And it begins: Airline to start charging for carry-ons

Just saw this. It is outrageous in my opinion. I try and do most of my flying on Southwest because they don't charge for the 1st checked bag. I'm ok with having weight limits on bags and charging for any bags over 1, but the first one should be included in the price of the ticket.

I fly Spirit on occasion. Poor showing. Who doesn't use the overhead bins? Why drop ticket prices just to put a new fee back in?

Just one more reason I'm in favor of high speed rail.

I'd rather the airlines actually charge the ticket price they need to and allow 1 bag/1 carry-on per person. However, to look good on the comparison sites, they play the "lower fare" game and tack on extra charges later.

This is squarely aimed at the non-business traveller who tries to not check baggage and carries the huge bag on that must be crammed into the overhad bin.

So the big airlines will be watching to see if customers are willing to pay the fee.

What other option does a flier have? You pay for checked bags, you pay for carry ons... are they going to ship their things, and pay just as much to wait a week for it?

If airlines introduce these fees, people will pay them. There's simply no other way to get your bags to your destination, and thus people don't have another option.

"Wow!" They'll say.
"Customers are paying carry on bag fees 100% of the time!"

pdpfilms said:

So the big airlines will be watching to see if customers are willing to pay the fee.

What other option does a flier have? You pay for checked bags, you pay for carry ons... are they going to ship their things, and pay just as much to wait a week for it?

If airlines introduce these fees, people will pay them. There's simply no other way to get your bags to your destination, and thus people don't have another option.

"Wow!" They'll say.
"Customers are paying carry on bag fees 100% of the time!"

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See, this is why I am voting with my wallet. I am pretty much ignoring other airlines because of their ridiculous fees and choosing to fly Southwest.

ucfgrad93 said:

See, this is why I am voting with my wallet. I am pretty much ignoring other airlines because of their ridiculous fees and choosing to fly Southwest.

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I wish I could do the same, but my nearest Southwest hub is over two hours away...

This is despicable, but it's probably a result of the unintended consequences of airlines charging for checked baggage in the first place. Right after they started charging people to check their bag, I noticed more travelers bringing huge bags onboard with them and trying to stuff them into the overhead compartments. Worried that there wouldn't be space, people would start to crowd the boarding line and "sneak" onboard before their row was called so that they could get to the open bins first. It got even worse than usual. One time, I saw two musicians who boarded on the late side try to find space for not only their guitars but their amps as well.

Smart travelers just brought their bag with them to the gate and checked it there, where they would get away without paying for it (at least on Northwest/Delta).

Now it seems that at least one airline is trying to close that loophole and make everyone pay for just about anything they bring on the plane. For short trips, I just pack ultra-light and take a small carryon. For longer domestic trips I usually FedEx my stuff ahead of time.

We know the other airlines will copy this. They will drop the ticket price a little at first then ramp the back up where they would. The first checked bag crap made them a fair amount of cash. They will do it here as well. I bet the will claim that it is because the overhead bins are getting to full and what the hell do you expect when you charge an arm and a leg to check a bag?

I fly southwest when ever possible and I do try even avoid checking a nag their but that is because it is quicker and easier to fly carry on only.

Hopefully if the other airlines follow suit they charge more for carry on than for items checked in. Nothing I hate more than ending up at the back of the plane and having to wait 20 minutes to disembark due to all the yahoo's ahead of me pulling down their overhead stored bags.

this is stupid

the price of a ticket SHOULD include a carry on

You can not fly anywhere without some sort of luggage so why they charge for this is absurd

pdpfilms said:

What other option does a flier have?

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Charter a private jet! No bag fees, and no pesky security lines!




But seriously, yeah - this is lame.

dmr727 said:

Charter a private jet! No bag fees, and no pesky security lines!




But seriously, yeah - this is lame.

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Or this, but then I have no idea what you do with any type of luggage.

I would be pissed if this happens with the major airlines. I never check anything in unless I'm going on a long trip. I don't pack any bit more into my carry-ons, now, than I have in the past 15 years.

Like others, I would rather luggage and carry-ons be built into the ticket prices. Anyway, I don't see how charging for carry-ons would work. How do you pay, if they force you? In addition to all the hassles that already exist with boarding the plane, are they now going to add more hassles? Having to measure everything being carried aboard....and also install a cash register at each gate along with a credit card kiosk? I don't see how this will work effectively. It will only cause further delays. Bullocks.

Needless to say, Spirit Airlines will never get my business.

So will purses count as carry-ons? Maybe this will finally give the man-purse industry the boost it needs.

It's only Southwest for me - even if the ticket is a little more including all (baggage) fees because of the principle of this whole scandal.

I hope that this catches on. The charge is certainly a too high in my view, but if anything it should be slightly higher than the fee of the first checked bag. I think that if this works, the checked luggage fees could potentially drop a bit as well. I get tired of the delays, clogged aisles, etc that result from too many carry-on items. And the number of crew members that are injured in rearranging peoples' excessive amounts of crap in the bins is astonishing.

Granted, I've never had to pay fees for checked luggage and would probably be made exempt from something like this as well (if implemented at other airlines). The checked luggage fees can't work if people are bringing full-size suitcases and expecting to get them into the cabin and gate checked for free.

Rodimus Prime said:

They will drop the ticket price a little at first then ramp the back up where they would.

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So what? Sorry for the blatant assumption, but the people that make statements like this are generally the ones scouting out the discount fares that don't really cover your cost of carriage. I'm sure that any airline would prefer you pay full fare; then you won't have to pay at a later time for all of the extras. Checked luggage fees, change fees, etc are almost always waived on itineraries booked on economy Y and B (or equivalent, depends on airline) fares.

If you're facing these fees, you're probably flying for less than what it costs anyway. If you want the fees gone, pay the full price.

killerrobot said:

So will purses count as carry-ons? Maybe this will finally give the man-purse industry the boost it needs.

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Per the OP, carry-ons to which a charge applies are limited to those that don't fit under the seat in front of one.... (FWIW, this is consistent with the fact that one is allowed "one carry-on plus a personal item" -- man purses qualify as personal items.)

akonradi said:

I hope that this catches on. The charge is certainly a too high in my view, but if anything it should be slightly higher than the fee of the first checked bag. I think that if this works, the checked luggage fees could potentially drop a bit as well. I get tired of the delays, clogged aisles, etc that result from too many carry-on items. And the number of crew members that are injured in rearranging peoples' excessive amounts of crap in the bins is astonishing.

Granted, I've never had to pay fees for checked luggage and would probably be made exempt from something like this as well (if implemented at other airlines). The checked luggage fees can't work if people are bringing full-size suitcases and expecting to get them into the cabin and gate checked for free.


So what? Sorry for the blatant assumption, but the people that make statements like this are generally the ones scouting out the discount fares that don't really cover your cost of carriage. I'm sure that any airline would prefer you pay full fare; then you won't have to pay at a later time for all of the extras. Checked luggage fees, change fees, etc are almost always waived on itineraries booked on economy Y and B (or equivalent, depends on airline) fares.

If you're facing these fees, you're probably flying for less than what it costs anyway. If you want the fees gone, pay the full price.

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You missed the big part here. The airlines created that problem with the clog bins the second they started charging fees for the first check bag. They are the ones who screwed themselves over.

I would rather they raise ticket prices and screw the fees. Fees cause more problems and hell I voted with my wallet and fly southwest when ever possible. Cheaper tickets, no fees and hell of a lot better customer service.

Rodimus Prime said:

The airlines created that problem with the clog bins the second they started charging fees for the first check bag.

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Agreed. The first bag should be included in the price of the ticket.

Rodimus Prime said:

You missed the big part here. The airlines created that problem with the clog bins the second they started charging fees for the first check bag. They are the ones who screwed themselves over.

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They didn't screw themselves over. They managed to decrease costs while increasing revenue. The war for overhead space was going on long before the fees. Certainly it has worsened a bit over the last two years, but it's nothing new.

I would rather they raise ticket prices and screw the fees. Fees cause more problems and hell I voted with my wallet and fly southwest when ever possible.

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Most rational people would agree. However, the typical consumer will jump at the lowest price seen without considering additional fees. Some airlines (Frontier to my knowledge, at least) have, nicely enough, created new booking availability where additional services are available at the discount fares at a higher booking price. However, I spoke with a friend of mine that works for Republic Holdings a few weeks back and he said that this endeavor hasn't been too successful; people still buy the lower fare and pay the fees at check-in.

Cheaper tickets, no fees and hell of a lot better customer service.

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So airlines should cut their revenue streams and spend more?

Guys...

I just moved from Venezuela to Miami, I am a resident now and I have been in the US for at least 5 years in total...

I left Venezuela very disapointed and literally ashamed of being venezuelan because I believe is a very mediocre cultured of lazy people and Hugo Chavez is just the perfect venezuelan person who rippoff his own country and people.

But when I come to the US and I see a US citizen doing the same thing that led Venezuela to the failure it is today I just feel like grabbing a gun and blow their brains out. Of course I can not do that because that is one of the things that happen in Caracas every day.

But I see people ripping off each other with such mediocre smile in their face and with lame excuses that I have been taking that people and let them know that if they want to ripp of people and be mediocre there is a country were you can move and a president you can adore and learn from, Venezuela and Hugo Chavez.

And this airline is doing just that, instead of offering a better service they are ripping off people.

Because I bet their seat space are not bigger but a tiny place where I can't fit my legs. And the seats are so together that if I have one of those fat US pigs (that are plenty) he/she will be seating almost in my laps.

If you want to charge more offer a better service then.

Guys, be carefull because the US is looking everytime more to Venezuela, I come from there and I know how the cancer of medicracy looks like, how it begins and what it does.

Take care of your country, point out the mediocre people and screem at them until they are gone, fired them, exterminate them. Make them do things right for the comunity.

Maybe I'll just buy my clothes when I get there and give them to Goodwill when I leave--might be cheaper.

akonradi said:

So airlines should cut their revenue streams and spend more?

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Well southwest apparently pulled it off.

They have cheaper tickets, no fees and better customer service.

It is hard to argue with the fact that south west is consenstly rated near the top of customer service and employee satisfaction among the airlines. Customer service goes a long way. I know people who fly southwest because of the customer service and on the flip side botcot American airlines because of their customer service or more so complete lack of customer service and out of control fees.

bobr1952: Or you could just wear the same clothes every day and not wash them once.. I'm sure they'd love that when you came back for your return trip...

Personally I prefer to drive on trips when they're short enough and I have yet to have reason to travel more than two states away... so the only time I've ever flown it was on someone else's dollar and the return trip was by car.

Rodimus Prime said:

Well southwest apparently pulled it off.

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Southwest pulled it off with fuel hedges. Those don't last forever.

And yes, WN has stated that they are exploring additional fees for luggage. Don't worry, it's coming.