The news isn’t particularly relevant for people who can travel without checking any bags, but Delta has just announced that those purchasing coach tickets for domestic flights on or after July 31 or traveling on or after August 5 (so buying your tickets a year in advance won’t help here) will have their fees doubled for their second checked bag, from $25 to $50 one way.
According to Delta, fewer than 20 percent of their passengers fit this bill. Delta is also increasing its handling fee for any special check-ins like surfboards or ski equipment.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I know airlines are scrambling, but come on—do airlines really want to so disenfranchise themselves from the traveling population? I mean, this just goes beyond offensive. I just cannot believe the gall of these companies.
I hope they are at least paying their public relations people well because I’m sure they have a really tough job trying to spin these obscene new policies. One really has to wonder what they think about the ordinary customer.
What if you’re a family with a couple of young ones who are too small to warrant their own seats and are also too small to carry their own bags? Talk about punishing the people who can least afford this—they have no plans to charge first class, business, or elite frequent flyers and are allowing them to check in up to three bags.
More than a few people have been telling me they now just fly Southwest, in part because they are so incensed with these shenanigans these larger carriers are pulling on consumers.
My husband and I are heading to Vegas this month to catch Star Trek: The Experience before it closes (geek alert: thanks go to Wil Wheaton for publicizing about this in his blog) and guess what? We’re flying Southwest.
Those guys didn’t pay me to embed this video but… when I first saw it I thought it was pretty funny. Now it kind of just makes me sad…
Watch the TV commercial from Southwest.
We’re also taking our vacation in Europe later this year, and guess what? We’re flying Virgin Atlantic.
I’m still sitting on more than 150,000 miles on United, and I have zero interest in flying with them, even though my Economy Plus seating option is still valid through the rest of the year.
I’ll tell you what. I’m about ready to just gather up all of my frequent flyer miles and donate them to Operation Hero Miles.
Hi, I just flew back from JFK to Paris via Geneva on Swiss. Ugh. But it was better than a US carrier. I totally agree with you about giving up my United miles.
Great blog!
I tried to fly my son from Albany to the Bay Area on 25K miles on United…not a chance. It took 50K to do it, but we bit the bullet because it was really short notice and the only opportunity we had. So we blew twice the miles, but whatever, we need to use ’em up before United goes into my rearview permanently.
I have flown on both United (on miles!! long ago) and Virgin Atlantic to London (business class and economy). Virgin is great (I only wish Virgin America was as great). On our last trip to London, I didn’t even price BA; I just shopped for the best price on Virgin.
Email me if you want the scoop on London theater seating, Lani.
And Airtran, my personal favorite, just announced that they’ll be using a $15 first checked bag fee. I am a strong believer in the one bag philosophy, but it’s sad that Airtran is conning us too. It seems like Southwest is the only airline that hasn’t cracked up.