One easy test-case would be to look at WN. Do they have a higher number of checked bags/lower number of carry-ons than the legacies? I haven't flown WN in years so can't comment from experience there.
Yes they do. As does AS within Alaska where they offer 3 free checked bags.
Originally Posted by
3Cforme
You think like Southwest management. You know, the firm with a market cap $10 Billion less than Delta's.
And that's why WN had an operating margin of 12% vs DL's 5% in 2014, as well as a CASM of 6.5 cents vs. 8 cents?
Originally Posted by
thoiboi
I'd take baggage fees on Delta over free bags on Southwest + the idiotic seat map option any day.
DL and the others are the ones with "seap maps". WN is open seating. You can choose any open seat you like, which is so nice.
Originally Posted by
bubbashow
If WN had assigned seating, I would fly them A LOT more. It's the crapshoot of what you will get that has me take them only in a pinch.
If it's that big of a deal, and you're willing to pay more, do EBCI, and then you're guaranteed and aisle seat. I just snipe the check-ins, and I have never had an issue getting an aisle seat near the rear of the plane, which is where I always sit.
Originally Posted by
SOBE ER DOC
Perfectly fine with DL and other airlines charging for checked bags. I carry-on 95% of the time and am not interested in having my fares go up for a service I do not use.
Everyone benefits by getting as much baggage out of the cabin as possible. It makes perfect rational sense for me to prefer an airline with free checked baggage even though I don't, and never have, checked a bag myself.
Gate checking bags in kind of a loophole in the system, in that it's free, but I don't think most people know about it, so they don't know to do it.
Originally Posted by
SJC ORD LDR
I'm not MSPeconomist, but from my experience is that it depends. On busniess routes, carry-on space would still be a premium. Busuiness travelers look at it as time, not money for the most part.
Business travelers aren't the culprits. I'm pretty bad when I'm leisure traveling, but enough people check on WN that it's not an issue. The business folks have little tiny carry-on bags most of the time, while leisure travelers have the absolute largest carry-on you can possible have. The larger bins on the 738's vice the smaller bins on the 734's and 7H4's help a lot with the big roller bags too. I don't recall off-hand which DL planes have the larger bins, I know that the international 767's are miserable for bin space, and don't have the larger bins.
However, I'm against internalizing the cost of baggage into the fare. I like the current system of paying only for the services you need. I think it's fair.
Then why fly DL? Fly on Spirit or Frontier, that's their model. Carry-on? Fee. Printed ticket? Fee. WN saves money by allowing 2 free checked bags, as they can turn their planes faster, and makes things better for everyone. They also have the smaller bins on their 7H4's, so the big bags take up a crapload of space.