Those wacky airlines

these companies are also a pain in the ass when it comes to using frequent flier miles.
Earlier this year the wife & I were trying to fly to San Fran using my frequent flier miles.
Philly to San Fran with one stop in Chicago - can't use the miles.

Philly to Atlanta to Chicago to Salt Lake City to San Fran. - can use the miles

 

Sounds like UA.

 

I just finished booking a trip for next week, 7 days from today. RT West Palm-Pittsburgh is $60 each way. I don't care how cheap oil is at the moment, you can't make a profit flying me 2,000 miles at that price.

 

They're thanking you for occupying a seat they figure will otherwise fly empty.

Which airline?

 

Thanksgiving weekend, I'm in Green Bay for NFL...
Was looking at flying into Appleton from Pittsburgh - it's Midwest Express through Milwaukee.
1st leg - Pittsburgh-Milwaukee-Appleton - $81 total, gets me in around 2 PM

2nd leg, also for $81, I would have had to leave Appleton at 2PM and get back to Pittsburgh at 9PM. No thanks. I'm not wasting a day just on travel.
So, I looked (and got the 6AM flight, puts me home around 11AM) - that leg is $480.

 

US Scareways.

AND . . . just got a rental car via Priceline.com for 12 bucks a day. (Actually, the rental car fees and surcharges nearly doubled the price of the per-day cost, but I haven't found a way to get around this scam.)

 

Everybody else had the same idea.

 

Unless you've got a free-day situation, you're not beating the local taxes. Ain't happening.

 

That much of a difference?
That's absurd.

 

I love the places that charge you a per-day surcharge and call it something like an Airport Convenience Charge. So, you ride their smokestack of a bus once from the airport and once to the airport, but they charge you for every day of your rental. Great gig if you can get it, I guess.

 

Not if the early flight is bulging, which I bet it is. Limited options for service, on many of this calibre of route. If they only have a few seats left available on a specific flight, they have a right to try to gouge you. Your move, from that point.

 

It's a grab, all right . . . but they know they're largely gouging non-locals, which is the best type of tax in the world to impose, as you don't have to listen to the locals whine in your ear, all day and night.