Tag Archives for baggage fees.
More than a quarter of the baggage scales tested at Newark airport were found to be inaccurate, and some were so bad they were taken out of service or treated every bag as overweight. That does not mean every traveler was wrongly charged, but at a major United hub where checked bag and overweight fees add up fast, the odds are high that passengers paid millions they never should have owed.
An airline wanted $100 to check his bag, and a Danish traveler returning to Spain after a three-month vacation in Mexico didn’t have it — so he settled into Mérida’s airport and effectively made it his home. Trying to reach Havana for a separate ticket to Madrid he says expires January 11, he became a quiet fixture in the terminal until staff started calling him the “Danish Tom Hanks.”
Most checked bags in the U.S. are limited to 50 pounds. Anything heavier than that and you’ll pay extra. First and business class passengers, and those with elite status, may be allowed 70 pounds. When you approach the check-in counter, they’ll weigh your bags, and if your luggage is overweight you’ll be assessed an extra fee.
However it’s not always so simple. There’s an unspoken cat and mouse game between airline employees and passengers.
American Airlines has increased first and second checked bag fees to a most-expensive in the industry $40 per first checked bag on domestic U.S. itineraries and $45 for the second checked bag. They’ve also increased checked bag fees for travel to Central America and the Caribbean.
When you approach the check-in counter, and they weigh your bags, they might suggest that you do a little bit of rearranging if a piece of your luggage is overweight. Maybe you can move some items, wear a piece of clothing, or stick something into your carry on. But if you don’t have another bag?
A story of how one passenger in Europe handled this is getting attention and it’s rather sweet revenge on the airline.
Delta is testing free checked bags. They are “sending texts to passengers departing from its Boston (BOS) hub the day of their flight, urging them to check their carry-on bag … for free.”
The month-long test began this week.
Update: This was caused by a data matching error at Capital One Kyetra Bryant flew American Airlines from Charlotte to Denver over Thanksgiving. She and her companion checked in at a kiosk and paid a checked bag fee. She says the charge appeared on her bank statement as “African American, African service charge.” Hey @AmericanAir What is an African American African service charge??!?!? pic.twitter.com/UmR0sBGLPT — A Simp Named Slickback (@___seeryandavis) January 29, 2021 At first it seemed like perhaps a ‘rogue kiosk’ is at fault (because while American is unable to manage processing confirmed upgrades online, they have rogue AI kiosks) or… American Airlines appears to blame Mastercard, The customer alerted American to the offensively labeled baggage fee on her bank statement in mid-December. We were disturbed by what we saw and immediately launched an…
Travelers hate airline fees, whether it’s checked bag fees or change fees, so it’s a great issue for politicians to grandstand on. The FAIR Fees Act is not a serious proposal.
Most provisions of Canada’s new Air Passenger Protection Regulations went into effect July 15. They lay out new rules that apply to flights to, from, and within Canada – including connecting flights.
One of the rules is that when an airline damages or loses luggage they must refund checked baggage fees they collected. After all, they didn’t provide the service they charged for – prompt transport of luggage from one place to the next, delivering it in the condition it was received (outside of normal wear and tear).
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
