CrazyAirlineFees.com's home page features a chart comparing the myriad add-ons that airlines are now charging in an effort to "unbundle" air fares and, in the end, wring the maximum revenues from travelers. Now, the site has declared May 1 as Bring Your Own Blanket Day to encourage passengers to bring their own blankets on board. Pretty soon, Linus, who goes nowhere without his blanket, will become the patron saint of fliers.
American Airlines' new $8 blanket-and-pillow fee in domestic economy cabins inspired this new "holiday." Obviously, it's a great attention-getter for this website and will surely drive traffic to it, but every day needs to be BYOB day -- like every day is now BYOF (Bring Your Own Food) Day. If this catches on, I'm half-anticipating American, maybe Spirit or an other carrier to start charging for blankets that passengers bring on board. I'll just keep wearing a jacket when I board rather than pack it. I've been doing this for a long time, because even when airlines had blankets and pillows available, there often weren't enough for all passengers -- especially in the rear of steerage.
"Forty winks in the air shouldn't cost you eight bucks," said Leonard Lee, a former airline pilot who founded of CrazyAirlineFees.com. According to the site, USAirways, JetBlue and Virgin America have been selling what they are calling "sleep kits" with blanket and pillow (hopefully freshly laundered since they are charging) and Lee added, some of them also "conveniently include an eyeshade and ear plugs so you don't have to listen to other passengers complaining about all the in-flight fees."
The site also offers the following info about blanket fees: "Delta Airlines is the only major U.S. airline that still provides free pillows and blankets for its Economy class passengers. Several airlines, including Continental, United and Southwest, no longer carry pillows and blankets onboard for their Economy class passengers. Southwest removed its pillows and blankets last year because of concerns during the H1N1 flu scare." I guess it was OK for front-cabin passengers to catch the flu!
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