My wife and I have decided to visit her parents in Arizona this week, we decided that we would try a new airline service called swoop. We went online and found the price for the flight reasonable. And proceeded to go through the checklist on the site.
It was an odd process, with certain things not clearly explained, especially for a new site and new service. For instance, it asks you if you want to have a carry on bag and if you do it costs extra depending on the size. But what it doesn't explain clearly is that you are allowed a carry on bag for free if it's not larger than a laptop case or purse, maybe even a school backpack. I must have read through that part of the agreement at least 20 times. We didn't pay for a carry on and thank god we didn't, even though we were worried and unsure if we had understood correctly when we got to the airport.
The next issue was seat selection, they want you to prepay for your seat, and they keep trying to put the fear into you by saying that you won't be able to sit next to your loved ones if you don't prepay for your seat. We got fooled on this one and prepaid for our seats when we didn't have to. There is hardly anyone on this plane, and after we were all loaded on, the pilot informed us we could sit where we wanted.
While waiting in the airport to board our plane, an advertisement was broadcast continuous over the intercom, telling us to download the swoop app for live entertainment via internet before we boarded the plane, as we would not be able to download it after we were in the air. I briefly thought about it but decided against it, because I hate giving out my email and getting spammed for the rest of my life because of a one time use. Beside I have my laptop and books and whatnot, I don't need the internet all the time. If you had kids I imagine you might download the app.
After we were in the air I did look to see if the internet worked and found out it was 7 dollars per hour per device! Holy Mother Of God. There was a dude sitting in the isle next to me with two tablets his phone and a laptop all on the internet that he and his wife were using. That's 28 dollars per hour people, we were on a three hour flight! That's just about 90 dollars, and this couple had to fly back too so let's add another 90 bucks on top of that, 180.00 dollars for 6 hours use of the internet. Ridiculous.
Here is my version of how this should work, you buy your plane tickets, everything is included, a drink, the internet, assigned seating, and a carry on bag. Easy and simple. Once word gets out more people will use it as a service. Using sneaky underhanded phrasing, hidden fees, and bullshit prices, for things that you are asked to pay for, using a scare tactics is just a horrible business model.
People like simple when it comes to traveling, There is nothing worse than getting ripped off before you even leave your country. It's a heads up to all you other travelers out there.
Scott Goerz
