> lots of people want to select their seats, check their bags, buy food, etc. and are willing to pay for it
"willing to pay for it" is a odd way to phrase this. Of course people need to do all those things, but we are now forced to pay extra for these basics. All of which used to simply be part of the ticket price.
You don't actually need to do any of those things - you could sit in the seat assigned to you, travel with less baggage and buy your food on the ground.
All of those things used to be part of the ticket price but now the ticket is cheaper because it doesn't include them.
Another way to look at it is that you are now paying less for the base ticket which used to include those things. This allows consumers more choice in what part of the experience they want to pay for.
If someone wants to build a computer and they don't need a graphics card, it's better to give them the option not to get one for less money, or to get one for more money.
> Another way to look at it is that you are now paying less for the base ticket which used to include those things.
If that were true, sure. But I somehow doubt that's true. I don't have any data to verify this (nor do I know how one would get it), but I would expect that the inflation-adjusted cost of a ticket 20 years ago (when you weren't yet getting nickel and dimed for everything) is comparable to what you pay today for just the base price.
Airline prices are much cheaper than they used to be. Imo airfare is the crowning achievement of capitalism and proof that efficient, free markets are unbeatable economic engines. Airlines barely make any money at all off flights now, they’re profit engine is the credit card they push.
> Airline prices are much cheaper than they used to be.
The base price listed, but by the time you add all the fees and fees on fees, not so sure they're any cheaper. Last time I flew a few months ago the initial flight price of ~$600 on kayak search became ~$1500 by the time I had the final price 5 minutes of clicking later. I ended up buying the ~$800 flight that became ~$1300 after all the add-on fees.
The real problem is that it makes comparison shopping incredibly difficult, since each airlines packages their dozen fees differently. Years ago I could list all the prices from A to B and pick the best time and price from a single screen and that's that, since every price was the final price. It was so easy.
Now I have to go through each flight option individually going through the whole reservation sequence to finally get a price. It can take many hours, what used to be a simple search. If you've done this I'm sure you know the add-on fees are different for each flight option! I'm sure most people just give up and buy whichever rather than waste the time, which is exactly what the airlines want. I'm obsessive enough that I'll spend the time, but what a waste.
> Imo airfare is the crowning achievement of capitalism
Capitalism works optimally when consumers can be fully informed and comparison shop with high efficiency. The airline pricing these days is pretty much the exact opposite of that, being extremely opaque by design to prevent comparison shopping.
I guess the unbundling of basics is the way the airlines flaunt this law.
I just looked up flights from SFO to EWR on kayak. Cheapest one was $426.
But when I click through to the united site, the fine print says that even for a carryon bag there is a +$25 charge. So even if you don't check any bags (which of course is another extra fee), there is a $25 fee for the carryon. So the real price is $426+$25 at a bare minimum.
But let's be honest, that is a basic economy seat with no knee room for an adult and no checked bag. So unless you are a child traveling for two days, you need to pay extra for both legroom and the checked bag. The bag is another +$70. I don't care to spend the time to go through the whole process to get the final price but clearly it's way more than $426.
If you're comparison shopping, now repeat this hassle for every single flight on the search result. You will (and I do) spend many wasted hours on this infuriating nonsense.
I only bring a backpack on flights which is always free. Most of my traveling is short term or between places that I have clothes at though, only real exception is work stuff and they pay for the bag fee.
I'm okay with paying extra for it, but none of the searching tools seem to include the price plus a checked bag plus a carry on, plus choosing my seat.
You have to investigate each airlines policies to find out.
"willing to pay for it" is a odd way to phrase this. Of course people need to do all those things, but we are now forced to pay extra for these basics. All of which used to simply be part of the ticket price.