airlines: squeezing us any way they can

I sympathize with the airlines. Times are tough for them: people aren't flying as much, fuel costs are through the roof, management and stockholders are up in arms. But give me a break! Today I booked the tickets for our flight to Massachusetts in July. By some stroke of luck, the exit rows were completely open, which was great because both Steven and I like to stretch out a little on flights, which seems to be getting harder and harder to do. For example, we recently flew Southwest Airlines and their open seating policy allowed Steven and I to choose our seats (he likes the window, I the aisle). Sadly, the flight was completely full and a guy about our size was forced to sit in the middle of our row. We felt bad for him (and us) because the Southwest seats are smaller than some other airlines and three big guys in a row is a tight fit.

Anyway, today when I booked the exit row seats, I was presented with an "extra legroom" surcharge of $15 per flight. WTF? They are going to sell those seats anyway, so why the extra charge, you ask? Because they can. The exit row seats sell out first and they know that $15 is not going to break the bank, so they charge the fee. But these little fees keep adding up: $2 for curbside check-in, a few dollars for food on the plane, etc. It is getting pretty expensive to fly these days!