New airline checked bag fees: An arm for the first bag, a leg for the second.....

[marmar]

AMR Boosts Bag Fees to Finish Increases at Full-Fare Airlines
By Ed Dufner


Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- AMR Corp.’s American Airlines boosted fees for checking bags, completing increases among the biggest U.S. full-fare carriers as the industry seeks revenue from sources other than tickets.

The charge for a first checked bag will be $25, and a second piece will be $35, American said today in a PR Newswire statement. The prices, which apply to coach fares in the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, had been $20 and $30, according to the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline’s Web site.

American joined Delta Air Lines Inc., UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, Continental Airlines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. in adopting higher fees. Southwest Airlines Co., the biggest discounter, doesn’t charge for the first two bags.

Airlines are turning to luggage fees and fuel surcharges to generate cash because the charges remove uncertainty linked to fare increases, which carriers typically rescind unless competitors match the higher rate.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&sid=a0pV72DoxXx4

[Learning Nomad]

1. Just flew to LA on United for $330 while my bags flew for $100

[likesmountains 52]

2. Pretty soon it'll just be cheaper to buy a seat for your luggage.

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. Fly Southwest if you can, bags fly for free.

:silly:

[CTyankee]

8. When I fly SW to Burbank from Hartford I have a 13 hour day.

I am too old for that now. I am going out of Boston's Logan to Burbank with only one brief stop at JFK (SW has at least 2 stops on the way to Burbank) and arriving 8 hours later. I think that pretty soon I'll be able to fly Boston direct to Burbank. Since I have family in MA, near the Logan Express exit off the Pike I can do this easily...my family drops me off and picks me up...

Oh, joy, I can do this to Europe also!

[MineralMan]

14. So? That's the cost of your trip. If it wasn't the luggage fee, they'd

raise the price of the seat. Even so, airlines are having trouble staying solvent.

[paulsby]

28. i like this

since i almost always don't check any bags.

it distributes the costs, such that those who "use more" e.g. check bags, pay more.

[AndyA]

3. Is it any wonder people hate flying?

There's absolutely no fun in it anymore, between long lines, strip searches, baggage fees, rude passengers, people who smell and look like they haven't had a bath for two weeks, etc.

It's no wonder people don't like it.

[marmar]

6. And I used to really enjoy flying.....Getting to the airport early, having a drink....

....or even a backrub at Ora Oxygen.

Now I just dread it......For the trip I take most often (Detroit-Chicago), it's all Amtrak now.

[Thothmes]

9. Agree. In days gone past, flying was rather enjoyable

now it rates some where between a colonoscopy and a root canal on my "fun meter".

[MineralMan]

11. When did you last fly?

Seriously...when?

[Mojambo]

5. If you've ever flown coach there's no room for arms and legs anyway. n/t

[MineralMan]

12. Really? I'm 6'1", about 190, and I fly coach all the time.

It's a little cramped, but I somehow manage flights up to 5 hours. It's not crippling. It's not even that bad.

[Mojambo]

18. What airline do you work for? n/t

[Purveyor]

7. Higher Airline Baggage Fees Create Opportunity For Luggage Shippers

The announcements this week that three of the country's largest airlines are again increasing baggage fees came as bad news for airline passengers, who must already pay for such extras as blankets, pillows and snacks.

But the higher fees are good news to Zeke Adkins, co-founder of Luggage Forward, a Boston business that ships luggage door-to-door for travelers who want to avoid the hassles of checking bags at the airport.

"Every time the airlines increase their fees, it translates into increased bookings for us," he said.

He is not alone in seeing the higher airline fees as an opportunity.

United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx Corp. and the U.S. Postal Service have all encouraged airline passengers to ship their luggage instead of hauling it through a crowded airport.

MORE...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase16-2010jan16,0,1455726.story

[CTyankee]

10. If it works, it's great. I know someone who did this a few years back and his luggage didn't come

for DAYS. It was a real problem.

Hopefully, UPS and etc. can get this done more swiftly. I'd do it if I thought it was reliable and FAST. Nothing like spending 4 days in a foreign country with the only clothes you have are the ones on your back...

[MineralMan]

13. Yes, well. I know a guy who flew a few years back who lost

his checked luggage on the airline. What's your point? There's always a risk of that, although it is very, very small. My luggage has never gone missing, nor has any package I've ever shipped via any package service, including USPS, UPS, or FedEx. Anyone can come up with a person "a few years back" who had a problem.

Next issue, please...

[Hekate]

36. Nothing like a little snark from the lucky. I wore sweats to my Mother's funeral.

I have no idea where my good clothes were, nor the copy of the poem she wanted me to read. The airline found my bag about the time I was to fly home.

Fortunately the sweats in question were more like a charcoal gray coordinated outfit -- it could have been a lot worse, I could have chosen to fly in the bright green ones.

Hekate

[TeeYiYi]

16. I'm now traveling a whole lot lighter...

A few years ago, my luggage was lost on a 5 week trip to Europe. I had checked it with the airline, but it apparently had plans of its own. It did eventually show up, but what a pain.

Fast forward --->> I just returned from a 2 week holiday getaway which involved 5 different planes including connecting flights. I traveled with just 2 bags...both carry-ons.

You'd be amazed at how liberating that can be to travel so lightly on a trip of more than a few days. In the past, you'd have thought I was in the process of moving somewhere with as much luggage as I thought I required.

I'm getting too old to drag around multiple heavy suitcases with the illusion that friends and/or family will always be there to help me wrangle them to and from the airport. Baggage check/claim, fees and lost luggage are, for me, forever to be a thing of the past.

I'm in the process of further streamlining my travel technique. In addition to packing even lighter, I plan to invest in one perfect carry-on that meets the requirements of any and all airlines. My second bag investment will be the perfect smaller, personal carry-on to accommodate a laptop, other electronics, makeup and one change of clothes.

That's how I plan to roll from now on. As close to a nomad as reasonably possible. :thumbsup:

TYY

[CTyankee]

24. My travel buddy on art trips has a great system. She packs old shirts and underwear.

Things she'd give to Goodwill or just throw out. Then, in the course of the trip, she discards them one by one. The only clothing remaining are pants and a skirt and her shoes. By the end of her trip she has made room for anything she has bought on the trip. Of course, she always keeps a change in her carry on and her toiletry items. It's a good system and she doesn't have to wash as much in the hotel bathroom sink...

I've started to do this myself and it's a wonderful system. It keeps you travelling lighter and lighter...and you come back with your old clothes disposed of...

[TeeYiYi]

25. Art trips?...

Sounds like a good concept in theory...

Personally, I pack my best clothes. :D

TYY

[CTyankee]

27. My buddy and I have been on 3 art ventures: Italy, Spain and Portugal.

We've tramped through many a museum, church, Roman ruin, etc. She actually uses layering to get away with doing this. But even so, her "old" clothes are of pretty high quality as she is pretty well off financially. She also packs one good outfit. So I've learned from her...take a few tops, put the old shirts underneath them, pack a few pairs of slacks that match with the tops. It works really well...you should try it! You can look good without looking grungy.

[TeeYiYi]

29. That's kind of how I do it now re: layering...

... except that I'm not as well off financially as your buddy. Seriously, I like the concept. I'm pretty bad about forgetting clothes wherever I go anyway. I'll try it.

Thanks for explaining 'art trips.'

TYY :hi:

[CTyankee]

31. I have a designated "Europe" bag, soft sided but with wheels. I keep

my basic stock of stuff in the side pockets and carry the barest minimum of stuff in the carry on.

I'm planning on investing in a more up to date bag this year...mine was a marked down number at TJ Maxx and isn't the easiest to maneuver. As I get older I am forced to be more practical and travel lighter...

[meow2u3]

15. Additional checked baggage fees

Carry-on bag: a pint of blood

Third checked baggage: one of your kidneys

Children's checked baggage: your firstborn

:grr:

[Auggie]

17. Enough with the bullshit -- just raise the fare

[LuckyLib]

19. Stupid idiots. Charge people to carry ON the luggage. The cabins are already

jammed to rafters and it takes 20 minutes to deplane because huge numbers of folks put 2-3 pieces overhead, not to mention the folks who cannot lift their own luggage to the overhead rack and have to get some kind person to do it for them.

$100 per bag to put your roller bag up in the overhead. Period.

[marmar]

20. Yep. I've been nearly decapitated by people yanking big ass bags out of the overhead....

.... then swinging them down without looking to see who's next to them.

[Greyskye]

34. I think the idiots are the ones who pay to check bags when they don't need to.

My family of 3 just went on an 5 day international trip. For less then the cost of checking 3 bags round trip; we bought luggage that exactly fits in the overhead bins. Not only did we not have to wait around to collect our luggage, when we had a one hour delay before transferring planes, our luggage stayed with us. We would have had to wait around for hours at our final destination waiting for our checked luggage to catch up with us, as we only ended up with about 20 minutes to change planes.

We were actually complemented numerous times by both flight attendants and other passengers on our efficient and colorful (one each, blue, gold and green) roller bags.

And no hapless bystanders were injured or put out by our completely legitimate use of the overhead luggage bins. :eyes:

[DemoTex]

21. The heirloom international airline JAL is filing for bankruptcy.

More bankrupt airlines around the corner. My airline is holding on by a thread (after three bankruptcies already). My pension was terminated on 3/31/2003.

Airlines are dead and don't know it. So are their employees. And, with the airlines, goes what is left of the US economy.

The buzzards circle. But who wants to fly on Buzzard Air?

Beware of cabotage (foreign airlines flying US domestic routes). It is where the GOP had the US airlines headed. Bu$h admitted that to an ALPA question in the 2000 election.

And you are complaining about a relatively small fee to carry extra weight? Give me a break.

[marmar]

22. Sorry, but $50 roundtrip is not a "small fee" for a checked bag.

[lib2DaBone]

23. Who would ever have thought a traveler would have luggage?

Flying these days is a miserable ordeal.. thanks to the TSA, overbooked flights, cuts in service.

I'd rather eat bugs and suffer paper cuts than fly somewhere.. (IMHO) lol

[invictus]

26. K&R

[JDPriestly]

30. I'm thinking that fast rail is looking better and better.

Could we get fast rail that also handles freight? We should build a fast rail right across the middle of America. Tell the extreme right that we are going to make it in the form of interlocking crosses, a nearly straight line across the middle of the country and two vertical lines stretching from north to south across California and the east coast. Two crosses across America. That should help sell it to the Christian right.

Seriously, when you consider the fares and the discomfort and the cost of carrying luggage on board, air travel is a huge pain.

We used to get hot food on planes. Now it's snacks on most flights. We used to have a little more room for our feet. Now we are cramped in and barely able to get in and out of our seats or even wiggle around. Forget sleeping. You can't stretch out at all and you wake up with a cramped neck.

Flying is not only too expensive, but also uncomfortable. And when I think about the hours the pilots work and the low pay they receive for what they are doing, I wonder whether the pilots are adequately trained and whether it is really safe to fly these days.

[CTyankee]

32. Gee, wasn't airline deregulation a great thing? nt

[Hekate]

35. Fast rail will work really well for my trip to Ireland this May! Seriously, I'd like it CA to MA

I would very much like fast rail to get across my own continent; I hate flying these days.

Hekate

[NuttyFluffers]

33. i try to regularly not fly those carriers on average. foreign carriers often are better, IME...

Singapore Airlines is still my favorite coach airline experience by far. i'd easily recommend it for everyone. LAN Chile was pretty decent, if a bit dated. I hear Korean Air and ETA are stellar, but haven't flown them. JAL is too cramped however. miss Swissair, but at least KLM is still around. wish our American air carriers were half as good as they were in the early 1980's, though. to think i've gotten to the point where i miss TWA... and as a child i HATED Pan Am, now i can only look back fondly. the golden age of flying is definitely gone, it's such a miserable experience now.