Hi Melnq8 - Yup, you know exactly what I"m dealing with. We always fly United and Star Alliance when we head back to the US in the summers. But we have had a hard time keeping our status at the Premier Executive level because so many of the "little" trips we take from here aren't on Star Alliance (not an option). We had much better success when we were in Cairo.

I am used to paying the $125 or so for my extra bags (usually 4 in the past) so now I guess I'll just be adding another $25 for each person's 2nd bag for an additional $100. Not the end of the world by any means - but certainly an annoyance.

We try to avoid USAir (or USAwful as my DH calls it). The only time we ever used it was to fly directly from New Orleans to Pittsburg, but since Katrina (well, at least as of last summer), that flight no longer exists. SO - back to United and connecting thru Dulles!

Grcxx3 -

I completely understand the challenges of keeping your Premier Executive status. I barely made it this year.

We spend entirely too much time on non-participating airlines (because sometimes that's all there is).

<<< Over 60% of leisure travelers check 2 or more bags. >>>

Might be true in America but in the rest of the world ONE BAG is the norm

The question therefore is - why do Americans pack so much more than everyone else?

It also might not be true? Got a source for that, Gekko?

One bag is not the norm in the rest of the world for checked baggage.

The norm is 2 pieces, 20kg/44lb total.

A few questions...

When you send them the email saying "you are no longer my carrier of choice" do you think they care?

1. If all your flights are the cheapest possible fares? Probably not, that's the reason this increase was passed.

2. If you fly once a year, or once a quarter. They probably don't care either.

And United has strated cracking down on "carry on" according to my sources since the implmentation of this fee.

This is the wave of the future. Americans want dirt cheap airfares. The economic model is broken. Airlines can't keep flying you for less then cost....

According to a USAir rep quoted by the AP, only 8% of passengers check more than one bag, so airlines may believe they do not risk alienating very many potential customers with the new fee.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23356288/

rkkwan apart from routes to/from the US ONE checked bag is the rule - unless you aren't in cattle class

CX - No limit on number, but 2 preferred:
http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_...ggageallowance

SQ - 2 pieces:
http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_U..._allowance.jsp

AF - 2 pieces:
http://www.airfrance.co.uk/GB/en/com..._en_soute.htm?

LH - weight only for shorthaul, 2 pieces for longhaul:
http://www.lufthansa.com/online/port...&cid=18002

Just a few examples of some of the world's largest and popular international carriers.

My point is that what UA and US is proposing is <b>NOT</b> the normal practice for non-budget carriers anywhere in the world.

You won't have problem checking in two bags with total weight less than 20kg/44lb. But on UA and US, you're only allowed one, regardless of how light they are.

I hate to think about what the security and check in lines are going to be like this summer.

I live in Honolulu and from what I see when I'm at the airport, many, many, many tourists are checking more than 1 bag per person.

The check in lines for United are long and slow enough without thinking about the probable added time to process the fee for the extra bags.

Keep the heat on USAir:

http://www.usairways.com/awa/content...tionsform.aspx


(And perhaps Americans travel with more bags than Europeans because we bathe and change our clothes every day?)

Email your outrage to USAir right now:

http://www.usairways.com/awa/content...tionsform.aspx

If we customers don't nip this in the bud, it'll become standard practice.

Frankly, I'm less concerned with the $25 charge than with its results -- cretins who already try to carry-on too much will just add to our (and their) misery.

Will people travel with LESS? No. They will try to carry-on MORE.

Again, if you want to keep the &quot;heat&quot; on USAir, do so by flying other airlines. Why on earth would they worry about their new policy if people continue to fly their airline?

The threat of losing business could be enough to derail the plan.

But United is doing it too, and if Northwest, Delta, and American follow suit, all the people who fly only the &quot;major&quot; airlines will pay the new $25 fee no matter what. People already put up with steep change fees on the major airlines - why not this?

Because the fee will encourage people to carry on more and larger bags.

The result:

Longer security lines

Longer boarding &amp; deplaning

Frustration and air rage!

Well, to go through security, you are already limited to one carry-on bag (limited in size) and one &quot;personal item&quot; which is a purse, laptop, camera bag, etc. I seriously doubt a $25 fee for a 2nd checked bag will encourage people who used to check everything and carry on nothing suddenly to start carrying a bag and personal item through security. And as already noted, only 8% of USAir passengers check more than one bag. Sorry, I think your belief that these 8% will somehow go from zero carry-ons to one + personal item is greatly exaggerated and will have basically no impact on the security lines.

Don't be fooled by the 8% figure.

Much of USAir's passenger load is the shuttle -- of course these passengers don't check 2 bags.

Take the NYC-DC shuttle out of the equation, and the reality is clear -- passengers will carry on larger and more bags (despite the ignored policy of 1 carry on plus a personal item).

I can understand the frustration with this coming fee among vacationers.

However, the great majoirty of domestic air passengers are business travelers, who not only check one or no bags, they also pay higher ticket rates.

Business travelers have also been the ones most affected by the increasing change fees imposed.

The main advantage for business travelers are the FF perks, no small token. Now the leisure traveler is being asked to pay a more fair share of the load because they tend to take more with them when they travel.

Now if the security people and airlines will enforce the carry on rules, things won't be so bad.

And, as long as we're giving personal bag carrying info... all 8 of my Caribbean and S American trips in the last 3 years have been for business. One checked bag among all of them. The rest, carry on only.