American Airline to add $15 to bill for first checked bag.

[wildeoscar]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/22/BU5T10QFNT.DTL

This makes the seats in the bathroom look like a bargain.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/watercooler/article.aspx?storyid=103469&catid=176

[3DisneyKids]

I know....I heard this on the news last night...even if you check just ONE bag...add on $15.

I really can't be mad at the airlines, though. Considering fuel costs, they have to make it up somewhere. The AA executive who was interviewed stated something along the lines of, "If we charged passengers what it actually cost us per person, no one would ever fly."

Ship it? Maybe somethings and jam the rest in a carryon.

We feel pretty smart that we have an Owner's Locker right about now. Our family of 5 can go down with 3 carry-ons.

[amgine27]

Its a rip off dont fly AA

[NCDisneyCamper]

The AA executive who was interviewed stated something along the lines of, "If we charged passengers what it actually cost us per person, no one would ever fly."



I wonder how Southwest does it .....for a profit. LOL.....

[drakethib]

I wonder how Southwest does it .....for a profit. LOL.....

SWA does a great job of hedging their fuel purchases.

[mjperry]

From what I understand SWA buys fual and stores it up way in advance.

[christygobar]

I always watch the Peter Greenburg segments on the Today show. He's a BIG advocate of shipping luggage ahead of time.

I always fly AA. Out of Dallas, there isn't any other choice for us without laying over at least once.

I'm traveling a lot for business this year, so it is a nice incentive for them to keep flying me places if I can get to an elite status and not have to worry about paying for luggage! On the up-side, I'm figuring out how to pack super light! :)

[JFrey4240]

I was thinking the same thing about taking what you can in a carry on and then ship the rest. If you think a family of four has to pay $15 per bag that's $60 round trip. I think a package would cost a lot less than that.

[jcb]

I've shipped large boxes across country for a lot less than $60.00. And if you consider shipping, shop around (it can be done on the respective websites). Same package, same weight, same destination. One well known service wanted over $90 while another one did it for $20 (2006 prices). I was surprised at who was the cheapest.

Edit: Also, I should add, same delivery schedule.

[Tony NY]

From what I understand SWA buys fual and stores it up way in advance.

good point but so do the other carries . it funny when you look At the per set per mile charge per aircraft and the airlines makes it money off the first full flight and the rest is all revue.

[cccm]

AA is the preferred airline for our travel department at work. So now the company or who is billed back for our travel will have to eat that $15. The only reason why I check a bag for work is because of the darn 3 oz. limit on liquids. Yes another reason I dislike AA a great deal (that and spending hours upon days on the tarmac at O'Hare). I will not fly them for personal travel/vacations.

Did anyone read about the Bunny Ranch taking $15 off services when showing a claim stub upon entering the establishment. :rotfl: :rotfl: Story was on boston.com

[checkwriter]

So the genius who was in charge of strollers at Disney is now in charge of baggage at American?

[cccm]

So the genius who was in charge of strollers at Disney is now in charge of baggage at American?

Person is probably so brilliant that they will list it on their resume. In charge of creating additional revenue for the airline - including implementing the charge for checking one bag. Yeah....you'll never get a job again.

Would love to see that person interview for a job where I work (where most folks travel about 50% of the time).

[fakereadhed]

Info about additional charges from other airlines courtesy of the Transportation Board:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1839252

I might have considered Frontier before the "new" charges, but I don't look good in raccoon.