The site has a little game where you click to dismiss as many cookie-consent popups as possible, in 30 seconds. I suppose if you can't see the cookie consent popups, then at the end of the timer you just have zero points.
Basically the economies of scale and different route topography (hub & spoke vs. distributed) that powered low cost airlines in the past doesn't work anymore. It doesn't account for the basic fact that the bigger airlines have more cashflow and can outspend the smaller ones where the low-cost passengers don't have any brand loyalty.
Now it's a race to the bottom because the only way these kinds of airlines can survive is more cost cutting and a few more dollars of revenue per passenger.
One interesting aspect that is touched upon in the video is also that airports are basically municipally-run real estate monopolies for the airlines. The big carriers capture airports in the 6 biggest national markets (or geographic centers) and use the monopoly to punish the other carriers. In most places it's near impossible to expand or diversify airport capacity- it takes many decades.
Also the major airlines - especially Delta are subsidized by credit card spend. Not only their cobranded cards. But when points credit card users trade points in for airline miles.
Then the major airlines have a lot of business travelers where they are using other people’s money.
don't get the hate, cheap tix to Vegas were great, now it's less competition, if their plane config was not to your liking you can pay whatever you want for any other airline, don't get the schadenfreude.
I don't hate low cost carriers. I absolutely want competition.
I was flying Spirit quite frequently. I'm well prepped. I have a backpack that is the maximum size allowed as a personal item, I carry an empty water bottle and a meal from home. They have an option where you can bid on exit row and big seats in advance. I'd bid the lowest amount ($4-10) and almost always win the upgrade.
Not everyone is aware of this though. I dislike businesses that prey on customers' lack of knowledge to bombard them with fees.
The guy next to me on a flight last year got hit with a $80 fee at the gate because his bag was an inch or so too big. It was his first time flying Spirit. It was cheaper for him to discard that bag and purchase a smaller bag for the flight back.
How much more nickel and diming is there left to be done? Standing seats? [1]
Very anecdotal evidence, but I was on a trip last week and Spirit was more expensive than American which is what I chose. I'm not loyal to any airline.
No one was at the gate hounding at people for bag sizes. I had Wi-Fi on the plane and got a drink and a small snack. My knees also appreciated the slightly longer legroom.
This sounds like nightmare fuel compared to just getting a $100 - $150 annual fee credit card for your preferred airline for free checked bag and just buying your seat.
I am mostly loyal to Delta and by the end of the year, my wife and I will have flown over a dozen times on our dime - many of those shorter flights. I like free checked bags, priority check in, etc
The pixel 10 is different trade off. Base pixel is cheaper than base iPhone and has an extra camera, upgrading it to 256 gets you slightly more expensive. And for the pro models it flips with the pixel cheaper even with same storage.
With how much worse the experience of using Windows has gotten, why wait? Many hills have already come and gone. This is the hill you're willing to die on?
