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United Will Personally Valet Your Luggage For $349
We're beginning to suspect that United has a full time brainstormer working on ways to monetize people's luggage issues. Hot on the heels of their $249 "free" baggage offer, the airline is offering door-to-door overnight shipping of anything passengers want sent ahead. The only caveat is that the service costs $149 per flight for trips less than 1,000 miles and $179 for flights that go over that.
The Wall Street Journal, discussing the new scheme, refers to United as a "pioneer" in imposing baggage fees. We sometimes muse similarly, though instead of "pioneer" we use what our therapist calls "anger words." Here's what the WSJ exactly said:
Tags: Ryanair / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Airline News / Airline Fees / Checked Baggage Fees / Travel Deals / → All Tags
Ryanair Throws Huge Hissy Fit In Response To BBC Expose
Ryanair is in a very public, very heated, very crazy delicious feud with the BBC. The low cost carrier has taken exception to a BBC Panorama expose unpacking the airline's complex nickle and dime strategy for extracting airline fees. In response, Ryanair's the-customer-is-always-wrong CEO Michael O'Leary has blasted the program and unveiled a 1.1 million seat giveaway.
We were surprised Ryanair reacted so negatively to a discussion of their opaque fees. Usually they're so much more confident. Just a few weeks ago they were blustering about how their customers were free to explore other options if they had problems with the airline.
This is a company that's made a business model of brazenly abusing passengers, the implicit justification being that any alienated customers could always be replaced by other bargain seekers. "You'll take our abuse because you value your wallet more than your self-esteem" is practically the company's sneering motto.
Tags: Checked Baggage Fees / Baggage Fees / United / Airline News / Airline Fees / → All Tags
United's New $249 Checked Baggage Fee Equals Instant Loyalty
United Airlines is launching a new program that allows passengers to buy their way into Premier Baggage, essentially offering customers the opportunity to pay the airline's exorbitant baggage fees in one lump sum. Instead of United's unreasonable per flight fees, customers now have the option of paying $249 for a year-long fee waiver on their first and second checked bags, plus the bags of up to 8 companions traveling on their confirmation code.
We honestly can't make sense of this move. Anyone who flies United regularly enough to make this worthwhile already gets Premier from their miles. For this to make sense, you'd have to fly more than 15 times a year and check a bag every time. Unless you're just hop-scotching from LA to Vegas—in which case why are you flying United and why are you checking a bag—that easily gets you to 25,000 miles.
Tags: Checked Baggage Fees / Airline Fees / Airline News / United / Europe Travel / → All Tags
United Adds $50 Second Bag Fee On Flights To Europe, $30 To Mexico
There'll be no more splurgy shopping trips to Europe for passengers on United with tickets purchased on or after Sept. 30 for travel on or after Dec. 15. The carrier, who just moved into some fancy digs in Chicago's Willis Tower (n้e Sears Tower), announced plans to begin charging for a second checked bag on international flights.
We can't even pretend to be surprised at this, since United's go to pay their bills and keep up appearances when other legacy carriers are charging for every little thing. The fee, a flat $50 for a second bag on flights to Europe and $30 for flights to Mexico and the Caribbean. Laying down a whole Ulysses S. Grant just so that you can bring back cheapy Carnevale masks from Venice and wooden clogs from Amsterdam seems quite a raw deal.
Tags: Checked Baggage Fees / Airline Fees / Airline News / Frontier / Republic Airways / → All Tags
Frontier Airways Joins The Club, Raises Checked Baggage Fees
Frontier Airlines, having recently been acquired by Republic Airways, is wasting no time making their new owners some money. The airline is adjusting their baggage fees upwards and will now charge even for the first checked bag.
We're actually kind of pleased that we get to write this story; it's been a few hours since we posted about an airline raising its fees, and we were starting to get a little anxious:
Tags: Checked Baggage Fees / Baggage Fees / Hawaii Travel / Hawaiian Airlines / Airline News / Airlines / → All Tags
Hawaiian Air Adds $10 First Bag Fee, Tells Customers 'Fees Here To Stay'
We're running out of sarcastic ways to blog about new airline fees. The latest comes from low-cost carrier Hawaiian Airlines, which announced yesterday that they're adding a $10 fee for the first checked bag on interisland flights. It is what it is. And look how charmingly the announcement was made:
Mark Dunkerley, president and chief executive officer of Hawaiian, said the airline makes $20 million to $30 million a year from ancillary revenue mostly from checked bags and that baggage fees are here to stay as long as airlines need that revenue.
Tags: Checked Baggage Fees / Airline Fees / Airline News / Continental / US Airways / → All Tags
Continental and US Airways Hike Checked Bag Fee To $50
Do you know that song from Cabaret that goes: "Money makes the world go around, the world go around?" Well, these days the lyrics should be amended to "money makes the airlines fly round the world, round the world." You see, yet another baggage fee hike went into affect yesterday, and it'll no doubt cause even more headaches at check-in.
Now raising second checked bag fees on international flights up to $50 each way, Continental Airlines and US Airways join Delta and American Airlines in such skyway robbery. For US Airways, the new charges apply to tickets purchased beginning yesterday for travel on Oct. 7 or later, while Continental's fee applies to flights between US and Europe and akes effect for tickets purchased today for travel on or after Sept. 15.
Tags: Checked Baggage Fees / Airline Hell / Airline Fees / US Airways / → All Tags
The Latest in Airline Atrociousness: US Airways Hikes Baggage Fees Again
US Airways just announced that they're hiking up their baggage fee again. Why, and a Happy Hump Day to you too US Airways! Grrr....
The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline said Wednesday it will charge $20 for the first checked bag and $30 for the second, when bags are checked online. Passengers will pay an extra $5 per bag when checking in at the airport.
They're also adding a $50 second checked bag fee for trans-Atlantic flights. Because for business travelers spending significant time overseas, a second bag is an indulgence that it's reasonable to harshly penalize.
This hike is actually good news for us. We were a little nervous that our indifference toward US Air's last fee hike would make people think that we were losing our edge. Now we get a whole new opportunity to complain about the ticky-tacky nickle-and-dime opaque fees that they've taken to indulging in.
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No-Fly List Drama And Baggage Fee Trauma At United's 'Easy Check-in'
Easy check-in, huh? Not so easy if you're name happens to be (innocently) on the No Fly List.
We've told you before our thoughts on the perils of The No Fly List when folks with similar names to those on the No Fly List are prevented from checking their bags online. Meaning they have to show up to the airport early and wait in line to check-in (the kiosks will not suffice) where an agent will then verify their birth date and address.
As you can imagine, this is a huge pain and adds at least an extra hour to your travel time. But in this new dark age of checked baggage fees, airlines now charge you MORE to check your bags at the airport instead of online. Grandma and Grandpa who don't have internet connections will find themselves paying more. So will folks who spend the day before their flight doing activities out of cellphone and internet range (God forbid!). Also, an an innocent person whose name is similar to someone else's on the No Fly list is, for lack of a better expression, screwed.
Tags: Snapshot / Checked Baggage Fees / OGG / United Airlines / Travel Hell / → All Tags
Pack an Extra Duffle: United Airlines Charges $125 for Overweight Bags
We've already expressed our repulsion at the baggage fees that airlines keep piling on passengers these days but we were appalled at this fee that we saw United Airlines leveraging on passengers at the Kahului Airport (OGG) in Maui, Hawaii yesterday.
The sign says,
$125 charge for checked bags over 50lbs.
Usually, we understand that overweight bags should be dinged for their heftiness but $125? That is just thievery. And according to United's website, oversized baggage costs $175. Ugh. Better consider shipping that luggage instead.
Got an outrageous checked baggage fee experience? Unlike the stone-faced check-in agents, Jaunted is ready to listen to you! Send us your story.
Related Stories:
· The Airlines Are Just Not That Into Us: New Baggage Fees Announced [Jaunted]
· Oversized, overweight and excess baggage [United Airlines]
Tags: Ryanair / Airline Fees / Checked Baggage Fees / Luggage / → All Tags
Ryanair Says No More Checked Bags Allowed
It never stops with the penny-pinching news from Euro low-cost carrier Ryanair, as they've now announced plans to completely eliminate checked baggage from flights beginning early next year.
This comes on the heels of their plans to both install pay-to-pee bathrooms onboard and eliminate airport check-in. They've already got us paying $60 if we don't print our boarding passes at home, so why not disallow us from traveling with our tuba just to drive the stake in further? Alright so we don't own a tuba, but other people do, and other people may be traveling with items that would be better checked.
Tags: Checked Baggage Fees / Luggage / Airlines / → All Tags
The Airlines Are Just Not That Into Us: New Baggage Fees Announced
Guess our griping last week about the insanity of checked baggage fees has not registered at all with the powers that be that run America's airlines. United has announced that it too will charge passengers $5 for checking your bag at the airport. That's in addition to the standard $15 fee that is charged to your first checked bag.
US Airways also announced a few weeks ago that they will start tacking on a $5 fee for bags checked at the airport (in addition to their $15 fee.)
What this means is that when you check-in online you better check-in your luggage as well. Otherwise it's fee city for you. And if you can't get to a computer to check-in online, like say you were white-water rafting or backpacking, then again: it's fee city for you.
Also, Budget Travel reminds us that Alaska Airlines will start to charge $15 checked baggage fee starting July 1 for the first bag checked. Flights to Europe on Delta and Northwest will also start to charge $50 for a second checked bag. Ugh.
Yes, we know this is a crappy economy and airlines are trying to stay profitable but c'mon these fees are getting out of control.
Related Stories:
· New $5 fee for paying $15 fee to check your bag at airport [Budget Travel]
· Checked Baggage Fees coverage [Jaunted]
