Hot travel app Hopper has a new way to help you avoid hidden airline fees
Hopper
The basic premise of Hopper is that you set up what days you want to fly, and then Hopper sends you push notifications telling you how prices are changing, and recommending when you should buy. Then you can buy your flight directly in the app.
It's been my go-to travel app for over a year, and I recently used it to book a one-way flight from San Francisco to New York for only $131.60 - cheap!
But my main gripe with Hopper has been that it's not always clear which tickets are going to have potential fees associated with them. Now Hopper is trying to change that with a new feature, which will give you "an overview of all the restrictions and fees related to cancellations, changes, carry-on baggage, checked baggage, and seat selection."
And as airlines continue to cut the base fares on flights by adding in sneaky fees, this will likely become more useful over time.
In conjunction with the new feature, Hopper also released a new report on the state of fees in the airline industry. Here's a few of the things Hopper found:
- Big re-booking fees. "Cancellations are almost never allowed (99%) for domestic trips, but tickets can almost always (98.8%) be changed for a fee, which will cost you $287 on average."
- You'll pay extra for bags. "Bags are no longer included and it'll cost an average of $25 to bring one piece of luggage, or $59 for two pieces. As more airlines roll out basic fares, you'll be expected to pay for your carry-on too. Frontier and Spirit both charge an average of $35 for carry-ons."
- International is a bit less crazy. "About two-thirds of international flights included at least one free bag, so that a trip with one piece of luggage adds only $9 with two pieces coming it at $55."
- But still. "About 10% of [international] itineraries offering cancellation for a fee which will cost you about $300. And, almost all (97.5%) international itineraries offer changes for about $250."
Download the app on iTunes or Google Play.
- I spent 2 weeks in India. A highlight was visiting a small mountain town so beautiful it didn't seem real.
- I quit McKinsey after 1.5 years. I was making over $200k but my mental health was shattered.
- Some Tesla factory workers realized they were laid off when security scanned their badges and sent them back on shuttles, sources say
- World Liver Day 2024: 10 Foods that are necessary for a healthy liver
- Essential tips for effortlessly renewing your bike insurance policy in 2024
- Indian Railways to break record with 9,111 trips to meet travel demand this summer, nearly 3,000 more than in 2023
- India's exports to China, UAE, Russia, Singapore rose in 2023-24
- A case for investing in Government securities