My last flight they gave us bottled water alright, but not the whole bottle. They filled one of those small clear plastic glasses from the bottle (3-4 glasses/bottle is my guess) and gave that to me. Nothing wrong with that. My thirst was quenched and it probably cost the airline a quarter. Getting to a spigot would be doable, but a real hassle. And the attendents would surely prefer you stay seated. I held my little glass up once, and she came, sans cart, and filled it, and smiled. Of course that’s probably because I’m cute as hell. 
Before you jump on the free tap water bandwagon you should check out this link. Results of EPA’s Airline Drinking Water System Tests
I think I saw something about that on 60 Minutes. The majority of the positives were “lavatory sink”. I seem to recall signs in the lavs advising you to not drink that sink water, but I’m not sure.
Do the airlines still serve booze? there was some talk of ending the practice.
But the airplanes aren’t attached to the city water system at 30,000’. Any tap water has to be gathered, stored, and then brought on board. An extra expense that probably would be more expensive than simply purchasing bottled water.
I would also dispute the idea that you get free tap water “everywhere else”. Except for restaurants, I can’t think of a regular example. Shop at Home Depot; they don’t pass out water.
Big box stores tend to have water fountains near the restrooms.
I’m with You and probably most people are. Except you don’t see the option for amenities on Cheap MF.com. Tickets are purchased based on price and the tendency is to click on the cheapest fare.
The last flight I was on was from DAY to OAK (4 years ago?) and it was a meal flight. We picked up a box lunch and drink before we boarded. If nothing else, sell us the frickin stuff that way on shorter flights. I would imagine it’s gone down hill since then.
It’s not like I don’t agree with you, it’s just the state of air travel today. I’d rather pay more money for more leg room and a decent meal/snack. I think a revamp of some of the ticket engines would make people a lot happier if they could search by amenities.
But if you think you’re getting screwed consider the fact that I paid $400 for fuel to fly from Dayton to Oshkosh and back. That’s a heck of a price to pay to be able to bring food and drink on the plane.
Home depot has a df in back, near the restrooms. Two of them, actually. As does Ace Hardware, my favorite. So does Barnes and Noble, Borders, and every supermarket I’ve looked for one in. Gas stations too, I think.
Sometimes you gotta ask where it is, though.
Wrong. I few on Southwest last week from Austin to Oakland with two stops, and the restroom water is not potable. There are no cups in there, and it is specifically marked as not potable. It used to be.
About the only way to beat this crap is to boycott airlines who do it. I’m flying Southwest wherever possible. If an airline needs to raise ticket prices because of higher fuel costs, fine with me. What they’re doing is assuming the public is so dumb that they’ll go for a airline that costs a few bucks less and then rip them off at the airport or on the plane.
TWA, by the way, has jacked up the price you have to pay for frequent flier upgrades. I’m just glad I never sprang for an airline affinity card - leave it to the airlines to piss off their best customers.
Huh. Our flights are serviced with potable water before every departure. I have no idea if there are any legal requirements for this, though, so it may very well be true that Southwest takes a different approach.
Err… no. We spend quite a bit in third party market research to determine what consumers are and aren’t willing to pay for. The last study I saw from the first quarter of this year addressed whether people would rather see a hike in ticket price vs. paying extra for amenities. Overwhelmingly, the results suggested the latter. I was somewhat surprised, as well. Seems to hold up, though, and the public is as dumb as you suggest, since people are still flying, and buying.
In the last year or so, since these fees have really started to kick in, I’ve been told by inflight and airport employees that the biggest whiners are businessfolk – the company has paid the tab for the ticket, but not for their extras onboard. Conversely, the family of 4 going on vacation is just glad that they can still afford to go on vacation, since ticket prices really haven’t changed.
Not that I’m taking sides either way on this one, but I’m not sure how you consider a per-charge-per-use fee a rip off, versus including that extra few dollars hidden in the fare for everyone.
I would certainly consider this argument if the item in question was necessary to live. The fact that I have gone up to 10 hours with no liquid while travelling seems to deny this. Sure, it might not be the most comfortable situation to be in but you are not going to die by not getting your water during a seven hour flight.
Next, I would like it shown that the airlines were only adding a dollar to the price of the ticket to cover the “free” water. As far as getting charged 20 times the cost, you are paying for convenience. I buy bottled water for $3 per five gallons. I also sometimes by it by the bottle for $1 per 500ml. I am not getting ripped off in the second case as I am paying for the convenience of having the water in a smaller bottle that I can carry with me. You are not getting ripped off by the airlines as you are making a choice to purchase the convenience of having the water made available to you instead of using your wits to get your own water (I believe that filling an empty bottle once you are past security was mentioned upthread) or feeling uncomfortable for the duration of the flight.
I’m shaking out my wee-wee at 30,000’ and I always listen to Cecil. Good thing I can wash my hands with nice coliform infected water. . . .
Maybe not.
Oh, here we go! I smudged my mascara, so I’ll just moisten a piece of toilet paper and blot the corner of my eye with nice coliform infected water. . . .
Think I’ll just wait till we land.
Honestly, if they’re not going to make it potable, why bring the water on the plane at all? In case someone wants to drain and flush their radiator?
We’ll see if this improves the profitability of the carriers. They may still have full planes, but their inventory is decreasing rapidly as they cut service and take older planes out of service. It will be interesting to see how their market share stacks up to Southwest, which is marketing exactly along these lines.
As for what customers want, most airlines are not exactly highly liked these days. The Times had an article today saying that the rule of thumb is that you’re getting a good price if the fare has increased only 10%. Certain markets, especially vacation ones, have had big cuts in service and thus higher prices. I suppose a 10 - 20% increase is not a real change.
The dumbness I was referring to, by the way, was the increased charges to upgrade using frequent flier miles. For business travelers a big perk was to use the miles they get to keep to make their flight a bit more comfortable. The new charges, which of course won’t get reimbursed, means that it is unlikely for these miles to be very useful, except in vast quantities for vacations - assuming seats are available, of course. There is absolutely no reason for brand loyalty anymore.
My company used to make it hard or impossible to book tickets on Southwest using the officially approved system. After complaints by employees who proved that there were cheaper fares available, even counting the kickback, we automatically get a cheaper fare search, so a lot of our business travel has moved to Southwest and away from the officially approved majors.
I’ve been flying a long time, and things have gone from the traditional airlines offering a better, if somewhat more expensive, experience than Southwest to them offering a worse, and still more expensive, experience. If you can’t compete on price you better compete on either quality or perceived quality. I’m betting that we’re going to see more consolidation, and some more outright failures, and good riddance.
Another question: now that fuel prices have moderated somewhat, are we going to see a relaxation of this noise, or is it permanent?
I was on some of those, and it was fine. Now you pay a lot for probably less. I don’t know how long they’ll keep doing it. A while back, United charged some amount for the movie. So few people paid as much as a tape or DVD for a movie showed on a tiny low quality screen that they made it free. Most of the video is maybe a show surrounded by so many ads that it makes HSN look like PBS. But you can watch or not, and I suppose some people consider this an amenity.
You can do it. But it is a lot more money. Searching by amenities is a good idea. I wonder how the travel sites handle this.
I flew US Airways tonight. I bought an medium size Arrowhead bottle of water for $2.69 right by the gate and drank it right on the plane.
They even offered to sell me a cup of ice if I wanted it.
I think you mean American. TWA hasn’t existed for years (though in fairness, it disappeared by merging with/being absorbed by American).
Economically, the decision is not stupid. Their “best customers” are going to be the businessmen who have no real choice about whether to fly or not. Their very very best customers will be the businessmen who live in one of their hub cities. A salesman living in Dallas (American) or Cleveland (Continental) or Denver (United) can get as P.O.d as he wants, but unless he wants to cut off his nose to spite his face by flying a bunch of lengthy and inconveniently-timed connecting flights on another carrier, he’s going to be liable to take the local carrier no matter how much they screw him.
Frequent flyer programs were the victim of their own popularity as well as the airlines’ greed. No one ever expected the extent to which customers would base their choices on how to “get miles.” Or that, once invested in a particular program, they’d have significant incentives not to leave. So the airlines (to give them their due) were faced with a situation where more people found ways to rack up more miles than they’d ever expected. (Actually, I have little sympathy for the airlines – everyone who racked up miles did it under rules enacted by the airlines themselves; and, the airlines got the benefit of all the mile-generating activity). But in the spirit of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, how can we be surprised that an airline exec. has little interest in preserving customers’ entitlement to mileage benefits that they accumulated in past years?
The airlines are also just plain greedy. They may complain “hey, we can’t hope to turn a profit if all our first class seats to Honolulu are filled with non-paying mile hogs.” But they themselves contributed to the “mile inflation” by succumbing to the temptation to “sell” miles in past years to credit card companies as incentives for use of credit cards, etc., which they did rampantly.
Thats great for you. I make $200 a month (a sparse but reasonable salary where I am) and do need to fly sometimes. $2.69 is not chump change for all fliers.
I’m not asking for fancy bottled water. Any tap water considered safe to drink is fine by me. I’d even be willing to pay for it at cost- whats a cup of water cost, anyway? What I won’t do is pay five times what is considered a reasonable price for a basic commodity that is needed to stay healthy on a flight when it’s something that comes for free out of the walls.
I sympathize and I think that tap water should be the one non-negotiable item on a flight.
But that is still just IMHO. Tap water is of course not literally free. And just as I respectfully note that no one literally “needs” to fly (given that it is only in the past fifty years of human existence on Earth that anyone, even the richest plutocrat or sagest scholar, even could fly anywhere), I have to respect (if not agree with) the airline execs’ decision that they “needed” to charge for water.
My alternatives are the obvious ones.
I’m one of those people who much rather airlines charge for anything and everything than raise ticket prices. I buy tickets almost entirely based on what airline has the cheapest, most convenient flight. I don’t really find any airlines to be, in general, better then any others. Everyone has a long list of complaints against them. At the very least I don’t like any airline enough to the point where it is worth spending significantly more money for a few hours of comfort.
They can charge for drink, a pillow, a checked bag, or whatever else they like. I don’t have to get anything. I can survive a few hours at less then ideal conditions to have more money to spend at my destination. If they raised prices, I’d be forced to pay that increase. To me that is an inferior option.
I also think this need for water is pretty overblown. Nearly everyone can go for a few hours without a drink. If you can’t, then you can afford to buy a water. If you can’t afford a few dollars for water, then you probably can’t afford to fly.
An alternate solution is to get a water bottle with a built in filter. Bring it through security empty, fill it with a water fountain or sink, and you got drinkable water.
Okay I’ll give you that I don’t need to fly anywhere. When I do fly it is because of my work or my health, but of which are pretty important to me but I guess not strictly necessary.
Anyway, I’ll pay for tap water at cost. I’d even factor in the jet fuel it takes to transport my tap water around. I just don’t want to pay three bucks for a few sips of water so I don’t get a dehydration headache on a flight. Fill up a cooler and leave it in the galley. I’ll even provide my own cup and get up to get the water myself. Any alternative to paying whatever crazy price the airline wants to charge to a captive audience for a basic human need is fine with me.
When are they going to start charging for trips to the bathroom?
Except with a large number of the flying public using Travelocity and Orbitz, they’ll never see the price offered at one dollar more.