United Now Charging Baggage Fees at Resort Check in

[MFLetou]

As of 4 days ago, United Airlines is now able to collect its baggage fees during the Resort Check in process.

UAL was previously exempt because its system was not synced with Disney's.

The cards in rooms, at least at CBR, still list United as being exempt. Our Magical Express packet didn't list UAL as being exempt, so I called the front desk and was transfered to a cast member that told me that UAL WAS exempt and I would not have to pay.

When I arrived at RAC at CBR, the rep asked me if I had paid my UAL baggage fees and I told him no, because I was told I didn't have to. He told me that there's now a new system and UAL started collecting baggage fees at RAC 3 days ago. However, he said that the cards have not been updated and that if I could produce any document that said that UAL did not charge, Disney would "take care of it." Luckily, I had the card that was in my room and gave it to the baggage services rep at CBR--and true to his word, the fees were waived.

But at some point, they will remove the cards, and if you are flying United you'll have to pay. I wanted to give everyone a head's up.

 

[goofy4tink]

Yep.....the RAC agents told me the same thing. We were discussing SW's eventual participation at all resorts and the possibility of SW starting to charge for at least one bag per person when the agents told me that as of 12/9, Disney was no longer picking up the tab for the checked baggage fee for United.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

We were discussing SW's eventual participation at all resorts and the possibility of SW starting to charge for at least one bag per person when the agents told me that as of 12/9, Disney was no longer picking up the tab for the checked baggage fee.

According to Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, Southwest's "bags fly free" policy is adding almost nearly $800 million to their annual revenue due to market share shift. In other words, they're bring in more money because more flyers are choosing Southwest.

Here's the news story from a few days ago:

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10642403/1/southwest-ceo-free-bags-800-million.html

Any comments from Resort Airline Check-in agents about "the possibility of SW starting to charge for at least one bag per person" is just speculation.

Southwest has a long history of doing things their own way instead of doing what other airlines do. Since its founding in 1971, Southwest has thrived by doing things differently. Over the same period of time, dozens of airlines have gone out of business and the all of the legacy carriers still flying have gone through at least one Chapter 11 bankruptcy (except for American Airlines).

 

[Brian Noble]

The entire article is worth a read. It's not as clear cut as the headline makes it sound. For example, later in the article:

Other airlines have said that as they implement charges for baggage handling and other services, they have been unable to discern any resultant shift to Southwest. Last month, US Airways(LCC Quote) CEO Doug Parker told reporters in Charlotte that passengers may be avoiding multiple carriers at imperceptible rates, which in combination create a perceptible gain for Southwest.

So, it appears that both strategies are somehow "winning". Other carriers are not seeing a noticeable drop in traffic, despite these fees' contributions to their own bottom lines.

It will also be interesting to see what SW's next move after EBCI will be---that move was nearly analogous to other airlines' charging for seat selection. I'm betting that SW will slowly (as in boil-a-frog slowly) continue to unbundle around the edges.

 

[MFLetou]

Yep.....the RAC agents told me the same thing. We were discussing SW's eventual participation at all resorts and the possibility of SW starting to charge for at least one bag per person when the agents told me that as of 12/9, Disney was no longer picking up the tab for the checked baggage fee.

Just to be clear--although this poster mentions Southwest, I believe his sentence "Disney was no longer picking up the tab for the checked baggage fee" is referring to United.

That is indeed when the policy was changed, however, as I wrote, if you have some documentation showing that they will not charge you a baggage fee on United, apparently Disney will still pick up the fee, at least for now. And, obviously the cast members aren't all up to date--which, given my experience with CMs on this trip, is not exactly surprising.

 

[dudspizza]

Just to be clear--although this poster mentions Southwest, I believe his sentence "Disney was no longer picking up the tab for the checked baggage fee" is referring to United.

That is indeed when the policy was changed, however, as I wrote, if you have some documentation showing that they will not charge you a baggage fee on United, apparently Disney will still pick up the fee, at least for now. And, obviously the cast members aren't all up to date--which, given my experience with CMs on this trip, is not exactly surprising.

FYI, Goofy4Tink is not a he.... she is affectionately known as "Mom" around here as she has to keep a close eye on all of us kiddos......

She ran two topics into the same sentence as we were discussing SW possibly being part of RAC at all resorts on another thread, so she ran the two together....

 

[goofy4tink]

According to Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, Southwest's "bags fly free" policy is adding almost nearly $800 million to their annual revenue due to market share shift. In other words, they're bring in more money because more flyers are choosing Southwest.

Here's the news story from a few days ago:

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10642403/1/southwest-ceo-free-bags-800-million.html

Any comments from Resort Airline Check-in agents about "the possibility of SW starting to charge for at least one bag per person" is just speculation.

Southwest has a long history of doing things their own way instead of doing what other airlines do. Since its founding in 1971, Southwest has thrived by doing things differently. Over the same period of time, dozens of airlines have gone out of business and the all of the legacy carriers still flying have gone through at least one Chapter 11 bankruptcy (except for American Airlines).

Absolutely speculation. Just one of those friendly conversations while waiting for boarding passes to be printed out.

Just to be clear--although this poster mentions Southwest, I believe his sentence "Disney was no longer picking up the tab for the checked baggage fee" is referring to United.

That is indeed when the policy was changed, however, as I wrote, if you have some documentation showing that they will not charge you a baggage fee on United, apparently Disney will still pick up the fee, at least for now. And, obviously the cast members aren't all up to date--which, given my experience with CMs on this trip, is not exactly surprising.

Yep....I'm a she, not a he. Anyway....yes, there are going to be CMs who give out different info, and that's a big problem with Disney..way too much differing info. I will go back and amend my post to reflect what I truly meant, so as to avoid any further confusion.

 

[cigar95]

As of 4 days ago, United Airlines is now able to collect its baggage fees during the Resort Check in process.

Just to clarify - does this mean that baggage fees can now be paid at the RAC desk, rather than having to do the phone-call thing? (Seems like the whole RAC process ought to be worthy of a FAQ/sticky thread!)

 

[BCV23]

Just to clarify - does this mean that baggage fees can now be paid at the RAC desk, rather than having to do the phone-call thing? (Seems like the whole RAC process ought to be worthy of a FAQ/sticky thread!)

Can't help about the collection of fees. My DH checked bags with United at CR last week but is exempt from fees. Hopefully, someone will be along with new United experience soon.

However, there is a sticky about participating airlines at the very top of the page.http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=944813