In case you've never had the unfortunate occasion to have to book a last-minute flight after a loved one died, you should know that airlines offered a specially discounted fare - it was called a Bereavement Rate. Well, American Airlines and United Airlines have cancelled those special discounts despite making record profits. The Los Angeles Times reports....
"Air fares declined last year but are on the rise again. Even though fuel costs remain at crazy-low levels, airlines have attempted six fare hikes since January and three have stuck, raising the average round-trip ticket cost by $22.
And don't forget fees for such things as extra bags and more legroom. Consulting firm IdeaWorksCompany estimates that carriers made almost $11 billion from various fees last year, up 24% from a year before.
Many airlines are still even hitting passengers with a fuel surcharge, although now they call it a "carrier-imposed surcharge."
Meanwhile, the 10 publicly traded U.S. passenger airlines saw combined profit of $24.2 billion last year, according to a recent estimate by the industry group Airlines for America.
That's three times as much as the $7.3 billion they earned a year earlier — when American and United could no longer bring themselves to muster financial sympathy for grieving passengers."
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