Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 590, Paying Airline Fees.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 590.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in In beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpodcom.
Download a learning guide for this episode that contains all of the vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions, cultural notes, comprehension questions and a complete transcript of everything we say.
This dialogue contains lots of vocabulary related to taking an airplane, specifically about paying for certain things on the airlines in the United States.
Let's get started.
So that's the plan.
We drive to San Francisco, then to Portland, then to Seattle, and then to Vancouver.
What?
Why are we driving to Vancouver instead of flying?
Haven't you noticed all of the fees the airlines are tacking on these days?
First, there were the fuel surcharges, and now there is a whole slew of added fees.
Like what?
Well, there's a checked baggage fee for one.
On some airlines, you have to pay to check just one bag and each additional bag is another fee.
If you have oversized or overweight bags, that's another fee.
Okay, I don't like fees either, but I don't think that justifies driving all the way to Vancouver.
Well, let me tell you about some of the other fees.
Do you want a snack or a meal on the flight?
You're going to have to shell out for those now.
Do you want to fly standby?
Yes, it used to be free but not anymore.
Do you want to make your reservation by phone instead of on the internet?
That's another fee.
Do you want a pillow or a blanket for your long flight?
Okay, but that's another fee.
Okay, don't get worked up.
I see what you mean.
They really know how to nickel and dime you.
Once we add all of those fees to the base fare, I guess flying isn't such a good deal.
But do you really want us to drive three days to get to Vancouver?
What's the problem with driving?
Oh, I don't know.
Maybe it's the fact that I have only a week for vacation.
As soon as we get to Vancouver, we'll have to turn back.
Justine begins by saying, So that's the plan.
We drive to San Francisco, then to Portland. then to Seattle, and then to Vancouver.
So they're planning some sort of driving trip.
We would call it a road trip, where you drive a long distance on vacation.
If they live in Los Angeles, and we'll guess they do...
They're going to first drive north to San Francisco here in California, in Northern California, then to Portland, which is located in Oregon, the state just north of California.
Then they're going to drive to Seattle, which is located in the state north of Oregon called Washington, and finally to Vancouver, which is part of the province of British Columbia in Canada.
Howie says, what?
Why are we driving to Vancouver instead of flying?
Justine says, haven't you noticed all of the fees the airlines are tacking on these days?
A fee is money that you pay to do something.
It could also be money paid for some professional service like a lawyer or an accountant.
The library, for example, charges you a late fee if you bring the book back after the time that you were supposed to have it.
When you fly an airplane or in an airplane in the United States, you have to pay for your ticket, but there are also additional fees, additional money that you have to pay the airline for, all sorts of things.
This has become especially true in the last five to seven years.
To tack, T-A-C-K, on, is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to add something, to include something in addition to the other things.
The airlines are tacking on fees.
They're charging you for more and more things.
First, Justine says, there were the fuel surcharges, and now there is a whole slew of added fees.
I should mention that TAC has a number of different meanings in English, and those can be found in the learning guide.
A surcharge S-U-R-C-H-A-R-G-E is money that you have to pay in addition to the normal cost of something.
Often this is done temporarily.
When the gasoline prices increased dramatically a few years ago, the airlines, in addition to charging you for your ticket, began requiring you to pay a surcharge, even more money, because they said they had to pay more money to get the gasoline, the fuel to fly the plane.
Justine refers to a whole slew, S-L-E-W, of fees.
A whole slew of something is a lot of something, many of whatever it is.
How he says like what.
What are these added fees?
Justine says...
There's a checked baggage fee for one meaning for the first example.
Baggage refers to your bags or luggage that you put your clothing and other things into in order to travel.
When you check your luggage, you don't take them with you onto the airplane.
You leave them with the airplane employee, the airline employee, and they put it below on the bottom of the plane.
Most U.S. airlines now will make you pay anywhere between $15 and $25 to check a bag.
On some airlines, Justine continues, you have to pay to check just one bag.
And each additional bag is another fee, usually higher.
If you have oversize or overweight bags, there's another fee.
An oversize something is something that is larger than is usually allowed.
Too large.
Overweight is something that is heavier than the normal rules permit.
Something that is too heavy.
When you say, my friend is really overweight, you mean they are too heavy.
They need to stop eating all of those McDonald's hamburgers and french fries.
Howie says, okay, I don't like fees either.
Howie says he doesn't think it justifies driving.
To justify J-U-S-T-I-F-Y means to provide a reasonable explanation for something to be a good reason to do something.
We have an old saying the ends meaning your goals, what you are trying to achieve, do not justify the means, meaning the way that you try to do it.
Just because something is important really important doesn't mean you can do anything in order to get that.
The ends don't justify the means.
Justine says, well, let me tell you about some of the other fees.
Do you want a snack or a meal on the flight?
A snack would be a small something to eat, less than a meal.
She says, you're going to have to shell out for those now.
To shell, S-H-E-L-L, out for something means to pay for something.
It's a two-word phrasal verb.
Usually, we use this when we are paying for something we don't really want to pay for.
She continues, Do you want to fly standby?
To fly standby... means to wait to see if there is room on a plane that is already full.
That is, you don't have a ticket for the plane, but you are hoping perhaps because you arrived early at the airport or late at the airport, you can get on a plane other than the one you have a ticket for.
That's called flying standby. or to be on standby.
To standby means to wait, basically.
Justine says, it used to be free, but not anymore.
That is, flying standby.
She then says, do you want to make your reservation by phone instead of on the internet?
That's another fee.
Your reservation is an arrangement, an agreement you have with, in this case, the airline for a particular seat.
You can also have reservations at restaurants, at a hotel, and so forth.
Justine says, that's another fee.
Do you want a pillow or blanket for your long flight?
Your long trip?
Okay, but that's another fee.
Howie says, okay, don't get worked up.
To get worked up means to get excited, upset, angry, emotional.
He says, I see what you mean.
I understand what you're saying.
They really know how to nickel and dime you.
This is an old expression, to nickel and dime someone.
We'll often say, to nickel and dime someone to death means to make someone pay many small amounts of money that eventually add up to a lot of money.
A nickel is the coin in the U.S. worth five cents, five pennies.
A dime is worth ten cents.
Paying one nickel or one dime is not very much money.
But if they charge you a nickel and a dime for everything you do, eventually you'll see that is a lot of money.
Howie says once we add all of those fees to the base fare...
I guess flying isn't such a good deal.
The base fare is the basic price of your airplane ticket without the taxes or the other fees added.
Base just means basic in this case.
It's the first thing that the airline charges you for, and then they add things on top of that, such as tax and other fees.
Howie thinks that maybe flying isn't such a great deal, or a good deal, meaning it isn't cheap.
He says, but do you really want us to drive three days to get to Vancouver?
Justine says, what's the problem?
Howie says, oh, I don't know.
Maybe it's the fact that I only have a week for vacation.
As soon as we get to Vancouver, we'll have to turn back.
To turn back means to return, to go back the way you came.
That verb to turn has many meanings in English, especially in phrasal verbs.
Take a look at the learning guide for more information on that.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
So that's the plan.
We drive to San Francisco, then to Portland, then to Seattle, and then to Vancouver.
What?
Why are we driving to Vancouver instead of flying?
Haven't you noticed all of the fees the airlines are tacking on these days?
First there were the fuel surcharges, and now there's a whole slew of added fees.
Like what?
Well, there's a checked baggage fee for one.
On some airlines, you have to pay to check just one bag, and each additional bag is another fee.
If you have oversized or overweight bags, that's another fee.
Okay, I don't like fees either, but I don't think that justifies driving all the way to Vancouver.
Do you want to make your reservation by phone instead of on the internet?
That's another fee.
Do you want a pillow or a blanket for your long flight?
Okay, but that's another fee.
Okay, don't get worked up.
I see what you mean.
They really know how to nickel and dime you.
Once we add all of those fees to the base fare, I guess flying isn't such a good deal.
But do you really want us to drive three days to get to Vancouver?
What's the problem with driving?
Oh, I don't know.
Maybe it's the fact that I only have a week for vacation.
As soon as we get to Vancouver, we'll have to turn back.
There are a whole slew of scriptwriters out in the world, especially here in Los Angeles, but we prefer our own scriptwriter, Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2010 by the Center for Educational Development.
