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August 18, 2008

From the Horse’s Mouth: “Bag Fees — Sometimes They’re Worth Paying”

Filed under: Airline Fees, Bags — Rick Seaney @ 9:43 am

A colleague of mine just finished up a quick cross country flight, shepherding a child back to college.

Anyway, this necessitated that the two travelers check FOUR bags. Fortunately, they’d bought their Northwest tickets early enough so they didn’t have to pay the 1st check-bag fee, but they were stuck with the 2nd checked-bag fee — so that was an additional $50 each way.

Now, my colleague is pretty frugal, but she told me that not dealing with a carry-on bag was actually sort of blissful:

“For the first time in ages, I wasn’t lugging around a heavy carry-on — and you know what? It was wonderful. We didn’t have to worry if the carry-on’s were the right size and weight; we didn’t have to lug them throughout the terminal (navigating a restroom with a carry-on is never fun); and we didn’t have to line up at the gate extra early to be sure there’d be room in the overhead bins. What a sense of freedom.” — recent airline passenger

And there you have it — for some people, some of the time — those annoying checked bag fees can be worth paying.
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7 Comments »

  1. Tell me what she thinks after the first time the airline loses her bags. Then ask her again after the 5th time, if she hasn’t learned her lesson by then.

    Comment by mwarden — August 18, 2008 @ 9:49 pm

  2. Apparently she lives a charmed life — she’s been flying for decades, and says in years past she checked bags all the time and — never lost one. I’ll keep you posted if (when?) that changes.

    Comment by Rick Seaney — August 19, 2008 @ 8:09 am

  3. am I missing something? before they instituted these fees she could have checked all 4 bags for free (well, not for free, but for no extra charges). I don’t get what she’s thankful for? “We didn’t have to lug them through the terminal”?? As if before they instituted the fees she did have to do this?

    Seriously, I don’t get it.

    Comment by Goldberg — August 20, 2008 @ 7:46 pm

  4. 100% of time!
    Every time I have flown into Miami airport from either London or Frankfurt its always days later my bags arrive. Going on cruises is difficult as bag not arrive until 1st or 2nd stop.

    This has happened 6 times

    Comment by LEENDA VITOLA — August 20, 2008 @ 7:57 pm

  5. Leenda - If you are having issues with your bags not being there for you at the beginning of a cruise and if this is hypercritical for you, you might try sending them in advance. I know that most of the major cruise lines offer this service (RCCL, Princess, etc.). YES it can be expensive, but by sending it a week or two in advance you know it has a 98%+ chance of being in your cabin upon arrival. This can be especially worthwhile when the cruise occurs AFTER a land vacation (i.e. you go to Paris and London prior to your cruise departure from Rome).

    Comment by DJ McKay — August 21, 2008 @ 10:49 am

  6. Why didn’t she check her bags when it was free? For me, it’s just the opposite, I don’t want to pay the baggage fees, so I recently purchased a rolling carry-on suitcase. For the first time ever, I DON’T have the freedom of only having a computer bag with me.

    Comment by Amy — August 21, 2008 @ 12:44 pm

  7. If they were going to pay $100 for checking bags, and if you know where the bags need to go, a better option is to SHIP the bags to your destination - they won’t get lost! This was suggested by Peter Greenberg.

    Comment by ScholarChanter — August 21, 2008 @ 1:18 pm

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