Bitcoin_LYFE on Nostr: Bent Measuring Stick Airlines figured out they do not have to sell you a better seat ...
Bent Measuring Stick
Airlines figured out they do not have to sell you a better seat if they can sell you relief from a worse one.
Somewhere along the way, paying extra stopped meaning extra legroom and started meaning the basic comfort of knowing where your family will sit.
Italy’s antitrust authority has opened an investigation into easyJet over how baggage fees are displayed on its website and app, including bundled options and the way round-trip charges are shown. The complaint is about baggage pricing, but it points to a larger travel experience many people already recognize: the advertised fare gets your attention, and the real price reveals itself one decision at a time.
There is nothing wrong with charging more for more value. Better seats, extra space, early boarding, premium service — those are choices. The drift begins when the fee is no longer attached to something better, but to avoiding something worse: being separated, losing predictability, or discovering that the low fare was only the first number in a longer transaction.
That distinction matters because the base price may still be technically true while no longer telling the customer what the trip is likely to cost. The real price unfolds through the checkout path: bags, seats, bundles, defaults, processing fees, and small decisions that become less optional once the trip is already in motion.
The issue has become visible enough that U.S. regulators proposed barring airlines from charging families extra to sit with young children when adjacent seats are available. That does not make every airline fee unfair, but it does show how far the logic has moved from paying extra for luxury toward paying extra to preserve ordinary expectations.
The product is advertised as one number, but the trip is priced through a series of small decisions that only appear after the customer is already moving through the process.
The fare gets the click; the path reveals the price.
#Airlines #Travel #EconomicDrift
Published at
2026-05-27 11:28:47 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Bent Measuring Stick\nAirlines figured out they do not have to sell you a better seat if they can sell you relief from a worse one.\n\nSomewhere along the way, paying extra stopped meaning extra legroom and started meaning the basic comfort of knowing where your family will sit.\n\nItaly’s antitrust authority has opened an investigation into easyJet over how baggage fees are displayed on its website and app, including bundled options and the way round-trip charges are shown. The complaint is about baggage pricing, but it points to a larger travel experience many people already recognize: the advertised fare gets your attention, and the real price reveals itself one decision at a time.\n\nThere is nothing wrong with charging more for more value. Better seats, extra space, early boarding, premium service — those are choices. The drift begins when the fee is no longer attached to something better, but to avoiding something worse: being separated, losing predictability, or discovering that the low fare was only the first number in a longer transaction.\n\nThat distinction matters because the base price may still be technically true while no longer telling the customer what the trip is likely to cost. The real price unfolds through the checkout path: bags, seats, bundles, defaults, processing fees, and small decisions that become less optional once the trip is already in motion.\n\nThe issue has become visible enough that U.S. regulators proposed barring airlines from charging families extra to sit with young children when adjacent seats are available. That does not make every airline fee unfair, but it does show how far the logic has moved from paying extra for luxury toward paying extra to preserve ordinary expectations.\n\nThe product is advertised as one number, but the trip is priced through a series of small decisions that only appear after the customer is already moving through the process.\n\nThe fare gets the click; the path reveals the price.\n\n#Airlines #Travel #EconomicDrift",
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