As expected, now USAir will charge for 2nd checked bag
 

For those who pooh-poohed United doing this by saying you'd just fly another carrier, it seems that the other carriers will follow suit.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23356288/

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.

Thx a mint for the link, Gekko. I just did my part!

Enjoy-la!

Gekko -- what with the fuel surcharge, paying for food, paying for paper tickets and now paying for luggage, pretty soon all of the airline's costs of doing business will be "surcharges" tacked onto our ticket. What's next? Labor fee to cover their personnel costs? Maintenance fee to cover their cost to maintain the fleet?

Again, the cost is not what really concerns me (I come from the efficient markets school that says ticket prices will always find the correct equilibrium).

What concerns me is the carry-on situation. Morons already try to carry on everything but the kitchen sink because their time is just too precious to wait 5 minutes for checked bags.

If these selfish fools can save $25 by carrying on MORE, they will.

gekko, if it were truly only 5 minutes, I'd happily check bags and not schlepp them.

Instead, it is:
- lost luggage (odds may be against it, but if it happens, it isn't fun)
- damaged luggage (in college, I arrived in Paris with two bags soaking wet - they sat on the tarmac for 30 min. during a snowstorm)
- lllooooonnnnngggg waits for luggage.

btw, I do travel with less - We rent apartments so we can do laundry. I've learned that the 'perfect outfit' is not needed :)

I just flew Spirit Airlines out of Laguardia. They charge $10 ($5 on the internet) for ANY checked bags!

They are really low cost airline, and the plane was nice and clean, so I did not really mind fhe additional cost. Just have to make sure that when I see a "Great Fare" just add-in the bag charge to get the "Real Fare"! It hurt when I had to take my Golf Clubs! Cannot put those on the overhead!!

It will just make people try an jam bags onto the flight.....translation..............more delay to get off the ground and off the plane on the landing!!!

BMW, I agree completely.

To save $25, people WILL carry-on more, meaning longer security lines, slower boarding, flaring tempers, etc.


(And according to FAA statistics, airlines "lose" far less than 1% of checked baggage.)

<b>.075%</b>, to be precise (I just checked FAA data)

Over on the &quot;Airlines&quot; board on a same-subject thread we were summarily told that we should &quot;get used to it&quot; because it's the &quot;wave of the future&quot; and &quot;common practice in Europe.&quot;

As if I care about common practice in Europe where they do ethnic cleansing, etc.

Thanks for the link re the outrage...I agree that these service changes take hold because the public ALLOWS them to.

I just posted my opinion on this news -- along with my proposed solution to the weight/fuel problem -- to my travel blog at www.stricklandia.com.

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Check out my new travel blog, STRICKLANDIA
Travel tips, news, deals, stories and more
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Put pressure on USAir:


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

Let USAir know you won't tolerate the proposed policy:


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

I think when most people say &quot;lost luggage,&quot; they mean delayed luggage. However, if you're on a short trip for business or pleasure, a delay of 24-48 hours is significant; it may even be the death of your trip. Those people you see schlepping garment bags as carry-ons aren't morons or cretins (shame on you, Gekko, really), they're business people who are afraid of spending a week at a client site in the same suit. And the gate check agents and flight attendants who allow them to cram oversize bags into overhead are well aware of, and sympathetic to, their reasons. They know there would be an airport-wide revolt if they tried to enforce their employers' unrealistic &quot;rules&quot;.

Did anyone ever stop to ask why the airlines don't just make the in-cabin storage areas larger? Ah, yes, it would eat up a few seats, wouldn't it, and we can't have that.

I don't know how BA managed it - on 3 separate trips my DH took to London (for business) within an 18 month period - something happened to his bags on the return trip.

Twice his bag(s) was delayed for a week or so, but on one trip - 2 bags were &quot;lost&quot; for 4 weeks and 1 was never found, so they had to pay us compensation.

Such a hassle!

Personally, I do not have a problem with this policy IF it will help in keeping the cost of an airline ticket down. I've never checked two bags in my life and don't imagine I ever will.

People will end up packing more on their carryon's. Which means more hassle at TSA checkpoints and delayed departures because people will be fighting for a place to put all their extra carryons.

People say they don't check extra bags..but traveling with children, I always end up having to check extra bags. Also, whenever I travel to cold weather climates, I have more lugagge because sweaters/ski wear etc always take extra room or not to make the bags to heavy. Not to mention the new weight limits for baggage for which they charge.

As others said...unless people express their displeasure, this will become the normal. They will either get you with the luggage weight limit or the extra bags.

A much simpler solution is to go back to 70lb weight limit, 1 checked bag. 50lbs comes up real quick, particulary on a long trip, or over the holidays. I try not to bring a carry on, as who wants to deal with the hassle of TSA going thru everything.

I travel a lot for business and would never think of checking my bag. It is not just the fear that they will lose it, it is the way they handle the bag! I have an expensive Tumi vertical suiter that I am in love with. Holds enough for a 5 day business trip, nothing wrinkles, and it fits EASILY into the overhead. My only other bag is my laptop bag which doubles as a handbag.
The last time I checked a bag, it came back with a broken zipper and a missing wheel. I just cannot deal with that kind of stress on top of an already stressful trip. I had to go on-line and buy another suitcase for the return trip, pay extra for overnight shipping, and then pay to have the damaged bag shipped home to get it repaired. Not worth it.
I truly feel for anyone that has to check a bag, ski equipment, or golf clubs. I would be sweating the entire trip.