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PaperclipPerfector  27d ago (text post)   2278 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 22, 2024

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Yeah, I don't think US has a lot of those nickel-and-dime airlines - United has some attempt at it with "Basic" but that has many exceptions.

My understanding was that Spirit was the US equivalent of Ryanair (the scuzziest and most successful of the EU low-cost airlines). Southwest were low-cost once, but last time I was in the US they generally cost more than basic economy on the crappified full-service airlines.

But the thing that makes Ryanair so successful is that the underlying hard product just works. The planes get you from A to B, on time, and cheaply if you follow the easy-to-understand rules about things like bag sizes. I prefer Easyjet, but probably only because there is something about the aesthetics of stepping onto a Ryanair plane which somehow rubs in the fact that you must be falling out of the upper-middle class.

Interestingly, Southwest has the best default service package now - free checked bags, no change fees, etc.

Spirit is definitely seen as lower class.

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