And They Don't Serve Peanuts in the Baggage Hold
Last month I flew from Atlanta to Dallas and back. I had a mediation on a Thursday and Friday. If the case didn’t settle, I had a deposition on Monday. So I scheduled my return for Tuesday. I was pleased by the $209 fare.
Since I had to be ready for the deposition, I had a wheel bag full of paper in addition to a shoulder bag with clothes.
The first gotcha was the $25 charge for the second checked bag. That’s $25 EACH way, or $50, or just under 50% of the original fare.
Then, since we did settle the case at the mediation, I flew back on Saturday morning. That cost an extra $170 between the change fee and the fare differential. So we are up to $479, or about 240% of the original fare.
Delta announced today that it is doubling the second bag charge: I paid $50, it’s now $100. It is also charging stupid amounts for heavy baggage and an astounding $175 to check a piece that is between 62 and 80 inches, translation: golf clubs and skis.
I know the airline business is sucking; but, people aren’t going to pay these prices. My solution in the future: paper will be replaced by DVD’s with .pdf files of the paper and my friend in the shipping business will get a baby windfall for shipping golf clubs when necessary.
Looked at a bit differently, Delta is giving me a deal. I just spent $30 today to send two pieces of paper (admittedly nice bond) in a cardboard “envelope” that weighed more than the paper, from Atlanta to Anchorage via UPS “second day air” which is not guaranteed to get there on the second day. Fermi, pull out your calculator and tell me what it would cost to send me and two bags by UPS.
The silly thing about the UPS cost is that I sent the two pieces of paper as a .pdf attachment to an Email that got there a couple of seconds later; but, since it was a legal thing, I needed to be able to prove that the recipient actually got the paper.
We need to spend a lot of money developing the real Star Trek transporter. Again, Fermi? Fermi?
9 comments:
The transporter is cool, and having a replicator would be even better, but the holodeck is the best of the Star Trek inventions.
You know you could have sent those two pieces of paper in a flat rate USPS Express Mail legal sized envelope for $16.50, right? If it could wait 1-3 days, a priority mail flat rate envelope is just $4.80.
As for UPS, no calculator required. Just go to their website and enter the dimensions and weight, along with how fast you want it to get there, and they will give you the price for shipping.
Alas, I don't trust the USPS. It too often doesn't deliver, and when it does, it tends to be a wee bit late.
It wasn't all that long ago someone Fed ex'ed themselves across the States... He didn't fare to well. I don't remember much about the story other than the man that devised this wonderful plan left out a very important part. The little arrow that signifies "this end up". Keep that in mind when UPS'ing yourself Dave. That's about the only advice I have on that topic.
Your comments about the airlines and extra charges, etc., reminds me of a video a friend of mine sent me today. I would try to insert it here but I can't figure out how the hell to find the url for it to copy in here! RATS! And it was so darned appropriate for your topic too!
I'll see if maybe I can e-mail it to you as an attachment so if I do, and you get an e-mail from me with an attachment, you'll know what it is then.
Most likely before they invent a transporter you'll be doing your depositions over the internets.
Call me crazy...
but can't you RENT clubs and skis for significantly less than $175? Sure, they aren't the ones you know and love, but, crap, man, I'm guessing you aren't exactly Tiger Woods...
What do you care what it costs? The client pays.
Fax document with confirmation of reciept then send via first class for $.42. (or if you want suspenders with that - certified mail) A process that has so far not led to legal difficulties for me.
It's good to hear from you Ryan. For the rest of you, Ryan has recently expanded his family and will now have NO time to blog.
Doc, I'm looking forward to doing video depositions. Right now, most law offices don't have the equipment (mine included). And even if you do it by internet, you still have to send the paper to be physically marked into evidence by the court reporter where the witness is.
I don't ski Pos; but, most places you can rent clubs. Depending on what they have, it make sense. I do love my Pings though.
J, most of the time I Email and mail. As to cost, I've always subscribed to the school of billing that says if I think a cost is too high, the client may well. A secret to choosing hotels: ask the client where to stay, executives often stay at better places than I would have.
Oh, I think the airlines are going to realise that nickel and diming the customer isn't going to work. I'm just refusing to fly...of course, if I really do want to visit SF in October, I will have to fly, but Southwest will be getting my money.
Dave - I have had much better luck with the USPS than UPS...they will leave my packages while UPS would prefer I drive to a dangerous part of Detroit to get my packages. I cuss UPS out regularly.
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