How to Avoid (Some) Baggage Fees on Delta

May 13, 2010 at 4:13 PM | by Omri | Comments (0)

Baggage fees are quite simply insane. They provided the bulk of the $7.8 billion in fees airlines took in last year, a certain LCC which will not be named is now charging for carry ons, and legacy carriers no longer allow even a single free checked bag. Entire guides are being written about how to pack lightly, up to and including the advice that you should just buy everything you can at your destination. Which would kind of work, but also kind of suck.

Delta customers will soon have another alternative, one that will become available starting June 1. That's the day when Delta will start waiving fees on the first checked bag of anyone carrying a Delta-branded AMEX card, as well as the fees of anyone who's traveling with them.

Normally you'd expect some kind of restriction—the usual one being that the card had to be used to purchase the tickets—but that doesn't seem to be the case here. Just being a card member and having the AMEX in your wallet will be sufficient. The card will have an annual fee of $95 - $150, but that's well worth it for anyone who travels even a couple times per years. And if you travel often with a companion it's a no-brainer.

Continental has had a similar deal going since last fall for travelers who use a Continental-branded Chase card, although who knows what will happen to that after the merger. The hope now is that, after this move by Delta, other airlines will begin their own programs. It's obviously going to be a balancing act: credit card fees are pretty lucrative, but are they lucrative to the tune of billions of dollars? At least a couple airlines have crunched the numbers and seem to think so, so fingers crossed.

[Photo: Mattes / Wiki Commons]

Related Stories:
· Get a Delta-branded American Express card, check bags free [USA Today]
· Credit Cards [Jaunted]
· Delta [Jaunted]

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