Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Airline Charges Not By The Seat But By The Pound

Here's a new concept in purchasing airline tickets; a Samoan airline is giving passengers
is selling tickets not by the seat, but by your weight. Samoa Air is now pricing flights based on the weight of its passengers and their bags. Depending on the flight, each kilogram (2.2 pounds) costs 93 cents to $1.06. And while there are some definite drawbacks to this (I have to disclose my weight when I buy a plane ticket??) I actually see a couple benefits to this:

1.) Every year I tell myself I'm going to lose weight before vacation so I can wear whatever I want and not have to worry about what I eat or drink while on vacation. This might actually encourage me to follow through on this one year. Not only to save some money, but also to save some embarrasment.

2.) I'm a serial overpacker. Going to Hawaii? Yeah, I probably don't need that evening gown and heels but I pack it anyway just to be safe. If I were paying for my luggage by weight though, changes are I'd throw a swimsuit and towel, shorts, sunscreen and a pair of Tevas in a carryon and call it good.

It also looks like it would be more economical. The average American man weighing 195 pounds with a 35-pound bag would pay $97 to go one-way between Apia, Samoa, and Pago Pago, American Samoa. Competitors typically charge $130 to $140 roundtrip for similar routes.

So how is this going to work out logistically? Oregon Live has the details.

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About SRTC

SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.