Ticketmaster is one of the problems with going to concerts these days. Everyone talks about how expensive tickets to concerts have become thanks to all the fees imposed by Ticketmaster Entertainment.

It looks as though Ticketmaster may become a bit less powerful now, however. AEG is thinking about replacing Ticketmaster with Tickets.com (it is owned by Major League Baseball and Veritix Inc). Of course, AEG says that it might change its mind if Ticketmaster and Live Nation merge into one company.

If Life Nation and Ticketmaster to merge, then almost all the concerts in the United States will be ticketed through Ticketmaster and everyone can pay ridiculous fees if they want to go see their favorite acts live.

AEG accounts for just under 10% of all of Ticketmaster’s sales.

It looks as though AEG has some time to think about it though. The report to Bloomberg said that the contract between the two companies doesn’t even expire until July 2012.

I have not purchased a ticket from Ticketmaster since I was 14 and saw Nsync in concert. Since then, all of the concerts I have seen have been in bars and small venues that did not have a ticketing system like this, or they were free. I remember, even then, that the tickets were quite expensive and the fees that were tacked on to each ticket were simply outrageous. I believe that a $20 surcharge for “Ticketmaster fees” is too much when the ticket only costs $30.

Earlier this summer Live Nation actually reduced the fees it charged for tickets because people weren’t attending concerts like they used to. It was partially because tickets were too expensive and also because people didn’t have the money that they once did.

I wish that venues would sell their own tickets rather than going through a third party system like Ticketmaster. Enough people have the internet now that no one has to wait in lines outside their local grocery store waiting for tickets to go on sale (which is what we had to do when the Nsync tickets went on sale…it was in 1999 when I bought the tickets so give me a break!).

It looks like the airlines are at it again. They are really wanting to get any money that they can from you, the flyer, whenever and however they can. They pull dirty, sneaky tricks and expect consumers to just fall for them or accept them as the way it is. However, it kind of is “just the way it is” because I think in the United States, we have become accustomed to being kicked around by the airline industry.

So, what have the airlines done this time? Well, they have decided, all within hours of each other, to start charging an extra $10 per ticket if you decide you want to fly during the busiest travel days of the year.

The $10 charge that the airlines are imposing will be in the form of a “miscellaneous surcharge” that will be added to all the tickets that are for the days of November 29th, January 2nd, and January 3rd. The four airlines that have all decided to go this route are American Airlines, Delta, Northwest, and U.S. Airways.

Of course U.S. Airways has decided to take part in a new kind of charge. This is the same company that keeps increasing its baggage fees and even charges you an extra $5 if you want to check-in your baggage at the desk in the airport. That is outrageous in my honest opinion. When I was in Maryland for my cousin’s wedding in July, I asked my uncle if I could use his computer to print out my check-in information and when I told him that it would cost me an extra $5 if I waited until I got to the airport he looked at me and said, “Wow…that’s outrageous.”

So, when you go shopping for those plane tickets for this holiday season, remember that not only will you be paying extra for checked baggage, but now you also have to consider this new fee. That means when you’re looking at Orbitz or wherever you go to buy your tickets, the price that you’re seeing is not the price that you will pay. In some instances, your ticket will cost $30 or more than what the internet says. At least that is my understand of how this fee will work.
My guess is that the airlines don’t want to give you an upfront quote due to the fact that the lower price they actually see on the website will draw some customers in who are simply looking for the cheapest fare.

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