Want to check two bags on your next United flight? Better get your wallet out.

The carrier, which already charges $15 for a first checked-bag, had doubled its second checked-bag fee - from $25 to $50 one-way.

Delta was the first to put on $50 2nd bag charge, but charges none at this point for the first bag.

That means if you check 2 bags on a roundtrip flight, you pay for you ticked, AND, pay an extra $130! And thanks to SkyTalk, for letting us all know about this.

But here’s the killer (and this comes from a United press release): The airline blames, what else - fuel prices - and goes on to add:

“the potential revenue from United’s merchandising efforts, including those for checking a first and second bag, will now be approximately $700 million in 2009“.

We saw this coming: Frontier Airlines is going to charge you to check any bag: $15 one-way for the first, and $25 one-way for a second (the second checked-bag fee has been in effect since June).

The new feestarts for tickets sold beginning this Saturday, for travel starting November 1.

Any airlines left that don’t charge a first bag fee? Sure - Southwest and Delta to name two, and there are others. See the complete listing on my Airline Fee Chart - just click here.

Saw this article awhile back by Scott McCartney, and meant to get to it sooner: he explains why the bigger airlines are more likely to lose your luggage.

Over the past 10 years, the nation’s 3 biggest carriers, United, American and Delta have the worst record for mishandling bags of all the big airlines.

A lot of it seems to stem from the entrenched bureaucracy of older airlines: at American, “bag runners” are given information on gate changes and other flight information on “sheets of paper…which could be 30 minutes old or more and lack gate changes and other information”. The airline is currently experimenting with new computerized systems.

One exception to the “bigger isn’t better” rule of thumb is Continental, and its execs say that’s because they’ve been focusing on the problem of lost luggage for years.

Continental is now joining most of the legacy carriers, in charging you to check a single bag: the fee will be $15. This will go into effect for tickets purchased for travel on or after Oct. 7.

And then there was one: Delta Airlines is now the only legacy carrier without a first checked bag fee. But there’s a catch - Delta charges you a whopping $50 for a second checked-bag.

Yes, there are other airlines out there that don’t charge you a dime to check a single bag - in fact, Southwest lets its customers check two bags for free - but, the “free” bag airlines are sadly dwindling.

UPDATE REDUX: Add Continental to this “no fee” list”

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And, another fee bites the dust — for active duty military personnel.

As I’ve been telling you, that 3^rd checked-bag fee for U.S. servicemen and women has proved wildly unpopular — certainly on TV, talk radio and in the blogosphere — so airlines have been dropping it.

Now Northwest joins American and United — so all three airlines now allow military personnel to check 3 bags without a fee (something Southwest has been doing for a long time).

Had to laugh at the way the site Aero-News put this latest military fee roll-back:

“The wave of patriotism hitting the airlines lately would be heart-warming… if not for the fact that all that seems to be motivating them is a desire to avoid any more bad PR.” — Aero-News

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 1^st check-bag fee, but they were stuck with the 2^nd 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.

It seems American Airlines’ decision to drop its 3^rd checked-bag fee for military personnel is proving popular.

As we told you yesterday, United Airlines quickly matched this action, and waived its fee for the service men and women.

And now this from Northwest Airlines: “Waiving the fee for a 3rd checked-bag for military personnel traveling on Northwest Airlines is under consideration.”

We’ll let you know what they, and others, decide.

As I wrote earlier, these have been a nightmarish few days for American Airlines.

But it looks like that’s ending, along with the airline’s $100 3^rd checked-bag fee for military personnel (and thanks to the Star-Telegram for the heads up).

The story out in the blogosphere looked bad: the carrier was charging servicemen and women for a third-checked bag. These folks DID get reimbursed by their country of course, but the damage was done.

American’s response: we’ll waive that fee. And now, United has just emailed us that they are now matching American, and dropping their 3^rd checked-bag fee for the military, as well.

Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines CEO, weighed in with a statement on the Southwest Blog, noting that they changed their policy early this year to waive all baggage related fees for active duty military personnel (they don’t have a 1st or 2nd checked bag fee).

We also contacted Northwest, Delta and US Airways, but those airlines have not yet responded. We did hear from a Continental spokeswoman who told us simply, “This is a pricing matter - we can’t discuss future plans.”

We’ll update if we hear anything further.

You may have seen this “rumor” floating around the web and talk radio, about how one airline or another is charging servicemen and women checked-bag fees. Not exactly.

Apparently some military folks have been charged for checking a third-bag, but it’s important to understand: if they must pay up front, they do get reimbursed — by the military.

Certainly getting reimbursed isn’t the foremost on the minds of traveling military personnel, but I think the airlines are taking this one on the chin without much cause, this has been the policy for years and it is just now an issue …

Trebor Banstetter in the Star-Telegram has a good take on this, and a good perspective from no less than a Pentagon source: “Many [military] have government travel cards that can be used for fees.”

And by the way, troops flying into combat zones are never charged any fees.

Was reading a list of “money-saving” tips in an MSNBC column, and we’ve discussed most of them, but this one caught my eye:

TIP: Before leaving home, weigh your bag.

As the article points out, the difference between a 49 pound bag and a 51 pound bag on Delta for instance is $80 one-way. But if the bag weighs more than 70 pounds, the fee leaps to $150 one-way. Over 100 pounds and it won’t be accepted.

Now let me add another tip of my own:

TIP: Before leaving home, measure your bag.

Typically, airlines allow you 62 inches (total the length + width + height). Anything above that, on American or Delta for example, will cost you $150 one-way.

Check out my Domestic Airline Fee Chart for all the updated info.

American spokesman Tim Wagner was no doubt VERY relieved when he emailed the following:

“The bag system is fixed.” And JFK is “back to normal.”

If you haven’t heard, they had a problem with the automated baggage sorting system at an American terminal at Kennedy yesterday, so they were reduced to sorting by hand. Let’s just say, it wasn’t very efficient, and hundreds and hundreds of passengers arrived at their destinations — without their bags.

The problem turned out to be a network hardware issue, according to Wagner, who adds that he hears there are still “several hundred” bags that must be reunited with their owners — and they will be, today.

By the way, American waived their fees for checked-luggage yesterday. You can see that as a nice gesture — or — the least they could do.

If you’re going to get a flight out of JFK on American today, this would be the day to stuff everything into a carry-on.

According to American Airlines, a glitch in the software that operates the airline’s baggage handling system there is creating all kinds of problems — and delays. Passengers are reaching their destinations, but their bags are not.

The main problem with the software: it isn’t working. Normally it reads luggage tags and sends bags to the proper gates. Now, American employees are sorting baggage by hand.

Passengers are being allowed to opt out of the affected flights, and re-schedule without paying any penalty fee. Also, the airline is waiving the first and second bag fees (but many of these flights are international, and the fees don’t apply in any event).

NOTE: As of this writing, American spokesman Tim Wagner said there is no estimate on when the problem will be solved.

Delta is teetering on the edge: will it or won’t it make you pay for checking that first bag of yours? So far, the answer is, no.

But they have doubled the charge for checking a 2^nd bag, from $25 to $50, and that’s one-way.

The charge goes into effect for customers who purchase a ticket on or after July 31, for travel on or after August 5.

Silver lining: on Delta’s international flights, you can still check two bags for free.

NOTE: I saw this information on many sites, including the New York Times’ but as of this writing, I cannot find it on the Delta site.

Airline Fees — both new and increases to old — for months have been the talk of the blogosphere and mainstream press.

I have to admit I’m skeptical about all these fees and their potential long term effect on the purchasing habits and consumption of air travel — especially considering the dubious quality of the core airline product — getting people from A to B (with bags).

That said I was reviewing the transcript of today’s Continental Airlines investor call and ran across this quote from the Continental CEO:

“The second bag fee has been very effective. In the domestic market we’re seeing about a 60% reduction for second bags checked by affected customers and for Latin it’s about a 35% reduction without any meaningful problems at the TSA checkpoint or onboard with carry ons. This is very good for us as we save the weight onboard our aircraft as well as the handling and mishandling bag costs” — Larry Kellner

Whoa!

I would never have expected 35-60% LESS second checked bags (due to the new fee) — baggage handlers must be wondering what to do with all the free time.

It never crossed my mind that the fee could be thought of as a “dis-incentive” campaign for pack rats. Maybe we needed a sanity check on how much we “over”-pack and the fee is a “good” thing.

One might argue, however, that all the contents of those unchecked second bags are being carried on — which certainly doesn’t bode well for those airlines who have both a 1^st and 2^nd checked bag fee (not Continental — yet).

Sounds like those airlines (American, Northwest, United and US Airways) — may soon be seeing some “meaningful” problems at TSA and onboard…

Used to be, Go! Airlines (the Hawaiian flyer) would let you check 2 bags for free. Not anymore.

That first checked-bag (starting on August 10) will cost you $10 one-way; check a second bag and that one will cost you $17 (starting now).

So if you’re traveling with 2 bags, on a roundtrip flight, you will soon shell out $54 for your luggage.

And yes, as always, we have updated our Domestic Airline Fee Chart to reflect this this.

And then there were four.

Yes, Northwest will now charge $15 one-way for a first checked-bag, joining American, United and US Airways.

And since Northwest and Delta are merging, it’s not much of a leap to see Delta signing on for this fee soon. And, of the 6 legacy carriers, that’ll mean Continental will be all alone without a first checked-bag fee, and I strongly suspect they won’t like being all alone…

Meanwhile, Northwest’s new $15 “first checked-bag” fee goes into effect for tickets purchased on or after July 10, 2008 for travel on or after August 28.

For other “extra” charges, please see our Airline Fee Chart.

Check out my latest column for ABCNews.com; I think I’ve got some “cures” for your blues.

For example: did you know a lot of overhead bins on planes are getting bigger? Of course, it’s still hard to fit our stuff in them.

Maybe that’s because of those wheels on our bags — but we couldn’t live without them (and did you know that the man who put those wheels on the bags also invented the “electric toothpick“?)

I’ve got lots more fun facts and great practical info in this latest column — so, enjoy.

Do you have any idea what the airlines say about size and weight restrictions for carry-on bags?

If you’re like most of us, you have no clue. When it comes time to pack, you probably just grab a bag, stuff it to the gills and try to shove it into that overhead bin.

DO NOT try that now. But DO check out our Airline Carry-on Baggage Chart.

You see, the airlines — especially American, United and US Airways, the ones with new first checked-bag fees — are now enforcing their size and weight restrictions for carry-ons. And why not? It’s only fair. If you pay to check a big bag, why should some dim-bulb get away with paying zip for a grossly distended “little” bag?

So how’s it working out? Well, we talked to the airlines — keep reading and we’ll tell you what they said — then take our BAGGAGE QUIZ.

I have just put together a handy “Airline Carry-on Baggage Chart” that you can access by clicking here, or just look to the left — it’s in the same column as my constantly updated “U.S. Domestic Airline Fee Chart”.

What’s great about the Carry-on Baggage chart is, you’ll know BEFORE you fly exactly how big a bag you can bring aboard your airline, and what the weight limitations are (if any).

You see, the baggage police are out in force — examining the sizes of carry-on bags as they haven’t done in years — and this is because they expect more of us will resort to carry-ons, because of new fees for checking bags.

Check out this new chart — it’s just one more tool that I hope will ease some of the frustration of flying.