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Bucks Blog: A Cheat Sheet for Airline Fees

January 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment

2:39 p.m. Updated / To correct the name of the airline charging $10 for blankets and pillows to Virgin America (instead of Virgin Atlantic).

 

The airlines seem to have come up with a fee for almost everything these days. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a cheat sheet, listing the various fees charged by the major airlines, all in one place?

Airfarewatchdog is offering just that on its Web site. Its new “comprehensive airline fees guide” lists 14 major fees charged by 14 big domestic airlines. Most of them you’ve seen before: booking fees, change fees, checked bag fees. They’re all depressingly familiar.

Then, there are the fees for blankets and pillows ($7 on Air Canada and US Airways; $10 on Virgin America).

And remind me never to bring my dog with me if I ever fly Hawaiian Airlines. The carrier charges a steep $175 to have pets fly with you in the cabin, if you’re traveling from the mainland.

The chart also lets you know just what size bag each airline considers oversized, and how much that will cost you.

If nothing else, the chart, available in PDF format, may help you plan the actual cost of trip.

Would this information be helpful to you?

Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/a-cheat-sheet-for-airline-fees/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Your Money Tagged With: , ,

Canadian Parliament Orders Postal Union Back to Work

June 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The country has been without mail service since Canada Post locked out its unionized workers on June 15 after a series of rotating strikes organized by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Officials from Canada Post, which is owned by the national government, said that mail service should resume by Tuesday.

Members of the labor-backed New Democratic Party, which held up the legislation with a 58-hour filibuster before it passed in the House of Commons Saturday night, strongly criticized the government for moving quickly to settle the shutdown through legislation. The Senate passed the measure Sunday evening.

This month, the Conservative government introduced similar legislation ordering Air Canada’s customer service and ticket agents back to work. But the strike at the airline, which is in the private sector, was ultimately resolved through negotiations.

During an unusual Sunday session of the Senate, an appointed body, Labor Minister Lisa Raitt told lawmakers that the legislation was necessary for the country’s economy. Canada Post is the only service that delivers throughout Canada and rates charged by the Canadian subsidiaries of United Parcel Service and FedEx are generally higher than those in the United States.

“This is not our first choice in how we would like to see this labor dispute resolved, but the choice is a necessary one,” she told the Senate. “Our citizens cannot afford to be left waiting.”

Canada Post, which is marginally profitable despite its no longer being directly subsidized by the government, wanted a less generous pension plan and lower wages for all employees hired in the future. While that was the central source of the impasse with the union, the two sides were also apart on several issues related to current employees.

The back-to-work legislation imposes a four-year contract with wage increases that, according to the union, are less than those being offered by the post office during negotiations. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that the increases were in line with those given to other federal government employees.

An arbitrator will choose the final proposal of either the post office or the union to deal with the other issues.

Mr. Harper gained his first voting majority in the House of Commons in a federal election this year. Several of his critics say that the government’s approach to the post office may be a sign of what awaits the public service in general as the Conservatives move to deal with a budget deficit brought about by tax cuts, a slowing economy and stimulus spending during the recession.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=828aeb5b540ab86fb93270e755235f8b

Filed Under: Business News Tagged With: , ,

Government Will Try to End Worker Strike at Air Canada

June 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The minister, Lisa Raitt, said in an interview that a prolonged strike at Air Canada, which has about 56 percent of the domestic air travel market, would impair Canada’s economy.

“As time goes by there will be a critical mass point where service will fall apart,” she said, adding that any legislation was unlikely to clear Parliament until the middle of next week at the earliest.

The airline moved swiftly to replace the 3,800 workers who went on strike early Tuesday morning. Those on strike are members of the Canadian Auto Workers union, and they were replaced by about 1,700 managers. The Toronto Star also reported that guards, not in uniform, from a private security firm were brought in to assist travelers with electronic check-in kiosks at airports.

Although Air Canada said that it would continue to offer all scheduled flights, airline officials made it clear that it would not be travel as usual.

In an online video for customers, Duncan Dee, Air Canada’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, encouraged travelers to check in online because “we expect long lineups at our kiosks.” He added, “We advise strongly against checking baggage in.”

There were some flight cancellations and delays on Tuesday, particularly during the morning flight rush, but it was not clear if they were related to the strike or other factors.

Negotiations between Air Canada and the union collapsed late Monday night over pension issues, Ken Lewenza, the president of the autoworkers’ union, said in an interview.

“Air Canada put a line in the sand and said these were the issues that were show-stoppers,” Mr. Lewenza said from Toronto. After meeting with a conciliator appointed by the federal government on Tuesday morning, Mr. Lewenza said that it was unlikely the talks would soon restart.

Air Canada did not respond to requests for comment.

Air Canada’s only nationwide competitor in the domestic market is WestJet, a low-cost carrier based in Alberta. But WestJet does not fly beyond the United States and the Caribbean, making Air Canada the country’s only full-service airline with overseas routes.

Air Canada is in negotiations with four other unions and locals, representing the balance of its work force of about 26,000. Last month, its pilots rejected a tentative contract with the airline. None of the other unions is in an immediate strike position under Canadian law.

Chris Murray, an analyst with PI Financial in Toronto, said that a pension shortfall of about 2.1 billion Canadian dollars was at the center of those negotiations. The federal government will require the carrier to eliminate that deficit over five years beginning in 2014.

“The problem is that when it comes time to write the check for that you need cash,” Mr. Murray said. Paying off the current shortfall will cut the marginally profitable airline’s cash flow by about 400 million Canadian dollars a year.

That amount, Mr. Murray said, may make it difficult for Air Canada to finance a planned purchase of Boeing 787 airliners.

Mr. Lewenza said that Air Canada was seeking to change a number of rules involving current employees’ benefits, particularly those governing when they would be able to collect a pension. The airline also wants to put future employees into a separate, less generous pension plan, he said.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/business/global/15air.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Global Business Tagged With: , ,