United Airlines will begin charging some passengers $50 to check a second piece of luggage on domestic round-trip flights, becoming the first big carrier to impose a fee for a service that has long been included in the price of a ticket.
As of late yesterday, no other major carrier had followed United, but some analysts said that if the move didn’t generate significant resistance from consumers, the traditional two-free-bags rule was likely to go the way of other services such as free meals and pillows.
Meanwhile, the TSA, explicitly and implicitly, keeps encouraging folks to check more, carry-on less.
United, the nation’s second-largest carrier, said the new fee would help offset a 49 percent increase in jet fuel prices over the past 12 months. It also noted that only about 25 percent of its passengers usually checked a second bag.
Still, the fee – $25 for the second bag each way – is expected to generate more than $100 million in additional revenue. In addition, United expects fewer checked bags as a result of the fee, which could lower fuel expenses.
For most business travelers, this will not make much of a difference, since they tend to travel light as possible, carry-on when they can, etc. Where this will really hit is families.
The policy doesn’t apply to international flights, passengers buying higher-priced refundable tickets or to those who have “elite” status with the airline’s frequent-flier programs. Those passengers still will be able to check two bags for free.
But for families on a budget who have purchased discounted, nonrefundable tickets, the fees are likely to be hefty, since many typically check two bags per family member.
And here’s where it really gets personal, because I didn’t just-quite fly enough miles on United last year to maintain my Premier status. When I went to check the prices to buy the extra miles to make it (since getting in the short line, having easier access to Economy Plus seats, etc., is actually kinda nice), the price seemed extortionate.
This won’t change that — much — even if every flight we take we carried on extra bags — but it does make it more tempting.
Feh.
Yet another reason to fly Frontier over United. (Note to self need to add extra cost in comparing fares)
Seems to me that this is kind of a stealth increase to their low-end fares. Most people will not think to add $50 to the ticket prices when shopping for tickets, so United will look good on price comparisons, but United will reap the extra income because most people won’t back out of the decision to buy United when they finally see the extra cost on their tickets. Of course, this will only be an advantage over other carriers until they add a similar fee to their pricing structures, but perhaps United is willing to accept a short-term competitive advantage and then reevaluate when (or if) the other carriers join the party.
Or, conversely, to flying United *more* so that we skip over the dagblasted fee.
Or just learn to travel light and ship stuff back.