Tuesday, 04 August 2009
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Airline Baggage Fee Rants
Unfortunately, I do not get to travel as often as I would like. Upon accompanying my best friend's mother at JFK International Airport, I watched the familiar check in process. I'm familiar with the new baggage rules where if your bag weighs too much, expect to pay some out of pocket cash. Her check-in bag was 18 pounds over and would cost a whopping $150 extra to make its way to Russia.
As a traveler, Don't I have enough to worry about? I'm about to go (Well, not me, but for the sake of the article, I'll put myself in her shoes) on a 10 hour direct flight to Moscow to visit family, now do I have time to worry about a sudden ridiculous fee for over packing? Her daughter brought up a great argument. It makes no sense that the plane can accommodate extra weight, for a price. Is the plane going to tip over if everyone pays for extra baggage on the plane? It does not seem safe to me, but for a cost, It's okay! To her, its just a way for the airline to make money!
In the end, the mother distributed her belongings to her pretty empty carry on bag and was able to rebound the extra fee.
Take a look at the various airline charges for extra weight and size for a checked in bag.
Chart SourceAirline
First checked bag
Second checked bag
Additional bags
Overweight bags
Oversized bags Airtran $0$15$10 paid online, $20 at airport$25
$50 51-70 lbs (23-32kgs):
$29$39
71 to 99 lbs:
$69$7962-70 total linear inches: $29$39; 71-80 inches$69$79Alaska $0 ($15 eff. 7/1/2009) $0$25
3rd-6th bags: $100; 7th or more: $150 51-100 lbs: $50 63-80 inches: $50; 81-115 inches: $75 American $20 $30 Bags 3-5: $100; 6th or more: $200 51-70 lbs (23-32kgs): $50; 71-100 lbs: $100. These fees may be higher on international routes 63 inches and over: $150 Continental $15 ($5 more if not paid online) $25 ($5 more if not paid online) $75 nonstop/$100 connecting 51-70 lbs (23-32kgs): $50
Over 70 lbs not accepted.63 inches and over: $100 Delta $15 ($5 more if not paid online) $25 ($5 more if not paid online) $50 for European travel Third bag: $125; Bags 4 to 10 $200 each (For travel outside US, no fee for 2nd bag, $200 for 3rd bag, $350 for 4th and 5th, $600 for bags 6-10). 51-70 lbs (23-32kgs): $90 ($150 for travel outside US)
71 to 100 lbs: $175 ($300 each outside US)63-80 total linear inches: $150$175
Frontier $0$15$25 $50 51-100 lbs: $75 63-80 inches: $75 JetBlue $0 $20 $75 51-70 lbs: $50; 71-99 lbs: $100 63-80 inches: $75 Northwest See Delta See Delta See Delta See Delta See Delta Spirit $19 $25 (online or at airport) Bags 3-5: $100 (online or at airport) 51-70 lbs: $50
71 to 99 lbs: $100
62-79 inches: $100; 80 inches and over: $150 Southwest $0 $0 First additional bag: $25; bags 4-9: $50; 10 and more: $110 51-70 lbs: $25; 71-100 lbs: $50 62-80 inches: $50 United $20 ($5 discount if paid online) $30 ($5 discount if paid online) Bags 1-4: $125; 5th or more: $250 $100 63-115 inches: $125 US Airways $20 at airport, $15 online $30 at airport, $25 online Bags 3-9: $100 51-70 lbs (23-32kgs): $70
71 to 99 lbs: $120
62-80 total linear inches: $100
How do you feel about baggage fees? Have you had to pay extra to bring your belongings abroad?
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Comments (10)
i was taking northwest airlines home and they expected my bro and i to each pay like 50$for our suitcases for some reason. But once they found out we were just flying back to Canada they said it didnt apply or something
I think I get two free bags.. or something...
The fact that most of the airlines have adopted this strategy tells me that it must be working- which means the consumers must be to blame for this- people must be willing to choose the airline with the cheapest airfare with the baggage fee over an airline that has a higher price with no fee.
yah, this is just a horrible trend. i'm glad southwest is coming to NYC!
it's been a few years since i've flown, but i barely pack as much as my parents or sisters. just one suitcase for baggage which is just mainly stuffed with clothes and a toothbrush (figured i couldn't take mouthwash or toothpaste with me during that time
)
then most of my stuff was carry-on (which i don't stuff as much compared to my other family) so i don't really worry as much
(even on a sixteen hour flight)
I got totally thrown off the first time I ran into this (around Christmas of last year) and got charged a whopping $40 a bag (one suitcase of presents, and one of clothes, oy...). Since I learned my kinda expensive lesson, all trips since I've packed into my carry-on--and it seems like everyone else had this idea too. The airlines have seemed pretty lax about what is or isn't carry-on sized. On a flight out from JFK we got delayed for a good hour since half the plane's carry-on had the be checked. The first people to board had already filled the overhead compartments, and many of those bins got jammed shut by being forced to close over suitcases that were waaay too big. That was the most extreme, but each flight is pretty much the same. Insanity.
Last summer, I had to check in about bags between my mother and I because I was moving for college in a different state. It was so expensive. Over $100 for what? After that I use a carry on when I went back home for winter break.
This year, to save money, I'm leaving from an airport that is 45 mins away from my house so I could use JetBlue. (who really needs to come to Miami) They have no fee for the 1st bagged checked in (I'm only bring one checked bag) and the airfare was cheaper.
I read somewhere that the airlines made over 1 billion dollars from checked bags. They are getting all this money, they should at least make airfares a little less.
Easy solution: Pack less (pack smart).
I don't even notice the additional expense - it's a privilege, not a right. You don't like it, don't pack so much or expect to cough up some dough as those fees aren't hidden from you in any way and you should be fully aware... instead of just whining about it.
You (the consumer) are not the only ones penny pinching. They could just as easily increase airfare across the board. Of course it's a way for airlines to make money, without profit companies cannot exist but you do have other options... like getting on a fucking boat.
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