American Airlines increasing ticket costs

I got this email yesterday saying that American was going to raise their ticket fees. The gist I get out of it is that they want people to order online, where they don’t have to pay a customer service rep to make the sale. If you need to buy form a person, you get to pay for that luxury… interesting, many banks do the same thing though.

Thank you for your business. To help us continue to offer high value and effectively compete in a fiercely competitive marketplace, American Airlines and American Eagle® will implement a $5 service fee for those tickets purchased via our U.S. reservations centers and a $10 fee for tickets purchased at U.S. airport locations. There is no booking fee for self-booking and ticketing on AA.com®.

Effective Monday, September 6, 2004, the non-refundable fee will apply per ticket, whether it is one-way or roundtrip, and also will apply to tickets redeemed as AAdvantage® program awards.

These steps are necessary to ensure that we can compete effectively in a marketplace where charging fees for personalized, value-added services is becoming a common practice. Low-cost carriers often charge a fee on tickets issued with the help of their reservations center or airport staff.

We appreciate your business and your continuing loyalty to American Airlines.