Pacomartin

Allegiant flies over 20,000 people per week into that small Florida airport. There is only minor competition from another airlines. If you can persuade 150 passengers a week to trust you, then that is 150*$13 = $101,400 per year revenue.

I usually fly into RSW which is a nice airport and only 30 minutes or so away because Allegiant doesn't fly Las Vegas to south Florida.