Frequentlander

Data point.

I just had the misfortune to endure a quick return trip to Texarkana on AA.
Bag fee was CAD $31.50 (incl. $1.50 tax) on the outbound, USD$ 24 return.

ricktoronto

More accurate is "people only want to pay $200 to fly 2000 miles at 500 mph so we are offering the $200 fare and adding fees to get it back to what it would have been before everyone became cheap and greedy".

Sunny Day

Good to know some airlines are still doing the right thing. Good for you AA.

Sunwing airline allows passengers to buy excursions on board but is priced in CAD.

Sopwith

I don't necessarily disagree, but I still struggle to think of a rational explanation of why it should cost ~33% more to fly two bags in one direction than the same two bags in the opposite direction.

ricktoronto

Because on balance they can charge it and people pay and the friction from charging in US or Pesos or whatever is not impacting the bottom line enough to justify getting rid of this scheme.

I only fly Plus but don't some of the Y fares include some free baggage along with whatever else they offer (change fees waived etc.)? If so buy those.

The worst case outcome is they will rationalize it by figuring out the CAD cost of the US charges and increase them ex-Canada so then everyone is truly stuffed. And they earn more. They just announced results and are still not exactly setting the profit world on fire.

sokolov

I don't think it's open to interpretation. But even if it is, that goes against WestJet. They wrote it.

Could it be that this women had booked two one-way tickets? Then we would have two separate trips with different origins.

HangTen

WestonC

How about you bought a ticket in Canada and paid in Canadian Dollars. You wanted to check a bag so you paid $30 in Canadian dollars. The ticket you purchased took you on a flight from Canada to Mexico. Then after tanning in the sun, basking in the water and filling up on Pepto Bismol it is time to fly home. You go to the airport in Mexico and you want to check your bag back home. The good news is your bag is filled with bits of sand in bathing suits, a couple of dead mosquitoes and little rubber bands that fell out of your hair when you had it braided on the beach but it is not overweight - so no extra fees - only the baggage fee. Then you realize that the fee is now being charged in US dollars even though you never stopped in the US and you are not going to the US. On top of the that the bag that doesn't require an extra fee for overweight costs about 25%ish more than what it cost to fly down. On top of that you have to incur foreign exchange rates on your credit card for US dollars.

I think the traveller has every right to ask why they are being charged in a foreign currency for a country they never visited or stopped in as well as why the bag cost 25%ish more to fly home.

ricktoronto

WestJet clearly has no desire (wisely) to collect Mexican Pesos so they want US dollars. Seems sensible. Be glad they don't insist on Bitcoin and you have none, and the bags stay in Mexico. Or those huge stone coins from centuries ago.

Why would travelers have a "right" to ask about this? They don't have to fly on WestJet if it's so irksome. But if you think it's a "right" to ask then undoubtedly the WS answer is " we want US more where we operate outside Canada because we pay bills in US".

BTW Aeromexico charges in USD for all baggage except internal Mexico flights. Weird they are Mexican and they don't want Pesos either.

Sopwith

Frequentlander

Another data point.

This week I took the Tickle Trunk to Greeley CO, so the flight was YVR-DEN, then DEN-SFO-YVR for the return. Last minute trip so I ended up flying UA....because it's DEN. I'm sitting in DEN airport enjoying a fortified beverage right now enjoying a fortified beverage while I wait to embark on the return journey..

Outbound bag fee CAD $31.50 ($30 plus $150 Tax)
Return, charged at DEN, USD $30

Frequentlander

Deleted

ricktoronto

1. They can
2. They do as competitors do.
3. People won't leave due to this because the alternatives do the same thing.

People have this weird sense of wonderment and charitability for WestJet like they are a club and not a public company. Anything they do to increase revenue is to make more money and you must realize that they weigh competitive issues and attrition risk (minor) in that.

james dean

No problem charging USD, but how about doing to conversion to CAD ie/ $30CAD = $22.50USD.
It's how they do fares, when I fly UA the default site is in USD, then there is a link to the CAD site which does the conversion, it's done all the time, all airlines.

aerobod