Airline Baggage Fees

With regard to my air travel experiences, I’ve always been the exception to the rule. While others complain about lost bags and missed connections, I’ve always found flights to have fantastic food, friendly stewards, and ne’er have I had a bag lost by an airline.

This year, that’s starting to change. In July, Olympic Airlines disappointed me by not allowing me to carry my skateboard onboard the aircraft (they confiscated it). The meal on that flight was inedible. Cornbread like a brick, a mini-hot dog that had a rubbery consistency, and a mini-brownie that tasted like chalk and felt like a sponge.

On my United flight last week, I was charged $15 to check my 1st bag. Now, Continental is doing the same.

As an economist, I think prices should reflect services rendered, in order to pass on costs only to those that use the service. What pisses me off about the United bag fee is that is was never disclosed to me before I bought the ticket. Fare-search engines like Kayak.com and Expedia.com should ask how many bags you plan to check, and adjust the flight cost accordingly. This way, you might find that a $250 roundtrip flight on Alaska might actually be less expensive than a $225 roundtrip fare on United or Continental, considering the $30 fee to check a bag each way.

If a fee is not disclosed, it’s unethical.