United raises prices at the bar

CHICAGO, July 3 (UPI) -- United Airlines has raised prices at the bar and hopes to raise $1 billion annually from a variety of fees and services, a spokesman for the U.S. company said.

United will bump the price of in-flight alcoholic drinks on domestic flights by $1 to $6 and begin serving larger snack packages -- chips, cookies and trail mix among them -- on some flights for $3 apiece, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

For now, the airline will continue with the free half-ounce snacks and drinks they already distribute to passengers, spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said.

But, that could change in the future, she said.

New fees for checking bags and new services, like jumbo sized snacks, could result in passengers switching to Southwest Airlines, which is promoting itself the airline resisting the rush to add fees, the Tribune reported.

"The question is how many of those travelers do they send over to their competitor, Southwest?" said Tom Parsons of BestFares.com.