Wednesday, March 26, 2008
I’m finally being forced to pack light. No more cramming that third pair of black heels into my suitcase five minutes before leaving for the airport. No more excuses.
Previously both United Airlines and US Airways allowed two checked bags per passenger free of charge, as is standard for most airlines. Starting May 5 however, they’re creating yet another way to irritate passengers, by slapping on a $25 fee for a second checked bag and every other bag after it. This fee doesn’t even apply round-trip. You have to pay it both to and from your destination.
Although this new rule didn’t affect your spring break travels, it comes just in time for summer getaways. Even if you’re not a pack rat like me, who prefers to lug around a heavy bag rather than not be prepared for a possible freak snowstorm in the Bahamas, this new rule can still make traveling a hassle. Often when traveling, because of those must-have souvenirs you come back with more luggage than you left with. Usually if I’m only traveling with one suitcase to combat this problem I pack a duffle bag to check as my second bag on the way home in case I can’t fit everything back into the suitcase. No longer can you fall back on that second bag option though, unless you want to pay the fee that is.
Don’t expect to cheat the system by just buying a bigger suitcase. The fee for the second bag isn’t the only change in policy. These airlines also increased the fee for over-weight bags from $50 for each bag that goes over the 50 pound weight limit, to $100 per bag.
According to the US Airways Web site, the reason for the changes to their baggage policy is because of high fuel costs. “We’ve simply had to look at ways to offset our increased operating costs,” the Web site stated. Yet, if these airlines just wanted to decrease operating costs, they would have only created the $25 fee for the second bag, not increased the fee for overweight bags as well. It just seems like another way to gouge customers.
At what point are airlines going to stop reducing the services passengers have come to expect when flying? Pretty soon passengers will be reduced to nothing more than standardized knapsacks to carry their belongings.
Right now the only airlines with this new policy are United Airlines and US Airways. Other airlines seem to be following suit however. Southwest Airlines recently changed their policy from three to two checked bags per customer free of charge. In order to keep up, other airlines may soon be changing their policies as well.
I guess now my only option is to restrain my pack rat tendencies. I probably didn’t need that third pair of black heels anyway.
Hudson is a Wichita junior in journalism and business.
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Comments
Hudson: Policy forces travelers to pack it all in
There are real problems with our nation's transportation system. We are beginning to see the problems as the government is forced to bail out un-profitable airlines countless times, and services keep getting cut because of "high fuel costs". Airlines are some of the most inefficient and energy wasting modes of transportation. It's time our country realized how backwards our logic really is and started investing in something much cleaner, safer and infinitely more efficient than airplanes- high speed trains. When I was travelling in Germany there were no luggage surcharges, there was almost always enough space for one's bags. Much different than the limited space on the airlines, and the cavity search you have to go through to get on a plane.
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