Originally Posted by
BA_Jfan
I'm flying AA this morning with 2 giant checked bags. One I knew was about 70 pounds so I fully expected to pay overweight bag fees. I paid $60 which is the standard fee to Check 2 bags. While I obviously would prefer not to pay bag fees at all, I'm not totally opposed to it. I suspect that's not a popular belief on this forum. I big bag came out to 72 pounds and I was charged $100 for an overweight bag on top of the base $35 charge. I think the fee is a little steep and unreasonable. I'm curious to know what all of you think is the appropriate fee to charge and why.
The issue with overweight bags is not just one of overall weight and fuel, but also issues with ramp workers having to handle heavy bags and weight & balance. Unlike true cargo aircraft where the entire cabin can be used to disperse the weight for proper weight and balance, commercial aircraft have limited (and fixed) space to place the luggage going in the bin for proper weight and balance. The point of the overweight fee is as much about compensating for the extra fuel as it is to discourage passengers from bringing overweight bags and contributing to weight and balance issues, because overweight bag fees have been a standard practice since long before checked-bag fees.