JetBlue to drop its one free bag next week: Will Southwest charge for 2nd bag?
Jun 29, 2015, 7:19 am
#31
Join Date: Aug 2013
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They're nice when available. Most of what I need isn't available as an e-book, and even if it were I'd have to purchase it myself since it's not like my library carries them, which I can only afford to do for a small subset of what I actually need.
Jun 30, 2015, 2:19 pm
#33
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
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They all do it wrong. Checked bags should be free and carry-ons should cost. People should pay for the convenience of having their bags with them. I even think airlines would be able to charge more for carry-ons than they can charge for check-ins. Plus, think how much faster they planes would load and empty.
Jun 30, 2015, 2:29 pm
#34
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They all do it wrong. Checked bags should be free and carry-ons should cost. People should pay for the convenience of having their bags with them. I even think airlines would be able to charge more for carry-ons than they can charge for check-ins. Plus, think how much faster they planes would load and empty.
So the fees are on checked bags because that's where the money is.
Every time I explain to one of my infrequent traveler friends that I'm a "carry-on only" traveler, they can't comprehend how they could that themselves. Half of them even check more bags than they might need to, simply because they load those bags up but then don't want to have to lift them into overhead compartments, so don't even consider carrying on bags that meet carry-on size restrictions. They consider it "convenience" to never have to lift a heavy bag above their heads (not to always have it with them as you state).
But anyway, why aren't flying Spirit? IIRC, they do charge fees for both checked bags and carry-on bags (and for much more more). You should love it there with all those fees you propose actually implemented!
Last edited by sdsearch; Jun 30, 2015 at 2:34 pm
Jun 30, 2015, 2:43 pm
#35
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They all do it wrong. Checked bags should be free and carry-ons should cost. People should pay for the convenience of having their bags with them. I even think airlines would be able to charge more for carry-ons than they can charge for check-ins. Plus, think how much faster they planes would load and empty.
Jun 30, 2015, 4:10 pm
#36
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 775
I agree that for most domestic trips, two checked bags is excessive.
But the 2 checked bags are great for people that are actually moving from one city to another. e.g. A college student that moves from New York to Chicago, taking belongings from one home to another home, over 3 r/ts can move quite a bit of belongings with Southwest.
But the 2 checked bags are great for people that are actually moving from one city to another. e.g. A college student that moves from New York to Chicago, taking belongings from one home to another home, over 3 r/ts can move quite a bit of belongings with Southwest.
Jun 30, 2015, 5:18 pm
#37
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I travel for work and I always check two bags. One contains my sample stock and the other contains my clothes/personal items. I also have a backpack that I carry-on for items that I may need on board (iPad, kindle, chargers etc...)
That being said, I do see the second free checked bag going away but I'll be able to expense that charge anyway so no big deal. What they should do is allow free bags/carry-ons for those with status and charge those without status for the carry-on/second checked bag.
That being said, I do see the second free checked bag going away but I'll be able to expense that charge anyway so no big deal. What they should do is allow free bags/carry-ons for those with status and charge those without status for the carry-on/second checked bag.
Jul 1, 2015, 4:10 am
#38
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Untrue.
Fares are set based on the market, not the cost of providing transport. For example, SFO-LAX, WN fares typically match UA, even though UA does not give free bags for non-elites. And when airlines do charge baggage fees, they generate ancillary revenue, i.e., revenue that is not directly tied to the fare (and is treated differently for taxation purposes).
Fares are set based on the market, not the cost of providing transport. For example, SFO-LAX, WN fares typically match UA, even though UA does not give free bags for non-elites. And when airlines do charge baggage fees, they generate ancillary revenue, i.e., revenue that is not directly tied to the fare (and is treated differently for taxation purposes).
There's a good CNN Article on This...
Your bags aren't actually flying free
For all the love Southwest gets for its "two free bags policy," your bags don't actually fly free on Southwest or any other airline.
As Bankrate's Brian Kelly says, Southwest's costs to transport your bags are included in the price of your ticket-- as they once were on other airlines. How else to pay the baggage checkers and handlers who help transport your bag? Or the gas for the extra baggage weight the planes must carry? Businesses that do too much for free are soon out of business.
Kelly notes that Southwest's fares aren't always the cheapest in every location. But travelers need to add in other airlines' bag fees when comparing prices.
"It would not be smart for Southwest to get rid of free bags," he said. "It's too much a part of their identity."
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/30/travel/feat-airline-bag-fees/index.html?sr=fb070115airlinefees2aStoryGallLink
http://cnn.it/1GXqM0Y
Last edited by jb3t; Jul 1, 2015 at 4:32 am
Jul 1, 2015, 11:27 am
#39
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They all do it wrong. Checked bags should be free and carry-ons should cost. People should pay for the convenience of having their bags with them. I even think airlines would be able to charge more for carry-ons than they can charge for check-ins. Plus, think how much faster they planes would load and empty.
To have to pay, to not have my most vital traveling possessions lost or stolen? To have to check in sensitive equipment like laptops, gadgets, to be tossed about, pilfered through unlocked / unchecked by luggage handlers, TSA folks, and who knows who else?
Um sorry, this idea is even dumber than it sounds.
Jul 1, 2015, 10:09 pm
#40
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Sorry, but that idea will never fly (pun intended) with most people.
To have to pay, to not have my most vital traveling possessions lost or stolen? To have to check in sensitive equipment like laptops, gadgets, to be tossed about, pilfered through unlocked / unchecked by luggage handlers, TSA folks, and who knows who else?
Um sorry, this idea is even dumber than it sounds.
To have to pay, to not have my most vital traveling possessions lost or stolen? To have to check in sensitive equipment like laptops, gadgets, to be tossed about, pilfered through unlocked / unchecked by luggage handlers, TSA folks, and who knows who else?
Um sorry, this idea is even dumber than it sounds.
Jul 2, 2015, 1:58 pm
#41
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Sorry, but that idea will never fly (pun intended) with most people.
To have to pay, to not have my most vital traveling possessions lost or stolen? To have to check in sensitive equipment like laptops, gadgets, to be tossed about, pilfered through unlocked / unchecked by luggage handlers, TSA folks, and who knows who else?
Um sorry, this idea is even dumber than it sounds.
To have to pay, to not have my most vital traveling possessions lost or stolen? To have to check in sensitive equipment like laptops, gadgets, to be tossed about, pilfered through unlocked / unchecked by luggage handlers, TSA folks, and who knows who else?
Um sorry, this idea is even dumber than it sounds.
And am I the only one who has to put some valuable items into my rollaboard carry-on and can't just put them all into the personal item?
Jul 2, 2015, 4:23 pm
#42
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Except when I traveling on a trip that involves photography (which I do with a bunch of interchangeable lenses), I can't fit everything valuable into my personal item (a combination camera/laptop backpack on those trips), some of the valuable stuff has to go into my carry-on.
And am I the only one who has to put some valuable items into my rollaboard carry-on and can't just put them all into the personal item?
And am I the only one who has to put some valuable items into my rollaboard carry-on and can't just put them all into the personal item?
I'll add another. I fly out of BNA. Musicians do not travel light. Lots of hard cases are on the belt at BNA.
Jul 3, 2015, 1:48 am
#43
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1. Most people can circumvent baggage fees (for at least the first bag) simply by enrolling in a credit card program for the airline(s) they intend to fly - in most cases, for up to 5 people flying on the same PNR.
2. Southwest fares are generally equal to or greater than competitors, restricting ticket sales to their own website makes it difficult to compare prices, taking advantage of Kettles who believe that Southwest is still a low cost airline.
3. If it is possible to get a carry on through security, most carriers offer complementary gate checking of bags to expedite the boarding process, some even offer early boarding.
2. Southwest fares are generally equal to or greater than competitors, restricting ticket sales to their own website makes it difficult to compare prices, taking advantage of Kettles who believe that Southwest is still a low cost airline.
3. If it is possible to get a carry on through security, most carriers offer complementary gate checking of bags to expedite the boarding process, some even offer early boarding.
Jul 10, 2015, 5:20 am
#44
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 439
Sorry, but that idea will never fly (pun intended) with most people.
To have to pay, to not have my most vital traveling possessions lost or stolen? To have to check in sensitive equipment like laptops, gadgets, to be tossed about, pilfered through unlocked / unchecked by luggage handlers, TSA folks, and who knows who else?
Um sorry, this idea is even dumber than it sounds.
To have to pay, to not have my most vital traveling possessions lost or stolen? To have to check in sensitive equipment like laptops, gadgets, to be tossed about, pilfered through unlocked / unchecked by luggage handlers, TSA folks, and who knows who else?
Um sorry, this idea is even dumber than it sounds.
Jul 10, 2015, 8:53 am
#45
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 5,813
Back in the Day people seldom carried bags on to planes, unless it was something fragile or valuable and a personal item was a woman's hand bag, a brief case or something similar not the large back packs people often carry now.