Comparing Airline Fees on Passenger Luggage
Baggage Fees are Hated, But May be Fairer Than Higher Ticket Prices
Aug 8, 2009
Sample: A senior citizen couple flying from New Orleans to New York to visit grandchildren checked three bags. They could have carried one of those on the plane, but didn’t think they could handle the weight, especially since they had to board planes outside by climbing steep portable metal steps.
Total Round Trip Fees $140
The cost for those three bags:
- $20 for the wife’s first checked bag
- $20 for the husband’s first checked bag
- $30 for the wife’s second checked bag
- Total one way: $70
- Total round trip fees: $140
Suddenly those tickets were not as cheap as the couple thought they were. Next trip, they plan to hold their luggage down to two bags, which isn’t always easy when visiting young grandchildren. But it would save them $60 for that third bag.
Reducing Luggage Fees
Money Saving Options:
- Ship some stuff ahead of time
- Carry less clothing and use a launderette
- Book online and save $5 per bag, with some airlines.
- Compare the available airlines’ latest fees. They do change, they’re not all the same, and they can be confusing.
According to airfarewatchdog.com, the following fees for checked bags were effective as of July 25, 2009. All are one way.
For one checked bag:
- Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue: $0
- Airtran, Alaska and Frontier: $15
- Spirit: $19
- Continental, Delta, Northwest, United and US Airways: $20, with a $5 discount for paying online.
- American: $20 (no online discount)
Charges for second checked bags:
- Southwest: $0
- Jetblue: $20
- Airtran, Alaska, Frontier and Spirit: $25
- Continental, Delta, Northwest, United and US Airways: $30, with a $5 discount if paid online.
- American: $30
Fees really jump for third checked bags:
- Southwest: $25
- Airtran and Frontier: $50
- Jet Blue: $75
- Continental: $75 for nonstop flights and $100 for connecting flights.
- Alaska, US Airways, Spirit and American: $100
- Delta, United and Northwest $125
Overweight and Oversized Luggage
From there it really gets complicated. Additional bags can cost $200 or more at some airlines. Overweight and oversized bags carry their own fees. International flights may have different luggage rates. Frequent flyers may get luggage discounts on some airlines.
Best strategy: Check with the airline for up-to-date rates before purchasing a ticket.
Are Luggage Fees Fair?
How fair are luggage charges? With fuel prices down from 2008 levels, should they be reduced. But assuming the airlines really need the luggage income, they would have to increase ticket prices if they dropped baggage fees.
Current thinking is that the passengers who bring the most weight to the plane should pay the most money because additional weight consumes more fuel. Some people have suggested that this theory should be extended to include the personal weight of individual passengers. Passengers would get on a scale with their baggage and pay accordingly.
In societies split between large segments of overweight people and fitness addicts, that suggestion could stir a lot of debate.
The airlines have not yet taken on that sensitive issue and so far are sticking with the one-seat-one-price structure.
Meantime, the pressure to carry on the maximum luggage allowed is creating unpleasantries inside the planes. Passengers competing for overhead space and squeezing bags into the bins is not always a pretty picture.
Critics have often accused the airlines of "nickel and dime-ing" passengers away with a multitude of extra fees and charges. But the luggage fees the airlines were charging in 2009 were neither nickels nor dimes. They were bucks, sometimes big bucks.
 |
