As airfare consumers, against the backdrop of an already degrading air travel experience (TSA lines, packed planes, etc.), we are now being asked to help shoulder the burden of $130/barrel oil as the airlines struggle to stay alive.
So what can we do to help stem even more fees coming our way in the future? One simple idea: support those airlines whose “First Bag Free” baggage policies are more customer-friendly than their blockhead competitors and their caveman approach to passing on fees. (Hey airlines, check out Amazon Prime as a way to get people to prepay their future shipping costs.)
As it relates to bag fees, you should know that US airlines are really now divided into two camps: the “Good Guys” and the “Bad Guys” based upon their checked baggage fee policies. The Good Guys don’t charge you to check your first bag while the Bad Guys soak you to the tune of up to $80 round-trip for the pleasure of carrying your luggage.
Good Guys: AirTran, Alaska, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Midwest, and Virgin America
Bad Guys: American, Northwest, Spirit, United, and US Airways
Having been an airline bean counter myself, I promise you that the Good Guys are waiting to see if they can gain market share by not charging passengers as much as the Bad Guys.
Therefore, support the Good Guys now because if you don’t, they’ll just jump on the Bad Guy bandwagon later and we’ll all be paying more to send our socks to St. Louis.
Filed under: airline fees | Tagged: airline bag fees, Airtran, Alaska Airlines, Amazon, Amazon Prime, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Air, JetBlue, Midwest Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Spirit Air, United Airlines, US Airways
Great information!
http://www.CompareAirlineFees.com is a great site to compare 25 different extra airline fees and flight prices from top sites at the same time.
[...] Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Spirit Air, United Airlines, US Airways | A little while back, I posted about the “good guy” airlines who weren’t charging a fee for the first checked [...]