Originally Posted by
Gargoyle
I'd like to see a comparison to how the rates have gone up in the past 10 years to ship a suitcase via FedEx. It seems like DL has simply kept their prices in line with the air freight competition, or with what it costs to ship the same bags via Delta's air cargo service.
(now I'll get accused of being a DL apologist, sigh)
I'll give you that comparison: shipping by DHL (FedEx doesn't even deliver to many countries) has gone up about 2x in that period IME. As the OP points out, DL just shot up by multiple factors in the past year. This is not about cost recovery. This is about DL either 1) pricing themselves out of the game because they don't want to deal with it, or 2) looking to fleece unaware customers who show up at the airport when it's too late to do anything about it.
ETA: I'm assuming if you're going to go the DHL route you're using carrier-standard size packaging here. Shipping a random-shaped object like a suitcase will also be outrageously expensive, as they optimize for packing density.