Baggage Fees
Airline baggage fees and the ways around them
Airline baggage fees are generating serious money — they accounted for $1.5 billion in 2008, according to the Transportation Department — so it’s necessary to consider these tactics, as reported by MSNBC, to skate around the fee:
1) Bring less
2) Fly a no-fee airline: JetBlue Airways doesn’t charge for the first checked bag. Neither does Southwest Airlines. In fact, it doesn’t charge for a second bag, either.
3) Look for loopholes: For example, US Airways exempts all of its frequent fliers, passengers traveling to and from Europe or Asia, Star Alliance Silver and Gold status members, unaccompanied minors, first class passengers and active duty military.
4) Ask someone else to pay: Hotels are mindful that first-bag fees can hurt their business, so they’re offering to cover the fees. One of the first was Kimpton hotels.
5) Get creative: Consolidate your crap into a purse or work bag.
6) Exploit policy differences: Airlines don’t have uniform luggage rules, so when you’re flying on two or more airlines, use that to your advantage. Consider what happened to Kristi Nelson when she flew from Oahu to Portland recently. A Hawaiian Air agent in Lihue asked if she wanted to check her bags all the way through to the mainland. “You bet I do,” she said. “I thought for a minute and wondered how we would pay the baggage fee for our Northwest flight from Honolulu.” But when she landed, no one bothered to charge her.
7) Mail it: Federal Express, UPS, the postal service, or a company like Luggage Forward can help you avoid the fees, but often, these options cost far more than what the airlines are charging. Then again, they’re probably more reliable. An overnight delivery service is far less likely to lose your belongings.
How do we fix this? MSNBC Travel columnist Christopher Elliott suggests first that air travelers buy tickets on airlines that don’t charge outrageous fees, like JetBlue and Southwest.
And second, the U.S. government can say, “enough!” The Transportation Department could rule that the price of an airline ticket must include at least one piece of checked luggage, and that would pretty much end this debate.
Will it? If the government hears from enough air travelers, sure.
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