Airline Surcharges II

I've laughed so hard it gripped my shit

This posting of mine on Jan 12th spoke of a $50 round-trip fuel surcharge being introduced by Delta & US Airways. I commented on how fake it was to be described as a 'surcharge'.

On Jan 15th Delta and US rescinded the surcharge saying they, in fact, wanted to remain "competitive" with other airlines who had not introduced the surcharge.

Good news.

Good news only until Jan 17th, when American and Delta Airlines introduced a new $40 surcharge, a fee instantly mirrored just one day later by United and Continental.

Of course, there's absolutely NO collusion whatsoever between these primary carriers. It's a mere quirky coincidence that they all thought of their price increases (which is what this actually represents, albeit one shrouded outside the airlines 'advertised prices') within 24 hours of one another.

I'm sure they'll spin this as consumers being ten bucks better off than $40 to the poorer.