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May 11, 2008
On Airline Fees and the Like
Heard a great piece on NPR titled "How to Pack Everything You Own in One Bag"
Here is the start of the story:
All Things Considered, May 9, 2008 · With more and more airlines charging extra to check a second piece of baggage, packing light has become a necessity.
Next week, AirTran Airways and American Airlines will join Northwest, Delta, US Airways, United and Continental in requiring passengers to pay a fee if they can't cram all their clothes, shoes, books, and hairdryers into one bag to check.
--snip--
So I felt that I had to respond...
Thanks for your story about packing more effectively when traveling by air. Certainly, these are trying times for the airlines. But the model for solvency does not seem to make a great deal of sense. The airline I fly almost exclusively, Northwest, which I love, seems to have figured out that $25 is the minimum that they can charge to make it cost effective. It is $25 if I want to change a flight. It is $25 if I want to check a second bag. And it is $25 if my bag is over 50 lbs. And that is where I was, with a bag that weighed 54 pounds after a conference on my return to Detroit from Washington, D. C.
As I pulled out my credit card to pay for the “weight� surcharge on my bag, all I could think of what that my bag was nearly so heavy when I flew back from the same conference last year. But I was not. Sine last summer, I have lost 20 pounds (yeah, yeah, I am pretty happy and telling everyone - even those who could care less). So in many ways, my total weight impact on the flight was less this year, than last year. And while I did not feel that I could convince the gate agent to cut me some slack, I am wondering when the airlines are going to start weighing the passengers. Sure, you might not get a break if you are tiny, but they will sure tap a fee on those who are adding to the burden of the flight.
I can envision that you would be entitled to one 50 pound bag, one carry-on bag (assuming it does not have a snow globe or anything that has water in it), one computer bag or purse (but some of those laptops weight a ton), and up to 225 of personal weight. I still have a ways to go to hit that number, but I am getting there. It maybe a bit sensitive, but they can get the weight from the driver’s license when we check in. If we have moved dramatically in one direction or another, then I suppose they could take us to a back room where they have a scale (I wonder if they would make us remove our shoes for that). And maybe, just maybe, when we are not checking a bag, we can get bonus points for the next trip.
I still love to fly and I still love my local airline in Michigan, Northwest. But it is harder and harder to be enthusiastic about flying these days. Maybe this will change when the price of oil gets back to $50 a barrel. Ah…forget it…
--end--
Here is another nice piece called "Ode to the Second Checked Bag."
Posted by cseeman at May 11, 2008 03:30 PM