American Airlines is quietly increasing first checked bag fees on short haul international flights to $40 each way starting Monday, according to an internal memo reviewed by View From The Wing.
Currently first checked bag fees are $5 cheaper to and from Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and Guyana. This change will align these flights with U.S., Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands checked bag costs.
The internal communication from American about this change says,
Please note that tickets issued prior to 01DEC26 will continue to follow the previous bag fee structure.
I am pretty sure that they meant the new $40 first bag fee applies to tickets starting December 1, 2025 (and not to any before that) and that the 2026 date here is erroneous.
Not only hard work…it also takes a strong revenue flow to remain firmly entrenched (actually lapping the field) as the #1 airline in lost and damaged bags.
@Gary — I’ve got a solution… and some of you are gonna hate this… carry-on only. Never lose a bag. Never pay extra.
The thing that bothers me about this is that unlike for my experience on other airlines, the checked baggage fee is not waived international routes on AA for credit card holders. I have multiple AA cards, including the executive one, and I was upset when I learned about this the hard way.
@1990
Whatever happened to pride in workmanship? Can you imagine putting all of those baggage handlers out of a job…for fear they will lose our bags?
Realistically, through, sometimes checking a bag is just about unavoidable. Depends on your reason for travel..business/leisure (oh, we should eliminate all leisure trips, maybe?) and/or the travelers length time away, etc.
In short…What fits your parameters and may not fit everyone’s.
Your ability to excuse poor performance is impressive, though.
@ guflyer Not sure why you were surprised to find that out the “hard way”. Any AA card advertisement specifically says that the first DOMESTIC checked bag is free .