Air Travelers in the United States Are Willing to Spend More on User Fees in Exchange for an Improved Experience

It’s no secret that the airlines are trying to get more money out of customers, which often come in the form of ancillary fees. However, the airport experience doesn’t seem to be improving all that much for the amount of money being collected by so many passengers.

Many air travelers find themselves weary of all the extra fees that they have to pay airlines, especially when the money seems to go toward padding the pockets of executives or for federal taxes, noted a recent article at Meetings and Conventions.

It cited a survey of 1,015 passengers that was conducted by the U.S. Travel Association, where 60 percent of respondents declared that they would be happy to pay as much as $4 more per ticket.

That’s as long as the collected revenues would be used to improve choice and efficiency. What’s more, 70 percent of the passengers say that the air travel options they are presented with are inadequate, especially given all the fees that they are currently paying.

If you show passengers “ a local user fee that is tightly structured to invest in our outdated and overburdened infrastructure, they understand the difference and strongly support it,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.

One of the problems is that the Passenger Facility Charge has not been updated to account for inflation in 15 years. At the same time, our airport infrastructure is declining in quality when compared to facilities in other parts of the world. If Americans start paying more fees that will be earmarked to improve their travel experience, there is a chance that airports will be restored to their former glory days.

At MTC Limousine, we are always interested in hearing from our customers about their travel experiences. What do you think? Would you be willing to spend more on fees if you knew they would be allocated toward improving the experience of air travelers? If so, what is the maximum amount that you would consider paying?

Originally published at MTC Limousine & Corporate Coach.