Tag: Carry-on Baggage Fees

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Spirit Airlines is Kinda Torn Over Their Own New $100 Fee

October 3, 2012 at 4:25 PM | by | Comment (1)

We've been trying to figure out the best way to cover this news, about how Spirit Airlines is going to start charging passengers $100 each when they pay for check-in luggage at the gate. Originally we were just going to post the word "douchebags" as a link to the story, because brevity is the soul of wit and because it's fucking true.

But then we would have missed the chance to talk about the gratingly obnoxious press release that the airline issued to announce the new fee. Want to guess what they titled it?

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Confirmed: New Spirit Airlines Fees are Deeply Hateable

May 4, 2012 at 9:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

Airline industry watchers awoke Thursday to a Fox News story about the latest Spirit Airlines clusterfark, wherein the airline is refusing to refund the $197 ticket of a dying Vietnam vet who was banned by his doctor from flying. The mess involves typically grating behavior from the deeply obnoxious airline, so that's not what was notable about the writeup.

Instead what got people's attention was that Kate Hanni, executive director of Flyers Rights, has apparently chosen to inject herself into the controversy and to start throwing around language about "meat in a seat" and "history of cruelty." This is... disconcerting.

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Allegiant Air Announces Carry-On Baggage Fees, Because They Can

April 4, 2012 at 3:02 PM | by | Comments (0)

2012 has been one sad disappointment after another when it comes to Allegiant Air. The Las Vegas-based LCC started the year by teasing a huge announcement that got everyone excited about potential Hawaii service, only to unveil some underwhelming routes into and out of Oakland. Then they got tagged by the Department of Transportation for cheating on DOT's new price advertising rules, which are supposed to include all government taxes and which capped years of work on, among other things, hidden baggage fees.

In what feels like kind of a petulant followup, Allegiant just announced that they're going to start charging for carry-on bags. Passengers who prepay online will have to pay $10 to use the overhead bin, while travelers who wait until the airport will get hit with a $35 charge.

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All the Airline Baggage Fees You Need to Know for Spring Travel to Europe

April 18, 2011 at 2:12 PM | by | Comments (0)

Going somewhere this spring or summer? Europe, maybe? If you or someone you know has a transatlantic flight or two in their future, then there's one super helpful guide you need to bookmark: EuroCheapo's Guide to Airline Baggage Fees on Flights to Europe. It's simple, it's brilliant and—better yet—it was just updated.

You can see a small snippet of the chart above, but trust that it covers everything from IcelandAir's first-two-bags-free policy to Continental's outrageous $200 extra charge for an overweight bag. Thanks to this chart, you'll be better able to plan when it's worth it to wear triple layers of souvenir T-shirts to avoid crazy fees.

See the complete EuroCheapo Guide to Europe-bound Baggage Fees RIGHT HERE.

[Excerpt image: Eurocheapo]

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Spirit Airlines Raises Baggage Fees Again, Screws Over Passengers

March 30, 2011 at 10:16 AM | by | Comments (0)

What does a little last-minute packing mean to you? Maybe a forgotten toothbrush, or that you have to call a cab versus taking public transportation to the airport. For Spirit Airlines, your last-minute packing means dollar signs in their eyes, because they've just upped their baggage fees.

According to CNN, Spirit will now charge extra for those who wait to pay for their checked or carry-on luggage until within 24 hours of departure. If your within 24 hours of your flight and you go online to Spirit's website to pay, it'll be an extra $5. If you freak out and call Spirit on the phone to pay, it's an extra $10. Here's the complete chart of what's owed when, if you're flying Spirit with anything more than a little purse:

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TSA Wants to Increase Security Fees Because You've Been Avoiding Checked Baggage Fees

March 4, 2011 at 4:31 PM | by | Comment (1)

It's time for our annual "TSA wants more of your money" post. Every once in a while TSA complains that Congress needs to increase the security fee that you pay as part of your ticket, and when that happens we do our part by reminding everyone what a wasteful, inefficient, careless, irresponsible, mindless, negligent, thoughtless, and other words that are synonyms for wasteful—and also obnoxious—agency they're running.

Last year the request came right after TSA instituted its kind of moronic post-Christmas terrorist attack rules, which meant increased security theater without increased security, which meant increased costs without increased security.

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The Most Ridiculous Airline Idea Of 2010 Is...

December 31, 2010 at 9:56 AM | by | Comments (0)

It's that time of the year again, the time when the year just plain ends. Alas, we can't just let 2010 go that easily, especially since travelers spent it both up in the air and up in arms over a crazy range of topics, encompassing everything from nudie scans to tarmac delays. Needless to say, we're ready for 2011, but first we're taking a brief look back at the best of 2010 with the Jaunted Travel Awards,—or as we fondly refer to them—The Jauntys.

First, let's be honest. We really, really wanted to name the "pay-to-pee" and standing passenger concepts from Ryanair's Micheal O'Leary as 2010's worst idea, but there's just one problem...all that happened in 2009. Regardless, there were plenty more bad ideas that happened this year, and the winner for 2010's stupid airline idea is Spirit Airlines' carry-on fees.

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Spirit Airlines' Controversial Carry-on Bag Fees Officially in Effect

August 2, 2010 at 9:31 AM | by | Comments (0)

Yesterday you can bet that passengers flying Spirit Airlines faced longer lines to board and more confusion, as the low-cost carrier's $30 carry-on bag fee went into effect. The change was announced back in April, and the new fee applied to anyone booking a Spirit ticket from April on for flights August 1 and beyond.

Whether you like it or not, if you're flying Spirit Airlines you will encounter a fee at some point. Unless you can handle traveling with only one small purse that fits under the seat in front of you, but who does that? The airline's CEO thinks you can. The carry-on fees, which range from $20-$45, apply to anything you want to stow in the overhead bins, but remember that if you check it instead, you've got to pay for that privilege too. Here's the breakdown:

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Bags Not Necessary for Travel, Says Spirit Airlines' CEO

July 14, 2010 at 3:25 PM | by | Comments (2)


Ben Baldanza: Your new dartboard?

Today, we add another bulletpoint to the timeline of the bad ideas of low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines:

July 2010: CEO Ben Baldanza testifies before Congress that bags are "not essential" for travel. This was part of his explanation for charging for carry-on baggage, as Congress takes Spirit to task for levying hidden fees. Baldanza's actual quote:

Carrying more than one bag is not necessary for all travelers and we believe it is unfair to charge those customers for extra services they do not use—indeed, it is the basis for Spirit's policy to unbundle services not essential to passenger transport."

While this may be true for some, ABC News wisely notes that Spirit still charges to bring that one bag unless it fits underneath the seat, on an airline with the worst leg room in the first place.

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Five Airlines Promise Never to Stoop to the Low of Charging Carry-on Fees

April 19, 2010 at 9:10 AM | by | Comments (0)

As if it wasn't enough to charge passengers per bag they check, airlines have upped the ante with fees even for carry-on bags, beginning with American low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines.

Since this fee of $45 for a carry-on if paid at the airport—with slight discounts for paying online—won't be taxed, Congress isn't happy. The US Senator currently at the heart of the opposition to carry-on fees is NY Democrat Charles Schumer, who has not only made the news show rounds with his arguments, but has also secured commitments from five other airlines they they will not stoop that low. The airlines who vow not to add carry-on fees are: Jetblue, American Airlines, Delta, United and US Airways.

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Avoid Spirit Airlines' New Carry-On Fees with the 'Sherpa Shirt'

April 16, 2010 at 4:52 PM | by | Comment (1)

Business is a cut-throat world, and the airline industry is more brutal than most. So when Spirit Airlines stupidly decided to charge for carry-on luggage, they basically invited angry travelers and direct competitors to start piling on. Our response was mostly to point out how the new fee was part and parcel of a history of bad ideas from Spirit Air. JetBlue came up with something a little less direct.

The LCC took to their official blog to announce that, while they obviously recommend flying JetBlue because their overhead bins are free, they understand that sometimes itineraries just don't work out. For those times they recommended the "Extrago Sherpa Shirt," a "special outerwear that we designed to hold 'an entire trip’s worth of necessities, including the money you’ll save by not checking or carrying on your bag.'" It was originally part of their Christmas viral ad/store thing in New York, and they've brought it back.

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Spirit Airlines' Carry-On Fee is Just the Latest in a History of Bad Ideas

April 12, 2010 at 2:45 PM | by | Comments (3)

When Spirit Air made their huge announcement last week that they'd begin to charge passengers for both carry-on and checked baggage, making them the first airlines to do this, we can't say we were too surprised. With the way that airlines have been nickel-and-diming over the past year, a carry-on fee was bound to happen. Although we would have expected it more from European budget airline Ryanair, Spirit's history of bad decisions proves that they were due for a boneheaded move, and this happens to be it.

Stupid ideas of their past include such lovely things as a hidden "Passenger Usage" fee and that time that their CEO, Ben Baldanza, hit "reply all" on an embarrassing email. Oh yea, that last one was particularly eye-opening.

After the jump, we look at Spirit's milestone of stupidity...

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